The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, has said the bloc faces no winter supply risks. That risk has been exacerbated, analysts say, by the bloc’s move in recent years to replace its long-term supply deals with Russia with short-term purchases of globally traded liquefied natural gas. That's especially worrying as the country's reserves are important for the bloc as a whole, representing over 20 percent of the EU's storage capacity. "It is the responsibility of companies and traders to fill the storage facilities for the winter," a spokesperson for the German energy ministry told POLITICO. "Government-led filling of the storage facilities would further constrain the gas market and drive prices even higher.