# Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1391/2013Show full title

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1391/2013 of 14 October 2013 amending Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 of the European            Parliament and of the Council on guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure as regards the Union list of projects            of common interest         

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U.K.

# Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1391/2013                     

# of 14 October 2013

# amending Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on guidelines for trans-European energy                        infrastructure as regards the Union list of projects of common interest                     

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2013 on guidelines                           for trans-European energy infrastructure and repealing Decision No 1364/2006/EC and amending Regulations (EC) No 713/2009,                           (EC) No 714/2009 and (EC) No 715/2009(1), and in particular Article 3(4) thereof,                        

Whereas:

(1)Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 sets out a new framework for infrastructure planning and project implementation for the period                              up to 2020 and beyond. It identifies nine strategic geographic infrastructure priority corridors in the domains of electricity,                              gas and oil, and three Union-wide infrastructure priority areas for electricity highways, smart grids and carbon dioxide transportation                              networks, and establishes a transparent and inclusive process to identify concrete projects of common interest (PCIs). Projects                              labelled as PCIs will benefit from accelerated and streamlined permit granting procedures, better regulatory treatment and                              – where appropriate – financial support under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).

(2)Pursuant to Article 3(4) of Regulation (EU) No 347/2013, the Commission is to be empowered to adopt delegated acts to establish                              the Union list of PCIs (Union list) on the basis of the regional lists adopted by the decision-making bodies of the Regional                              Groups as established under that Regulation.

(3)Project proposals submitted for inclusion in the first Union list of PCIs were assessed by the Regional Groups established                              under Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 and composed of representatives of the Member States, national regulatory authorities, transmission                              system operators (TSOs), as well as the Commission, the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (the Agency) and the                              European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity and Gas (ENTSO-E and ENTSOG).

(4)In the context of the work of the Regional Groups, organisations representing relevant stakeholders, including producers,                              distribution system operators, suppliers, consumers, and organisations for environmental protection, were consulted.

(5)The draft regional lists were agreed upon during a meeting at technical level, comprising representatives of the Commission                              and of the relevant Member States, on 13 July 2013. Following an opinion by the Agency on the draft regional lists submitted                              on 17 July 2013, the final regional lists were adopted by the decision-making bodies of the Regional Groups on 24 July 2013.                              All of the proposed projects obtained the approval of the Member States to which territory they relate, in accordance with                              Article 172 of the TFEU and with Article 3(3)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 347/2013.

(6)The Union list of PCIs is based on the final regional lists. One project had to be removed from the list due to on-going discussions                              on the designation of Natura 2000 sites.

(7)The projects on this first Union list of PCIs were assessed against, and found to meet, the criteria for projects of common                              interest set out in Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 347/2013.

(8)Cross-regional consistency was ensured, taking into account the opinion of the Agency submitted on 17 July 2013.

(9)The PCIs are listed according to the order of the priority corridors set out in Annex I of Regulation (EU) No 347/2013. The                              list does not contain any ranking of projects.

(10)PCIs are either listed as stand-alone PCIs or as part of a cluster of several PCIs. Some PCIs have been clustered because                              of their interdependent, potentially competing or competing nature(2). All PCIs are subject to the same rights and obligations established by Regulation (EU) No 347/2013.

(11)The Union list contains PCIs in different stages of their development. Some are still in the early phases, i.e. the pre-feasibility,                              feasibility or assessment phases. In those cases, studies are still needed to demonstrate that the projects are technically                              and economically viable, and that they are compliant with Union legislation, and with Union environmental legislation in particular.                              In this context, potential impacts on the environment should be adequately identified, assessed and avoided or mitigated.

(12)The inclusion of projects in the Union list of PCIs, in particular of those still in the early phases, is without prejudice                              to the outcome of relevant environmental assessment and permitting procedures. Projects not in compliance with Union legislation                              should be removed from the Union list of PCIs. The implementation of the PCIs, including their compliance with EU legislation,                              should be monitored at national level and pursuant to Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 347/2013.

(13)Pursuant to Article 3(4) of Regulation (EU) No 347/2013, the Union list is to take the form of an annex to that Regulation.

(14)Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 should therefore be amended accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

# Article 1U.K.

An Annex VII is added to Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 in accordance with the Annex to this Regulation.

# Article 2U.K.

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the *Official Journal of the European Union*.                  

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 14 October 2013.

