Notice concerning a request pursuant to Article 30 of Directive 2004/17/EC

Request from a contracting entity

2011/C 228/09

On 19 July 2011 the Commission received a request pursuant to Article 30(5) of Directive 2004/17/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 coordinating the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors. The first working day following receipt of the request is 20 July 2011.

The request, made by RWE Gas Storage, concerns gas storage in the Czech Republic. Article 30 provides that Directive 2004/17/EC does not apply where the activity in question is directly exposed to competition on markets to which access is not restricted. These conditions are evaluated solely for the purposes of Directive 2004/17/EC and are without prejudice to the application of competition rules.

The Commission has a period of three months, as from the working day referred to above, within which to take a decision on this request. The period therefore ends on 20 October 2011.

This period may be extended by three months. Notice of any such extension must be published.

In accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 30(6), further requests concerning exploration for and extraction of oil and gas in the Czech Republic submitted before the expiry of the period opened in respect of this request shall not be considered as new procedures and shall be treated in the context of this request.