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Conditions for access to the natural gas transmission networks ***I European Parliament legislative resolution of 9 July 2008 on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1775/2005 on conditions for access to the natural gas transmission networks (COM(2007)0532 — C6-0319/2007 — 2007/0199(COD))
P6_TC1-COD(2007)0199 Position of the European Parliament adopted at first reading on 9 July 2008 with a view to the adoption of Regulation (EC) No …/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1775/2005 on conditions for access to the natural gas transmission networks

OJ C 294E, 3.12.2009, pp. 127–141 (BG, ES, CS, DA, DE, ET, EL, EN, FR, IT, LV, LT, HU, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SK, SL, FI, SV)

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Official Journal

3.12.2009

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 294/127

Wednesday 9 July 2008
Conditions for access to the natural gas transmission networks ***I

P6_TA(2008)0346

European Parliament legislative resolution of 9 July 2008 on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1775/2005 on conditions for access to the natural gas transmission networks (COM(2007)0532 — C6-0319/2007 — 2007/0199(COD))

2009/C 294 E/47

(Codecision procedure: first reading)

The European Parliament,

having regard to the Commission proposal to the European Parliament and the Council (COM(2007)0532),

having regard to Article 251(2) and Article 95 of the EC Treaty, pursuant to which the Commission submitted the proposal to Parliament (C6-0319/2007),

having regard to Rule 51 of its Rules of Procedure,

having regard to the report of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and the opinions of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (A6-0253/2008),

1.	Approves the Commission proposal as amended;

2.	Calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it intends to amend the proposal substantially or replace it with another text;

3.	Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and the Commission.

Wednesday 9 July 2008
P6_TC1-COD(2007)0199

Position of the European Parliament adopted at first reading on 9 July 2008 with a view to the adoption of Regulation (EC) No …/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1775/2005 on conditions for access to the natural gas transmission networks

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE OUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 95 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ║,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (2),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (3),

Whereas:

(1)

The internal market for gas, which has been progressively implemented since 1999, aims to deliver real choice for all consumers in the Community, be they citizens or businesses, new business opportunities and more cross-border trade in order to achieve efficiency gains, competitive prices, higher standards of service and access for as many people as possible , and to contribute to security of supply and sustainability.

(2)

Directive 2003/55/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2003 concerning common rules for the internal market in natural gas ║ (4) and Regulation (EC) No 1775/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 September 2005 on conditions for access to the natural gas transmission networks (5) have made significant contributions towards the creation of such an internal market for gas.

(3)

║ The right to sell gas in any Member State on equal terms, without discrimination or disadvantage cannot, however, currently be guaranteed to all companies in the Community. In particular, non-discriminatory network access and an equally effective level of regulatory supervision in each Member State do not yet exist and isolated markets persist .

(4)	A sufficient level of cross-border gas interconnection capacity should be achieved as a first step towards integrating markets and in order to complete the internal market for gas .

(5)

The Communication of the Commission of 10 January 2007 entitled ‘An Energy Policy for Europe’ ║highlighted the importance of completing the internal market in natural gas and to create a level playing field for all gas undertakings in the Community. The Communications from the Commission of the same date on prospects for the internal gas and electricity market ║ and in relation to its inquiry pursuant to Article 17 of Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 into the European gas and electricity sectors ║ showed that the present rules and measures have not been sufficiently transposed in all Member States, with the result that the objective of a well-functioning internal energy market has not yet been satisfactorily achieved .

(6)	Regulation (EC) No 1775/2005 needs to be adapted in line with these communications to improve the regulatory framework of the internal market for gas.

(7)

In particular, the creation of physical connections between gas networks and increased cooperation and coordination among transmission system operators are required to ensure progressive compatibility of the technical and commercial codes for providing and managing effective and transparent access to the transmission networks across borders, ║ to ensure coordinated and sufficiently forward-looking planning and sound technical evolution of the transmission system in the Community, with due regard to the environment, and to promote energy efficiency and research and innovation, in particular as regards the penetration of energy from renewable sources and the dissemination of low carbon technology. Transmission system operators should operate their networks according to these compatible technical and market codes.