*For the Commission*                            

*The President*                            

José Manuel Barroso                            

## ANNEXU.K.

The following annex is added to Regulation (EU) No 347/2013:

### “ANNEX VII**Union list of projects of common interest (“union list”), referred to in Article 3(4)**

#### A.The Commission applied the following principles when establishing the Union list:U.K.

##### 1.*Clusters of PCIs*U.K.

Some PCIs form part of a cluster because of their interdependent, potentially competing or competing nature. The following                     principles were applied for the clustering of PCIs:                  
          -  A **cluster of interdependent PCIs** is defined as a “Cluster X including the following PCIs”. Clusters of interdependent projects have been formed to identify                           those projects which are all needed to address the same bottleneck across country borders and which provide synergies if realised                           together. In this case, all projects have to be implemented to realise the Union-wide benefits.                         
          -  A **cluster of potentially competing PCIs** is defined as a “Cluster X including one or more of the following PCIs”. Clusters of potentially competing projects reflect                           uncertainty around the extent of the bottleneck across country borders. In this case, not all of the PCIs contained in the                           clusters have to be implemented. It is left to the market whether all, several or one of the projects go ahead, subject to                           the necessary planning, permitting and regulatory approvals. The need for the projects shall be reassessed in the subsequent                           PCI identification process, including with regard to the capacity needs.                         
          -  A **cluster of competing PCIs** is defined as a “Cluster X including one of the following PCIs”. Clusters of competing projects address the same bottleneck                           across country borders. However, the extent of the bottleneck is more certain than in the second case above and it is therefore                           clear that only one of the PCIs has to be implemented. It is left to the market which one of the projects goes ahead, subject                           to the necessary planning, permitting and regulatory approvals. Where necessary, the need for the projects shall be reassessed                           in the subsequent PCI identification process.                         

All PCIs are subject to the same rights and obligations established by Regulation (EU) No 347/2013.

##### 2.*Treatment of substations, back-to-back stations and compressor stations*U.K.

Substations and back-to-back stations in electricity and compressor stations in gas are considered as part of the PCIs and                     are not mentioned explicitly, if they are geographically located on the transmission line. If they are placed in a different                     location, they are explicitly mentioned. These items are subject to the rights and obligations of Regulation (EU) No 347/2013.                  

#### B.Union list of projects of common interest:U.K.

##### 1.**Priority corridor Northern Seas offshore grid (“NSOG”)**U.K.

##### 2.**Priority corridor North-South electricity interconnections in Western Europe (“NSI West Electricity”)**U.K.

##### 3.**Priority corridor North-South electricity interconnections in Central Eastern and South Eastern Europe (“NSI East Electricity”)**U.K.

##### 4.**Priority corridor Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan (“BEMIP Electricity”)**U.K.

##### 5.**Priority corridor North-South gas interconnections in Western Europe (“NSI West Gas”)**U.K.

Projects allowing bidirectional flows between Ireland and the United Kingdom:

Projects allowing bidirectional flows between Portugal, Spain France and Germany:

Bidirectional flows between Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium/France:

Development of interconnections between the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Luxembourg:

Other projects:

##### 6.**Priority corridor North-South gas interconnections in Central Eastern and South Eastern Europe (“NSI East Gas”)**U.K.

Projects allowing bidirectional flows between Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary linking the LNG terminals in Poland                     and Croatia:                  

Projects allowing gas to flow from Croatian LNG terminal to neighbouring countries:

Projects allowing gas flows from the Southern Gas Corridor and/or LNG terminals in Greece through Greece, Bulgaria, Romania,                     Serbia and further to Hungary as well as Ukraine, including reverse flow capability from south to north and integration of                     transit and transmission systems:                  

Projects allowing gas from the Southern gas corridor and/or LNG terminals reaching Italy to flow towards the north to Austria,                     Germany and Czech Republic (as well as towards the NSI West corridor):                  

Projects allowing development of underground gas storage capacity in South-Eastern Europe:

Other projects:

##### 7.**Priority corridor Southern Gas Corridor (“SGC”)**U.K.

##### 8.**Priority corridor Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan in gas (“BEMIP Gas”)**U.K.

##### 9.**Priority corridor Oil Supply Connections in Central Eastern Europe (OSC)**U.K.

##### 10.**Priority thematic area Smart Grids Deployment**U.K.

1

OJ L 115, 25.4.2013, p. 39.                           

2

As explained in the Annex.