Substantial investment in European energy infrastructure is required in order to guarantee the European Union (EU) a secure energy supply, to contribute to the smooth functioning of the internal energy market and to transform the European energy system into a low-carbon system. The European Commission should have access to regular information on investment projects in energy infrastructure within the EU. This Regulation meets this requirement by establishing a framework for the exchange of data and information on future production, transmission and storage capacities for energy.

Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 617/2010 of 24 June 2010 concerning the notification to the Commission of investment projects in energy infrastructure within the European Union and repealing Regulation (EC) No 736/96.

This Regulation defines a common framework for the notification to the European Commission of information relating to investment projects * in energy infrastructure *.

In the case of infrastructure which is planned or under construction, the following data shall be notified to the Commission:

With regard to decommissioning, the Commission shall receive information on the character and the capacity of the infrastructure concerned, and the probable year of decommissioning.

Member States shall collect this data from the undertakings which make the investments concerned or by any other equivalent means. Member States shall notify the Commission of this data in aggregated form by 31 July of the reporting year. The first reporting year shall be 2011 and from then onwards every two years. This task may be delegated to a specific body *.

Member States may present estimated or preliminary information on investment projects for infrastructure falling within the scope of the Regulation if the work is scheduled to start within five years or for which decommissioning is scheduled within three years.

When this data is communicated, Member States shall ensure the quality, relevance, accuracy, clarity, timeliness and coherence thereof.

The Commission shall prepare an analysis of investment projects and development perspectives for the European energy system based on the data received. It shall discuss this analysis with interested parties such as the European Network of Transmission System Operators (ENTSO) for electricity, the ENTSO for gas, the Gas Coordination Group, and the Oil Supply Group. The Commission shall present the analysis to the Council, the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee, and shall publish its report.

The Commission may publish the data that it receives within the limits of personal data protection by virtue of Directive 95/46/EC and on condition that no confidential or sensitive information concerning an undertaking or installation is divulged.

Key terms of the Act

Investment projects: projects aiming at building new infrastructure, transforming, modernising, increasing or reducing capacities of existing infrastructure, partial or total decommissioning of existing infrastructure.
Infrastructure: any type of installations or part of installations related to production, transmission and storage.
Specific body: a body entrusted with the preparation and adoption of Union-wide multi-annual network development and investment plans in energy infrastructure.

Reference

Act	Entry into force	Deadline for transposition in the Member States	Official Journal
Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 617/2010	4.8.2010	-	OJ L 180 of 15.7.2010

Commission Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 833/2010 of 21 September 2010 implementing Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 617/2010 concerning the notification to the Commission of investment projects in energy infrastructure within the European Union. This Regulation indicates how Member States are to notify the European Commission of information on investment projects in the field of energy. It repeals Regulation (EC) No 2386/96.

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions of 17 November 2010 – Energy infrastructure priorities for 2020 and beyond – A Blueprint for an integrated European energy network [COM(2010) 677 final – Not published in the Official Journal].

This Communication stresses the need to implement a new European energy infrastructure policy in order to achieve the objectives laid down by the Energy 2020 strategy.

By 2020, the European Commission believes that nearly one trillion euros will have to be invested in the European energy system, 200 billion of which will have to be devoted to energy transmission networks alone. Although the costs of these investments are huge, it would be more expensive not to carry them out because national solutions would be 20% more expensive.

In the longer term, the Commission wishes to introduce networks of the future comprising European Electricity Highways and European CO2 transport infrastructure. To accelerate the introduction of these projects, permit granting procedures should be made faster and more transparent, and a stable framework for financing should be created. The Commission therefore intends to propose new tools combining existing financial mechanisms with other innovations.