(8)

In order to ensure an optimal management of the gas transmission network in the Community a European network of the transmission system operators should be established. Its tasks should be carried out in compliance with Community competition rules which remain applicable to the decisions of the European network of the transmission system operators. Its tasks should be well-defined and their working method should be such as to ensure efficiency, representativity and transparency. Given that more effective progress may be achieved through an approach at regional level, transmission system operators should set up regional structures within the overall cooperation structure, whilst ensuring that results at regional level are compatible with codes and investment plans at Community level. Member States should promote cooperation and monitor the effectiveness of the network at regional level.

▐

(9)

To enhance competition through liquid wholesale gas markets, it is vital that gas can be traded independently of its location in the system. The only way to do this is to give network users the freedom to book entry and exit capacity independently, thereby creating gas transport through zones instead of along contractual paths. The preference for entry-exit systems to facilitate the development of competition was already expressed by most stakeholders at the 6th Madrid Forum.

(10)

There is substantial contractual congestion in the gas networks. The congestion management and capacity allocation principles for new or newly negotiated contracts are therefore based on the freeing-up of unused capacity by enabling network users to sublet or re-sell their contracted capacities and the obligation of transmission system operators to offer unused capacity to the market, at least on a day-ahead and interruptible basis. Given the large proportion of existing contracts and the need to create a truly level playing field between users of new and existing capacity these principles need to be applied to all contracted capacity, including existing contracts.

(11)	Market monitoring undertaken over recent years by the national regulatory authorities and by the Commission has shown that current transparency requirements and rules on access to infrastructure are not sufficient to secure a genuine, well-functioning, efficient and open internal market .

(12)

Equal access to information on the physical status of the system is necessary to enable all market participants to assess the overall demand and supply situation and identify the reasons for movements in the wholesale price. This includes more precise information on supply and demand, network capacity, flows and maintenance, balancing and availability and usage of storage. The importance of this information for the functioning of the internal market for gas requires the lifting of the limitations to publication for confidentiality reasons.

(13)

To enhance trust in the market, its participants need to be sure that abusive behaviour can be sanctioned effectively . The competent authorities should be given the competence effectively to investigate allegations of market abuse. To this end, access by the competent authorities to data that provides information on operational decisions made by supply undertakings is necessary. In the gas market, all such decisions are communicated to the system operators in the form of capacity reservations, nominations and realised flows. System operators should keep information in relation thereto available to and easily accessible by the competent authorities for a fixed period of time. The competent authorities should, furthermore, regularly monitor the compliance of the system operators with the rules.

(14)

Competition for household consumers requires that suppliers not be blocked when they want to enter new retail markets. The rules and responsibilities governing the supply chain therefore need to be known to all market participants, and ║ need to be harmonised with a view to enhancing Community market integration. The competent authorities should regularly monitor the compliance of market participants with the rules.

(15)

Access to gas storage facilities and LNG facilities is insufficient in some Member States , and the implementation of the existing rules therefore needs to be radically improved. Monitoring by the European Regulators’ Group for electricity and gas (ERGEG) has shown that the storage system operators’ voluntary guidelines for good practices for third-party access, which were agreed by all stakeholders at the Madrid Forum, are, in some cases, being inadequately applied and therefore need to be given binding force. Even though the voluntary guidelines have been almost completely transposed throughout the European Union, lending them binding character would increase operators’ confidence in non-discriminatory access to storage.

(16)	Regulation (EC) No 1775/2005 provides that certain measures are to be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (6).

(17)

Decision 1999/468/EC has been amended by Council Decision 2006/512/EC (7) , which introduced a regulatory procedure with scrutiny for measures of general scope designed to amend non-essential elements of a basic instrument adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty, inter alia by deleting some of those elements or by supplementing the instrument by the addition of new non-essential elements.

