1.   This Regulation establishes a network code which sets out rules regarding interoperability and data exchange as well as harmonised rules for the operation of gas transmission systems.

2.   This Regulation shall apply at interconnection points. With regard to data publication, Article 13 shall apply to relevant points defined in paragraph 3.2 of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 715/2009. In addition to interconnection points, Article 17 shall apply to other points on transmission network where the gas quality is measured. Article 18 shall apply to transmission systems. This Regulation may also apply at entry points from and exit points to third countries, subject to the decision of the national authorities.

3.   This Regulation shall not apply to interconnection points between Member States as long as one of these Member States holds a derogation on the basis of Article 49 of Directive 2009/73/EC, unless agreed otherwise by the respective Member States.

1.   The transmission system operators shall identify the information contained in interconnection agreements that directly affects network users and shall inform them thereof.

2.   Before concluding or amending an interconnection agreement which contains the rules referred to in Article 3(c), (d) and (e), transmission system operators shall invite network users to comment on the proposed text of those rules at least two months before the agreement is concluded or amended. The transmission system operators shall take the network users' comments into account when concluding or amending their interconnection agreement.

3.   The mandatory terms of interconnection agreements listed in Article 3 or any amendments thereof concluded after the entry into force of this Regulation shall be communicated by the transmission system operators to their national regulatory authority and to Entsog within 10 days after conclusion or amendment of the agreement. Transmission system operators shall also communicate interconnection agreements upon request of competent national authorities of the Member State within 10 days.

1.   By 30 June 2015, Entsog shall develop and publish a draft interconnection agreement template covering the default terms and conditions set out in Articles 6 to 10.

2.   Any national regulatory authority may provide an opinion on the compliance of the template with national law to the Agency by 31 August 2015. The Agency having due regard to the opinions of the national regulatory authorities shall then provide its opinion on the Entsog template by 31 October 2015. After taking into account the opinion provided by the Agency, Entsog shall publish on its website the final template by 31 December 2015.

3.   If adjacent transmission system operators fail to agree on one or more of the terms and conditions set out in Articles 6 to 10 in their interconnection agreement in accordance with Article 3, they shall conclude an interconnection agreement on the basis of the Entsog template in respect of any term they failed to agree upon.

1.   In respect of flow control, the adjacent transmission system operators shall:

2.   In order to steer the gas flow, the adjacent transmission system operators shall decide on the quantity and direction of the gas flow for each interconnection point and for each hour of the gas day.

The transmission system operator designated pursuant to point (c) of paragraph 1 shall be responsible for steering the gas flow across the interconnection point provided that contractual obligations regarding pressure are complied with by all adjacent transmission system operators:

3.   The quantity and direction of the gas flow decided by the adjacent transmission system operators shall reflect:

4.   A transmission system operator may decide to alter the quantity of gas or the gas flow direction or both, if this is needed, in order to:

1.   In respect of the measurement principles for volume, energy and gas quality, the adjacent transmission system operators shall ensure that:

2.   The installation, operation and maintenance of measurement equipment at an interconnection point shall take into account the technical requirements imposed by national regulations on the adjacent transmission system operators.

3.   The adjacent transmission system operators shall agree on measurement principles which shall at least include:

4.   If the adjacent transmission system operators fail to comply with their obligations provided for in paragraphs 1 and 3:

1.   In respect of the matching process, the adjacent transmission system operators shall establish:

2.   Nominations and re-nominations shall be managed in accordance with the following:

3.   When processing nominations for an interconnection point, the adjacent transmission system operators shall ensure that the gas flow at both sides of the interconnection point is calculated on a consistent basis taking into account any temporary reduction of capacity due to any of the conditions referred to in Article 6(4) on one or both sides of the interconnection point.

4.   Each interconnection agreement shall specify in its provisions on data exchange for the matching process:

5.   Unless otherwise agreed by the adjacent transmission system operators in their interconnection agreement, the following shall apply:

1.   In respect of the allocation of gas quantities, the adjacent transmission system operators shall establish rules ensuring consistency between the allocated quantities at both sides of the interconnection point.

2.   Unless otherwise agreed in the interconnection agreement, the transmission system operators shall use an operational balancing account. The transmission system operator in control of the measurement equipment shall recalculate the operational balancing account with validated quantities and communicate it to the adjacent transmission system operator(s).

3.   Where an operational balancing account applies:

Where the defined limits of the operational balancing account are reached, the adjacent transmission system operators may agree to extend those limits in order to provide allocations to network users that are equal to their confirmed quantities or otherwise allocate quantities to network users proportionally based on the measured quantity.

4.   The adjacent transmission system operators may agree to maintain or implement an allocation rule other than the operational balancing account, provided that this rule is published and network users are invited to comment on the proposed allocation rule within at least two months after publication of the allocation rule.

