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The design, construction and operation of gas pipeline systems in Germany are subject to the Energy Act and associated regulations. This legal structure is based on a deterministic rather than a probabilistic safety philosophy, consisting of technical rules implemented by the gas industry itself and operator responsibilities. Governmental institutions only have a general supervisory function. This deterministic approach is aimed at achieving maximum primary safety. Citing various examples, this paper describes a number of measures. With a special methodology developed as a software package, it will in future be possible to use budget funds for operational safety programmes in such a way that maximum primary safety is achieved. A review of the deterministic and probabilistic safety philosophies in Europe shows that both have produced equally high quality levels. The standardization of these philosophies as part of the European integration process would place an additional cost burden on the various gas industries without improving safety levels in a way that would justify these expenses. It is therefore legitimate to retain the different systems that have evolved in the individual countries for different historical reasons. 5 refs.