(18)

In accordance with the ║ statement by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission (8) concerning Decision 2006/512/EC, for the regulatory procedure with scrutiny to be applicable to instruments adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty which are already in force, those instruments must be adjusted in accordance with the applicable procedures.

(19)

The Commission should be empowered to adopt the measures necessary for the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1775/2005 in order to establish or adopt the guidelines necessary for providing the minimum degree of harmonisation required to achieve the aim of this Regulation. Since those measures are of general scope and are designed to amend non-essential elements of Regulation (EC) No 1775/2005, inter alia by supplementing it with new non-essential elements, they must be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny provided for in Article 5a of Decision 1999/468/EC.

(20)	Regulation (EC) No 1775/2005 should therefore be amended accordingly,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 1775/2005 is amended as follows:

(1)

Article 1 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 1

Subject matter and scope

This Regulation ║:

(a)	establishes non-discriminatory rules for access conditions to natural gas transmission systems taking into account the specificities of national and regional markets with a view to ensuring the proper functioning of the internal market for gas;

(b)	establishes non-discriminatory rules for access conditions to LNG facilities and storage facilities;

(c)	facilitates the emergence of a well-functioning and transparent ▐ wholesale market with a high level of security of gas supply and provides mechanisms to harmonise the network access rules for cross-border exchange in gas.

Without prejudice to Article 6a(4), this Regulation, shall only apply to storage facilities falling under Article 19(3) or (4) of Directive 2003/55/EC.

The matters referred to in the first subparagraph shall include the establishment of harmonised principles for tariffs, or the methodologies underlying their calculation, for access to the network, the establishment of third-party access services and harmonised principles for capacity allocation and congestion management, the determination of transparency requirements, balancing rules and imbalance charges, and the facilitation of capacity trading.’

(2)

Article 2 shall be amended as follows:

(a)

║ paragraph 1 shall be amended as follows:

(i)

point 1 shall be replaced by the following:

‘ 1.

“transmission” means the transport of natural gas through a transit pipeline or through a pipeline network, which mainly contains high pressure pipelines, excluding transport through an upstream pipeline or pipeline network or pipelines or pipeline networks connecting storage to local distribution and generally excluding transport through pipelines primarily used in the context of local distribution of natural gas; ’

(ii)

the following points shall be added:

‘24.	“LNG-facility capacity” means capacity at an LNG-terminal for the liquefaction of natural gas or the importation, offloading, ancillary services, temporary storage and re-gasification of LNG,

25.	“space” means the volume of gas which a user of a storage facility is entitled to use for the storage of gas;

26.	“deliverability” means the rate at which the storage user is entitled to withdraw gas from the storage facility;

27.	“injectability” means the rate at which the storage user is entitled to inject gas into the storage facility;

28.	“storage capacity” means any combination of space, injectability and deliverability

29.	“Agency ” means the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators established by Regulation (EC) No …/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of … [on establishment of an Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators] (9)

(b)

paragraph 2 shall be replaced by the following:

‘2. Without prejudice to the definitions in paragraph 1 of this Article the definitions contained in Article 2 of Directive 2003/55/EC, which are relevant for the application of this Regulation, shall also apply with the exception of the definition of transmission in point 3 of that Article 2.

The definitions in points 3 to 23 in paragraph 1 of this Article in relation to transmission shall apply by analogy in relation to storage and LNG facilities.’

(3)

The following articles ║ shall be inserted after Article 2:

‘Article 2a

European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas

All transmission system operators shall cooperate at Community level through a European network of transmission system operators for gas in order to ensure the optimal management , coordinated operation and sound technical evolution of the European gas transmission network and to promote the completion of the internal market for gas, cross-border trade and the functioning of the energy markets .

Article 2b

Establishment of the European Network for Transmission System Operators for Gas

1. By […] ║ the transmission system operators for gas shall submit to the Commission and to the Agency ║ draft ║ statutes, a list of future members and draft rules of procedure ▐ with a view to establishing a European network of transmission system operators for gas ║.