1.   The adjacent transmission system operators shall ensure that communication procedures which facilitate fast and simultaneous communication in cases of exceptional events are established. Unless otherwise agreed, the communication between the involved transmission system operators shall be performed by oral communication in English for information, followed by an electronic written confirmation.

2.   The transmission system operator affected by an exceptional event shall be required, as a minimum, to inform its network users with respect to point (b) and (c) of this paragraph if there is a potential impact on their confirmed quantities and the adjacent transmission system operator(s) with respect to point (a) and (c) of this paragraph of the occurrence of such exceptional event and to provide all necessary information about:

3.   This Article applies without prejudice to the provisions set forth under Regulation (EU) No 1227/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (8) and to its implementing acts.

1.   The adjacent transmission system operators shall endeavour to solve amicably any disputes arising out of or in connection with the interconnection agreement and specify therein a dispute settlement mechanism for disputes which could not be amicably settled.

The dispute settlement mechanism shall at least specify:

Where the dispute settlement mechanism is arbitration, the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards shall apply.

2.   In the absence of agreement on the dispute settlement mechanism, Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 (9) and Regulation (EC) No 593/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council (10) shall apply.

1.   The adjacent transmission system operators shall establish a transparent and detailed amendment process of their interconnection agreement to be triggered by a written notice of one of the transmission system operators.

2.   If the adjacent transmission system operators fail to reach an agreement on the amendment process, they may use the dispute settlement mechanisms developed in accordance with Article 11.

1.   Each transmission system operator shall use the common set of units defined in this Article for any data exchange and data publication related to Regulation (EC) No 715/2009.

2.   For the parameters of pressure, temperature, volume, gross calorific value, energy, and Wobbe-index the transmission system operators shall use:

For pressure, the transmission system operators shall indicate whether it refers to absolute pressure (bar (a)) or gauge pressure (bar (g)).

The reference conditions for volume shall be 0 °C and 1,01325 bar(a). For GCV, energy and Wobbe-index the default combustion reference temperature shall be 25 °C.

Whenever transmission system operators communicate data on the volume, GCV, energy and Wobbe-index, they shall specify under which reference conditions these values were calculated.

3.   In cases where one Member State is connected to only one other Member State, the adjacent transmission system operators and the parties they communicate with may agree to continue to use other reference conditions for data exchange in connection with Regulation (EC) No 715/2009, subject to the approval of their national regulatory authorities.

1.   Transmission system operators shall cooperate to avoid restrictions to cross-border trade due to gas quality differences. These actions, initiated and carried out by the transmission system operators in their standard operations, may include, among others, swapping and co-mingling.

2.   Where a restriction to cross-border trade due to gas quality differences cannot be avoided by the concerned transmission system operators and is recognised by the national regulatory authorities, those authorities may require the transmission system operators to perform, within 12 months, the actions referred to in points (a) to (e) in sequence:

Where the concerned transmission system operators do not reach an agreement on a solution, each transmission system operator shall promptly inform its national regulatory authority.

3.   Before adopting a decision pursuant to point (e) of paragraph 2, each national regulatory authority shall consult the national regulatory authorities of the concerned Member States. In adopting its decision, each national regulatory authority shall take account of the adjacent national regulatory authorities' opinion with a view to have a coordinated decision based on mutual agreement.

1.   In addition to interconnection points, this Article shall apply to other points on transmission networks where the gas quality is measured.

2.   A transmission system operator may select one or several of the following parties to receive information on gas quality variation:

3.   Each transmission system operator shall:

4.   Paragraph 3 shall not impose an obligation on transmission system operators to install additional measurement or forecasting equipment, unless otherwise required by the national regulatory authority. The information under paragraph 3(b)(i) of this Article shall be provided as the transmission system operator's best estimate at a point in time and for the internal use of the recipient of the information.

1.   Entsog shall publish every two years a long-term gas quality monitoring outlook for transmission systems in order to identify the potential trends of gas quality parameters and respective potential variability within the next 10 years. The first long-term gas quality monitoring outlook shall be published along with the Ten-Year Network Development Plan of 2017.

2.   The outlook shall be based on the inputs gathered in the framework of the regional cooperation established within Entsog in accordance with Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 715/2009.

3.   The long-term gas quality monitoring outlook shall cover at least the Wobbe-index and gross calorific value. Additional gas quality parameters may be included after consultation with the stakeholders referred to in paragraph 8.

4.   The long-term gas quality monitoring outlook shall identify potential new supply sources from a gas quality perspective.

5.   In order to define the reference values of gas quality parameters for the respective supply sources to be used in the outlook, an analysis of the previous years shall be carried out. Such data may be replaced by stakeholders' inputs which result from the stakeholders' engagement process referred to in paragraph 8.

6.   For every gas quality parameter considered and every region, the analysis shall result in a range within which the parameter is likely to evolve.

7.   The long-term gas quality monitoring outlook shall be consistent and aligned with the Entsog Union-wide Ten-Year Network Development Plan under preparation at the same time.

