The European Union got an initial agreement on new rules to improve its security of natural gas supply just at the time of a new looming crisis, the European Commission said Wednesday.

European Parliament negotiators and those from member countries reached late Tuesday a deal on the new rules, which will have to get a green light from the full Parliament assembly and government representatives before it can become law.

"This is a very important step," said Marlene Holzner, spokeswoman for Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger.

The commission proposed the new rules less than a year ago, in the wake of a Ukraine-Russia gas price spat that crippled supply to the EU for weeks in January 2009.

According to the new agreement, each country will have to prepare an emergency plan so it would be able to provide gas to "protected customers"--mainly households and essential services like hospitals--for at least 30 days, even if supply was heavily disrupted. To do this, infrastructure will have to be upgraded and countries will have to make sure gas can flow in both directions within the network, so the flow can be diverted to help countries whose supply is most threatened.

The EU depends on Russia for about 25% of its gas needs, but some countries, like Bulgaria and Lithuania , are currently almost totally dependent on that flow.
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