2. Within two months from receipt, the Agency , after formally consulting the organisations representing all stakeholders, in particular the system users and customers, shall provide an opinion to the Commission on the draft statutes, list of members and draft rules of procedure.

3. The Commission shall deliver an opinion on the draft statutes, list of members and draft rules of procedure , taking into account the opinion of the Agency provided for in paragraph 2 and within three months of receipt thereof.

4. Within three months of receipt of the Commission's opinion, the transmission system operators shall establish the European Network for Transmission System Operators for Gas, adopt its statutes and rules of procedure and publish them.

Article 2c

Tasks of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas

1. In order to achieve the objectives set out in Article 2a, the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas shall agree and submit to the Agency for approval following the procedure provided for in Article 2d in conjunction with Article 6(3) of Regulation (EC) No …/2008 [establishing the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators], the following :

(a)	draft network codes in the areas mentioned in paragraph 3 , elaborated in cooperation with market participants and network users ;

(b)	common network operation tools and research plans;

(c)	a 10-year investment plan including a supply and demand adequacy report, every two years;

(d)	measures to ensure the real-time coordination of grid operation in normal and emergency conditions;

(e)	guidelines on the coordination of technical cooperation between Community and third-country transmission system operators;

(f)	an annual work programme based on the priorities set by the Agency ;

(g)	an annual report; and

(h)	annual summer and winter supply outlooks.

2. The annual work programme referred to in paragraph 1(f) shall contain a list and description of the network codes, a plan on coordination of operation of the network and research and development activities, to be drawn up in that year and an indicative calendar.

3. The detailed network codes shall cover the following areas, according to the priorities defined in the annual work programme:

(a)	security and reliability rules including interoperability rules and operational procedures for emergency situations ;

(b)	grid connection and access rules; ▐

(c)	cross-border capacity allocation and congestion management rules; ▐

(d)	network-related transparency rules;

(e)	balancing and settlement rules ▐; ▐

(f)	energy efficiency regarding gas networks.

4. The Agency shall monitor the implementation of the network codes by the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas .

5. The European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas shall publish a Community-wide 10-year network investment plan every two years following its approval by the Agency . The investment plan shall include the modelling of the integrated network, taking into account storage and LNG facilities, scenario development, a supply and demand adequacy report and an assessment of the resilience of the system. The investment plan shall, in particular, build on national investment plans taking into account Community and regional aspects of network planning, including the Guidelines for Trans-European energy networks in accordance with Decision No 1364/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (10) . The investment plan shall identify investment gaps, notably with respect to cross-border capacities , and shall include investments in interconnection, in particular, and as a priority, connections between energy islands and gas networks in the Community and investments in other infrastructure necessary for effective trading, competition and security of supply. A review of barriers to the increase of cross-border capacity of the network arising from different approval procedures or practices shall be annexed to the investment plan .

The transmission system operators shall implement the published investment plan .

6. ▐ The European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas , on its own initiative, may propose to the Agency draft network codes in any area other than those listed in paragraph 3, with a view to achieving the objectives set out in Article 2a. The Agency shall adopt the network codes following the procedure set out in Article 2f while ensuring that those codes are not in contradiction with the guidelines adopted under Article 2e.

Article 2d

Monitoring by the Agency

1. The Agency shall monitor the execution of the tasks referred to in Article 2c(1) of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas.

2. The European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas shall submit the draft network codes and the documents referred to in Article 2c(1) , to the Agency for approval .

The European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas shall collect all relevant information regarding the implementation of the network codes and submit it to the Agency for evaluation.

3. The Agency shall monitor the implementation of the technical codes, the 10-year investment plan and the ▐ annual work programme and shall include the results of that monitoring in its annual report. In the event of non-compliance with the network codes by the transmission system operators, the ▐ 10-year investment plan or the annual work programme of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas the Agency shall provide information thereof to the Commission .

