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EU Gas Task Force Recommends Continuous Monitoring of Natural Gas Markets

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The European Union needs to prioritize continuous monitoring of developments in the natural gas market, in coordination with authorities responsible for regulating and supervising gas and gas derivatives markets, according to a suggestion by the EU's Gas Market Task Force.

The suggestion is part of a report on the EU gas and gas derivatives markets by the GMTF, which was formed in February last year as part of the Clean Industrial Deal and the Affordable Energy Action Plan.

The report found that both markets are working well, but more steps could be taken to ensure they continue to benefit European businesses and consumers, according to a statement by the Directorate-General for Energy on Tuesday.

"In its report, the GMTF sets out its findings in several areas, such as the monitoring of trends in algorithmic trading, the development of new market monitoring tools, the implementation of REMIT, certain rules governing the trading of commodity derivatives trading (position management controls, position reporting), as well as in the area of data sharing and cooperation between energy and financial supervisory authorities," the statement added.

The task force includes officials from the European Commission, the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators, and the European Securities and Markets Authority.

The task force was asked to analyze the functioning of the EU gas and gas derivatives markets, identify any weaknesses, and recommend ways to improve them.

The action was taken following the 2024 Draghi report on competitiveness and the key role that gas played during the energy crisis triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the statement added.

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