8.   The stakeholders' consultation process used for the Union-wide Ten-Year Network Development Plan shall be expanded to include gas quality as an item. Through this process, stakeholders shall be invited to provide Entsog with their views on the evolution of gas quality parameters of supplies.

1.   Where a restriction to cross-border trade due to differences in odourisation practices cannot be avoided by the concerned transmission system operators and is recognised by national authorities, the authorities may require the concerned transmission system operators to reach an agreement within six months, which may include swapping and flow commitments, to solve any restriction recognised. The concerned adjacent transmission system operators shall provide their respective national authorities with the agreement for approval.

2.   Where no agreement can be reached between the concerned transmission system operators after the six-month period referred to in paragraph 1 or where the national authorities agree that the proposed agreement by the concerned adjacent transmission system operators is not sufficiently effective to remove the restriction, the concerned transmission system operators, in cooperation with national authorities, shall, within the following 12 months, define a detailed plan setting out the most cost effective method to remove a recognised restriction at the specific cross-border interconnection point.

3.   For the purpose of fulfilling the obligations under paragraph 2, the concerned transmission system operators shall in sequence:

Once a solution is approved by the national authorities, that solution shall be implemented in accordance with the timeframe provided for in point (e).

4.   If the national authorities do not approve any solution submitted under point (e) of paragraph 3 within six months from its submission or if the concerned transmission system operators fail to propose a solution within the 12 months' framework of paragraph 2, a shift towards the cross-border physical flow of non-odourised gas shall be implemented within a time-frame approved by the national authorities, but not exceeding four years. After a full technical shift towards non-odourised gas, transmission system operators shall accept technically unavoidable levels of successively reducing residual amounts of odourants in cross-border flows.

1.   For the purposes of this Chapter, ‘counterparties’ means network users active at:

2.   The data exchange requirements foreseen by point 2.2 of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 715/2009, Commission Regulation (EU) No 984/2013, Commission Regulation (EU) No 312/2014, Commission Regulation (EU) No 1227/2011 and this Regulation between transmission system operators and from transmission system operators to their counterparties shall be fulfilled by common data exchange solutions set out in Article 21.

1.   Depending on the data exchange requirements under Article 20(2), one or more of the following types of data exchange may be implemented and used:

(a)   document-based data exchange: the data is wrapped into a file and automatically exchanged between the respective IT systems;

(b)   integrated data exchange: the data is exchanged between two applications directly on the respective IT systems;

(c)   interactive data exchange: the data is exchanged interactively through a web application via a browser.

2.   The common data exchange solutions shall comprise the protocol, the data format and the network. The following common data exchange solutions shall be used for each of the types of data exchange listed in paragraph 1:

For all data exchange types set out in points (a) to (c), the network shall be internet.

3.   Where a potential need to change the common data exchange solution is identified, Entsog, on its own initiative or on the request of ACER, should evaluate relevant technical solutions and produce a cost-benefit analysis of the potential change(s) that would be needed including the analysis of the reasons that make a technological evolutional step necessary. A public consultation involving all stakeholders shall be carried out by Entsog including the presentation of the result of the evaluation and proposal(s) based on the cost-benefit analysis realised.

Where an amendment to the common data exchange solutions is considered necessary, Entsog shall submit a proposal to ACER in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 715/2009.

1.   Each transmission system operator and each counterparty shall be responsible for ensuring that the appropriate security measures are undertaken. In particular, they shall:

2.   Each transmission system operator shall be responsible for ensuring the availability of its own system and shall:

1.   Depending on the data exchange requirements under Article 20(2), transmission system operators shall make available and use the common data exchange solutions defined in Article 21.

2.   Where data exchange solutions between a transmission system operator and concerned counterparties are in place on the date of entry into force of this Regulation and provided that the existing data exchange solutions are compatible with Article 22 and with data exchange requirements under Article 20(2), the existing data exchange solutions may continue to apply after consultation with network users and subject to the approval of the national regulatory authority of the transmission system operator.

1.   For each data exchange requirement under Article 20(2), Entsog shall develop a common network operation tool in accordance with Article 8(3)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 715/2009 and shall publish it on its website. A common network operation tool shall specify the common data exchange solution relevant for the respective data exchange requirement. A common network operation tool may also include business requirement specifications, release management and implementation guidelines.

2.   Entsog shall establish a transparent process for the development of all common network operation tools. Entsog shall conduct a consultation for each common network operation tool.

1.   By 30 September 2016 at the latest, Entsog shall monitor and analyse how transmission system operators have implemented Chapters II to V of this Regulation in accordance with its monitoring and reporting obligations under Article 8(8) and (9) of Regulation (EC) No 715/2009 and submit to the Agency all necessary information allowing the Agency to comply with its obligations under Article 9(1) of Regulation (EC) No 715/2009.

2.   By 31 July 2016 at the latest transmission system operators shall communicate to Entsog all necessary information enabling Entsog to comply with its obligations under paragraph 1.