Article 2e

Development of guidelines

1. The Commission shall, after consulting the Agency, establish an annual priority list identifying issues of primary importance for the development of the internal market for gas.

2. Having regard to the priority list, the Commission shall mandate the Agency to develop, within six months, draft guidelines establishing basic, clear and objective principles for the harmonisation of rules, as set out in Article 2c.

3. In drafting those guidelines, the Agency shall formally consult the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas and other stakeholders in an open and transparent manner.

4. The Agency shall adopt draft guidelines on the basis of that consultation. It shall specify the observations received during the consultation and explain how they were taken into account. It shall give reasons where observations have not been taken into account.

5. On its own initiative or at the request of the Agency, the Commission may initiate the same procedure to update the guidelines.

Article 2f

Development of network codes

1. Within six months of the adoption of the guidelines by the Agency and in accordance with Article 2e, the Commission shall mandate the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas to develop draft network codes in full compliance with the principles established in the guidelines.

2. In drafting those network codes, the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas shall take into consideration technical expertise from market participants and network users and shall keep them informed of progress.

3. The European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas shall submit the draft network codes to the Agency.

4. The Agency shall conduct a formal consultation in relation to the draft network codes in an open and transparent manner.

5. The Agency shall adopt the draft network codes on the basis of that consultation. It shall specify the observations received during the consultation and explain how they were taken into account. It shall give reasons where observations have not been taken into account.

6. On the Agency's own initiative or at the request of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas, a revision of the existing network codes may be undertaken following the same procedure.

7. The Commission may, on the recommendation of the Agency, submit the network codes to the Committee referred to in Article 14(1) for its final adoption in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 14(2).

Article 2g

Consultations

1. In carrying out its tasks, the Agency shall formally consult, ▐ in an open and transparent manner, ▐ all appropriate market participants. The consultation shall include supply undertakings, customers, system users, distribution system operators, LNG system operators and storage system operators, including relevant (industry) associations, technical bodies and stakeholder platforms.

2. All documents and minutes of meetings related to the issues referred to in paragraph 1 shall be made public.

3. Before adopting the guidelines and network codes, the Agency shall specify the observations received during the consultation and explain how they were taken into account. The Agency shall provide reasons where observations have not been taken into account.

4. The European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas shall cooperate with market participants and network users in accordance with Article 2f(2).

Article 2h

Costs

The costs relating to the activities of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas mentioned in Articles 2a to 2i shall be borne by the transmission system operators and shall be taken into account in the calculation of tariffs.

Article 2i

Regional cooperation of transmission system operators

1. Transmission system operators shall establish regional cooperation within the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas to contribute to the tasks mentioned in Article 2c(1). In particular, they shall publish a regional investment plan every two years, and may take investment decisions based thereon.

The regional investment plan may not be contradictory to the 10 year investment plan referred to in Article 2c(1)(c).

2. Transmission system operators shall promote operational arrangements in order to ensure optimum management of the network, and promote the development of energy exchanges, the coordinated allocation of cross-border capacity ▐ and the compatibility of cross-border balancing mechanisms.

3. The national regulatory authorities and other relevant national authorities shall cooperate at all levels for the purpose of harmonising the market design and integrating their national markets at least at one or more regional levels, as a first and intermediate step towards a fully liberalised internal market. In particular, they shall promote the cooperation of transmission network operators at a regional level and facilitate their regional integration with a view to creating a competitive internal market, facilitating harmonisation of their regulatory and technical frameworks and, in particular, integrating persisting gas islands.

