Germany's neighbours demand year-end halt to gas levy

By Kate Abnett

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have urged Germany to legislate this month to waive a costly gas levy for neighbouring countries, as the collapse of Berlin's coalition government risks delaying the law, a document seen by Reuters showed.

After complaints from central European countries, Germany agreed in May to scrap the tariff it charges neighbouring countries to buy gas from its reserves. Berlin introduced the measure to cover the high costs of replacing Russian gas after Moscow reduced deliveries in 2022.

But the collapse of Germany's coalition government has delayed the passing of a draft law that would restrict the tariff to apply to German customers only.

In a joint paper, Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia noted these delays, and said the scheduled expiry of a Russian deal to supply gas to Europe via Ukraine at the end of the year had made it more urgent that the German levy is scrapped.

"It is imperative to remove all the barriers standing in the way of our diversification efforts," the paper said, describing the levy as an "artificial increase" in prices that was hindering the countries' efforts to quit Russian gas.

"We once again appeal to Germany to ensure the earliest possible adoption of the amendment ... to abolish the application of the gas storage neutrality charge at the borders with neighbouring countries as of 1 January," it said.

The paper was circulated among EU countries, whose energy ministers will discuss the levy at a meeting in Brussels on Monday.

Central European countries are concerned about energy security and prices this winter. In recent weeks, cold weather and lower renewables generation pushed European gas prices to a 12-month high.

German system operator Trading Hub Europe has said the tariff will rise by a fifth next year, on the assumption that the levy is restricted to German customers only.

(Reporting by Kate Abnett; additional reporting by Vera Eckert; editing by Barbara Lewis)