(4)

║ Article 3(1) shall be amended as follows:

(a)

subparagraph 1 shall be replaced by the following:

‘ 1. Tariffs, or the methodologies used to calculate them, applied by transmission system and LNG system operators and approved by the regulatory authorities pursuant to Article 25(2) of Directive 2003/55/EC, as well as tariffs published pursuant to Article 18(1) of that Directive, shall be transparent, take into account the need for system integrity and its improvement and reflect actual costs incurred, insofar as such costs correspond to those of an efficient and structurally comparable network operator and are transparent, whilst including appropriate return on investments. Tariffs, or the methodologies used to calculate them, shall be applied in a non-discriminatory manner. ’

(b)

subparagraph 3 shall be replaced by the following:

‘ Tariffs, or the methodologies used to calculate them, shall facilitate efficient gas trade and competition, while at the same time avoiding cross-subsidies between network users and providing incentives for investment and maintaining or creating interoperability for transmission networks. This may involve special regulatory treatment for new investment. ’

(c)

the following subparagraphs shall be added:

‘Tariffs for network users shall be set separately and independently per entry point into or exit point out of the transmission system. Network charges shall not be calculated on the basis of contract paths. Access to the network shall be open to new entrants on a non-discriminatory basis.

Tariffs, or the methodologies used to calculate them, shall be applied in a non-discriminatory manner and shall be transparent. ’

(5)	The title of Article 4 is replaced by the following: ‘Third-party access services concerning transmission system operators;’

(6)

The following article shall be inserted after Article 4:

‘Article 4a

Third-Party Access services concerning storage and LNG facilities

1. LNG and storage system operators shall:

(a)	ensure that they offer services on a non-discriminatory basis to all network users that accommodate market demand; in particular, where an LNG or storage system operator offers the same service to different customers simultaneously , it shall do so under equivalent contractual terms and conditions;

(b)	offer services that are compatible with the use of the interconnected gas transportation systems and ease access through cooperation with the transmission system operator;

(c)	make relevant information public, in particular data on the use and availability of services, in a time frame compatible with the storage and LNG facility users’ reasonable commercial needs , subject to the monitoring of such publication by the competent authority .

2. Storage system operators shall:

(a)	provide both firm and interruptible third-party access services; the price of interruptible capacity shall reflect the probability of interruption;

(b)	offer to storage facility users both long- and short-term services;

(c)	offer to storage facility users both bundled and unbundled services of storage space, injectability and deliverability.

3. LNG and storage facility contracts shall not result in arbitrarily higher tariffs in the event that they are signed:

(a)	outside ║ a natural gas year with non-standard start dates; or

(b)	with a shorter duration than a standard transport and storage contract on an annual basis.

4. Where appropriate, third-party access services may be granted subject to appropriate guarantees from network users with respect to the creditworthiness of such users. Such guarantees must not constitute any undue market entry barriers and must be non-discriminatory, transparent and proportionate.

5. Contractual limits on the required minimum size of LNG facility capacity and storage capacity shall be justified on the basis of technical constraints, and shall permit smaller storage users to gain access to storage services.’

(7)

Article 5 shall be amended as follows:

(a)	the title shall be replaced by the following: ‘Principles of capacity allocation mechanisms and congestion management procedures concerning transmission system operators’

(b)

paragraph 2(a) shall be replaced by the following:

‘ (a)

provide appropriate economic signals for efficient and maximum use of technical capacity, facilitate investment in new infrastructure and facilitate cross-border trade in gas. ’

(c)

paragraph 3 shall be replaced by the following:

‘3. Transmission system operators shall implement and publish non-discriminatory and transparent congestion management procedures which facilitate cross-border trade in gas on a non-discriminatory basis and in accordance with the principles of free competition .

To prevent contractual congestion, the transmission system operator shall offer unused capacity on the primary market at least on a day-ahead basis insofar as this does not prevent the implementation of long-term supply contracts .’

(d)	paragraph 4 shall be deleted;

(e)

the following paragraphs shall be added:

‘6. Transmission system operators shall regularly assess market demand for new investment. When planning new investments, transmission system operators shall assess market demand and take into account security of supply criteria .

7. In the event of long-term physical congestion, the transmission system operators shall relieve congestion by adding new capacities according to market demand. In order to assess market demand, the transmission system operators shall undertake open-season procedures .

8. The national regulatory authorities shall monitor congestion management within national gas systems and interconnectors.

The transmission system operators shall submit their congestion management procedures, including capacity allocation, for approval to the national regulatory authorities. The national regulatory authorities may request amendments to those procedures before approving them. ’

(8)

The following article shall be inserted after Article 5:

‘Article 5a

Principles of Capacity allocation mechanisms and congestion management procedures concerning storage facilities and LNG facilities

1. The maximum storage and LNG facility capacity shall be made available to market participants, taking into account system integrity and operation.

2. LNG and storage system operators shall implement and publish non-discriminatory and transparent capacity allocation mechanisms which shall:

(a)	provide appropriate economic signals for the efficient and maximum use of capacity and facilitate investment in new infrastructure;

(b)	be compatible with the market mechanism including spot markets and trading hubs, while being flexible and capable of adapting to evolving market circumstances;

(c)	be compatible with the connected network access systems.

3. LNG and storage facility contracts shall include measures to prevent capacity-hoarding, by taking into account the following principles, which shall apply in cases of contractual congestion:

(a)	the system operator shall offer unused LNG facility and storage capacity on the primary market without delay ; for storage facilities this shall be at least on a day-ahead and interruptible basis,

(b)	LNG and storage facility users who wish to re-sell their contracted capacity on the secondary market shall be entitled to do so.

Those measures shall take into account the integrity of the system concerned as well as security of supply. ’

(9)

Article 6 shall be amended as follows:

(a)	the title shall be replaced by the following: ‘Transparency requirements concerning transmission system operators’

(b)	paragraph 5 shall be deleted;

(c)

the following paragraph shall be added;

‘7. Transmission system operators shall make public ex-ante and ex-post supply and demand information, based on nominations, forecasts and realised flows in and out of the system. The level of detail of the information that is made public shall reflect the information available to the transmission system operator. The competent authority shall ensure that all necessary information is published .

Transmission system operators shall inform the national regulatory authority, on request, of measures taken as well as of costs incurred and revenues generated to balance the system.

The market participants concerned shall provide the transmission system operators with the data referred to in this Article.;’

(10)

The following articles shall be inserted after Article 6:

‘Article 6a

Transparency requirements concerning storage facilities and LNG facilities

1. LNG and storage system operators shall make public detailed information regarding the services they offer and the relevant conditions applied, together with the technical information necessary for LNG and storage facility users to gain effective access to the LNG and storage facilities.

2. For the services provided, each LNG and storage system operator shall make public information on contracted and available storage and LNG facility capacities numerically, on a regular and rolling basis and in a user-friendly and standardised manner. The competent authority shall ensure that all necessary information is published.

3. LNG and storage system operators shall always disclose the information required by this Regulation in a meaningful, easily quantifiable and easily accessible way and on a non-discriminatory basis.

4. All LNG and storage system operators shall make public the amount of gas in each storage facility, group of storage facilities in the same balancing zone, or LNG facility, inflows and outflows, and the available storage and LNG facility capacities, including for those facilities exempted from third-party access. The information shall also be communicated to the transmission system operator who shall make it public on an aggregated level per system or subsystem defined by the relevant points. The information shall be updated at least on a daily basis.

5. In order to ensure transparent, objective and non-discriminatory tariffs and to facilitate efficient utilisation of the infrastructures, the LNG and storage facility operators or relevant regulatory authorities shall publish reasonably and sufficiently detailed information on tariff derivation, methodologies and structure of tariffs for infrastructure under regulated third-party access. LNG and storage facility operators shall submit their congestion management procedures including capacity allocation for approval to the regulatory authorities. The regulatory authorities may request amendments to those procedures before approving them.

6. Where a LNG or storage facility operator considers that it is not entitled, for reasons of confidentiality, to make public all the data required, it shall seek the authorisation of the national regulatory authority to limit publication with respect to the point or points in question.

The national regulatory authority shall grant or refuse the authorisation on a case-by-case basis, taking into account in particular the need to respect legitimate commercial confidentiality and the objective of creating a competitive internal market for gas. If the authorisation is granted, available storage and/or LNG facility capacity shall be published without indicating the numerical data that would contravene confidentiality.

Article 6b

Record keeping for system operators

Transmission system operators, storage system operators and LNG system operators shall keep at the disposal of the national regulatory authority, the national competition authority and the Commission all information referred to in Article 6 and 6a, and in part 3 of the Annex for a period of five years.’

(11)

Article 7 shall be amended as follows:

(a)	the following sentence shall be added at the end of paragraph 1: ‘Balancing rules shall be market based.’

(b)

paragraph 2 shall be replaced by the following:

‘2. In order to enable network users to take timely corrective action, transmission system operators shall provide sufficient, well-timed and reliable on-line based information on the balancing status of network users.

The information provided shall reflect the level of information available to the transmission system operator and the settlement period for which imbalance charges are calculated.

No charge shall be made for the provision of such information.’

(c)	paragraphs 4, 5 and 6 shall be deleted;

(12)

Article 8 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 8

Trading of capacity rights

Each transmission, storage and LNG system operator shall take reasonable steps to allow capacity rights to be freely tradable and to facilitate such trade. Trading shall take place subject to the principles of transparency and non-discrimination. Each such operator shall develop harmonised transportation, LNG facility and storage contracts and procedures on the primary market to facilitate secondary trade of capacity and recognise the transfer of primary capacity rights where notified by system users.

The harmonised transportation, LNG facility and storage contracts and procedures shall be notified to the regulatory authorities.’

(13)

The following article shall be inserted after Article 8:

‘Article 8a

Retail markets

In order to facilitate the emergence of well-functioning, effective and transparent ▐ markets on a regional and Community scale, Member States shall ensure that the roles and responsibilities of transmission system operators, distribution system operators, supply undertakings and customers and if necessary other market participants are defined in detail with respect to contractual arrangements, commitment to customers, data exchange and settlement rules, data ownership and metering responsibility.

Those rules shall be made public ▐ and shall be subject to review by the regulatory authorities.’

(14)

║ Article 9 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 9

Guidelines on third-party access services

1. Where appropriate, the Commission may adopt guidelines providing the minimum degree of harmonisation required to achieve the aim of this Regulation , which shall specify ▐ details of third-party access services including the character, duration and other requirements of these services, in accordance with Articles 4 and 4a.

▐

2. The guidelines on third-party access referred to in paragraph 1 shall be laid down in the Annex with respect to transmission system operators.

3. The application and amendment of Guidelines on third-party access adopted pursuant to this Article shall reflect differences between national gas systems, and shall therefore not require uniform detailed terms and conditions of third party access at Community level. They may, however, set minimum requirements to be met to achieve non-discriminatory and transparent network access conditions necessary for an internal gas market, which may then be applied in the light of differences between national gas systems. ’

(15)

Article 13(1) shall be replaced by the following:

‘ 1. The Member States shall ensure that national regulatory authorities established under Article 25 of Directive 2003/55/EC have the competence to ensure effective compliance with this Regulation by providing them with the power, in relation to any single breach, either to impose effective, dissuasive and proportionate penalties of up to 10 % of the system operator's annual turnover in its domestic market or to revoke the operator's licence. The Member States shall inform the Commission thereof by 1 January 2010 and shall inform it without delay of any subsequent amendments. ’

(16)	Article 14(2) shall be replaced by the following: ‘2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5a(1) to (4), and Article 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.’

(17)

Article 16(b) shall be replaced by the following:

‘(b)

interconnectors between Member States, LNG and storage facilities and significant increases of capacity in existing infrastructures and modifications of such infrastructures which enable the development of new sources of gas supply as referred to in Article 22(1) and (2) of Directive 2003/55/EC which are exempted from the provisions of Articles 7, 18, 19, 20 or 25(2), (3) and (4) of that Directive as long as they are exempted from the provisions referred to in this subparagraph, with the exception of Article 6a(4) of this Regulation; or’

(18)

The Annex shall be amended as follows: