1996D1254 — EN — 06.08.1999 — 002.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B DECISION No 1254/96/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
of 5 June 1996
laying down a series of guidelines for trans-European energy networks
(OJ L 161, 29.6.1996, p. 147)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1Decision No 1047/97/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
of 29 May 1997 L 152 12 11.6.1997
►M2Decision No 1741/1999/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 29 July 1999 L 207 1 6.8.1999
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DECISION No 1254/96/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
AND OF THE COUNCIL
of 5 June 1996
laying down a series of guidelines for trans-European energy
networks
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EURO-
PEAN UNION,
Havingreg ard to the Treaty establishingthe European Community, and
in particular the first paragraph of Article 129d thereof,
Havingreg ard to the proposal from the Commission(1),
Havingreg ard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee(2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (3),
Actingin accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189b of
the Treaty(4) in the light of the joint text approved on 4 April 1996 by
the Conciliation Committee,
1. Whereas, by its very nature, energy must be produced, distributed
and used as rationally as possible with a view to sustainable develop-ment and whereas the capacity to develop renewable energy resourcesin the regions concerned must in no way be hindered or held back;
2. Whereas the establishment and development of trans-European
energy networks contribute towards attaining major objectives of theCommunity, such as completion of the internal market and the strength-eningof economic and social cohesion;
3. Whereas the establishment and development of trans-European
energy networks throughout the territory of the Community also havethe specific objectives of increasingthe reliability and security of theCommunity’s energy supplies and of allowing balanced operation of theinternal energy market and an improvement in the Community’scompetitiveness;
4. Whereas efforts must be made, in the planning, development and
construction of the links currently missingfrom the trans-Europeannetworks for the transport of energy products, to ensure that these linksare as short as possible and optimally sited, takingeconomic andenvironmental factors into account;
5. Whereas, in order to contribute towards attainingthe said objectives,
the development of interconnections of electricity and natural gas trans-mission networks in the Community must be accelerated, particularly inthe regions where improvements to the networks are necessary or inregions which are still isolated, and with the third countries in Europeand in the Mediterranean region;
6. Whereas, in order to complete the internal market in energy, meas-
ures must be incorporated in an overall energy strategy which not onlyspecifies the main criteria and objectives of the Community in this fieldbut also defines more particularly the conditions for liberalizingthemarket in energy products;
(1) OJ No C 72, 10. 3. 1994, p. 10 and OJ No C 205, 10. 8. 1995, p. 6.
(2) OJ No C 195, 18. 7. 1994, p. 33.
(3) OJ No C 217, 6. 8. 1994, p. 26.
(4) Opinion of the European Parliament of 18 May 1995, (OJ No C 151, 19.
6. 1995, p. 228), common position of the Council of 29 June 1995 (OJNo C 216, 21. 8. 1995, p. 31) and Decision of the European Parliamentof 26 October 1995 (OJ No C 308, 20. 11. 1995, p. 113). Decision of theCouncil of 7 May 1996 and Decision of the European Parliament of 21May 1996 (not yet published in the Official Journal).
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7. Whereas the interconnection of electricity and gas networks with
third countries which are signatories to the Energy Charter Treaty(1)
must be carried out in accordance with that Treaty;
8. Whereas action by the Community to establish guidelines on trans-
European energy networks is necessary, subject to the principle ofsubsidiarity;
9. Whereas, in order to develop these networks on a Community-wide
scale, it is necessary to identify projects of common interest and tocreate a more favourable context for the completion and interoperabilityof these networks;
10. Whereas projects of common interest must meet the said objectives
and form part of the said priorities; whereas only those projects shouldbe considered which display potential economic viability, takingintoaccount economic, social and technical factors; whereas, in this context,the concept of viability includes not only the financial profitability ofthe projects but also other considerations such as the reliability andsecurity of energy supplies, the strengthening of economic and socialcohesion and protection of the environment in the Community;
11. Whereas private capital is used and will continue to be used in a
majority of projects in the energy sector; whereas this means that theidentification of projects of common interest will have to take particularaccount of the need to avoid distortions of competition;
12. Whereas the guidelines identifying projects of common interest for
the purposes of Article 129c (1), first indent, of the Treaty shall beadopted in accordance with Article 129d, first and second paragraphs;
13. Whereas the projects of common interest should be identified by
means of a sufficiently precise description; whereas a list of theseprojects and the description thereof as it appears in the Annex aretherefore the most appropriate way of identifyingthem for the purposesof Article 129c of the Treaty;
14. Whereas the procedure laid down in Article 129d, first and second
paragraphs, of the Treaty is also applicable where the list of projects isto be extended or reduced;
15. Whereas the Commission shall be responsible for layingdown the
specifications of the projects, which shall not affect their trans-Europeandimension;
16. Whereas the Commission shall be responsible for updatingprojects
without that process beingallowed to affect the identity of a project inits trans-European dimension.
17. Whereas the Commission shall be assisted by a committee;18. Whereas a modus vivendi was concluded on 20 December 1994 (
2)
between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commissionconcerningthe implementingmeasures for acts adopted in accordancewith the procedure laid down in Article 189b of the Treaty,
HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
Purpose
This Decision defines the nature and scope of Community action to
establish guidelines for trans-European energy networks. It establishes aseries of guidelines covering the objectives, priorities and broad lines ofmeasures by the Community in respect of trans-European energynetworks. These guidelines identify projects of common interest amongtrans-European electricity and natural gas networks.
(1) OJ No L 380, 31. 12. 1994, p. 24.
(2) OJ No C 102, 4. 4. 1996, p. 1.
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Article 2
Scope
This Decision applies:
1. in electricity networks, to:
— all high-voltage lines, excluding those of distribution networks,
and submarine links, provided this infrastructure is used forinter-regional or international transmission,
— any equipment or installations essential for the system in ques-
tion to operate properly, includingprotection, monitoringandcontrol systems;
2. in natural gas networks, to:
— high-pressure gas pipelines, excluding those of distribution
networks, makingit possible to supply reg ions of the Communityfrom internal or external sources,
— underground storage facilities connected to the above-mentioned
high-pressure gas pipelines,
— reception, storage and regasification facilities for liquefied
natural gas (LNG) and also gas carriers according to the capaci-ties to be supplied,
— any equipment or installations essential for the system in ques-
tion to operate properly, includingprotection, monitoringandcontrol systems.
Article 3
Objectives
The Community shall promote the interconnection, interoperability and
development of trans-European energy networks and access to suchnetworks in accordance with current Community law, with the aim of:
— allowingeffective operation of the internal market in g eneral and of
the internal energy market in particular, while encouraging therational production, distribution and utilization of energy resourcesand the development of renewable energy resources, so as to reducethe cost of energy to the consumer and render the Europeaneconomy more competitive,
— facilitatingthe development and reducingthe isolation of the less-
favoured regions of the Community, thereby helping to strengtheneconomic and social cohesion,
— reinforcing the security of energy supplies, for example by strength-
eningrelations with third countries in the energ y sector in theirmutual interest, in particular in the framework of the Energy CharterTreaty and cooperation agreements concluded by the Community.
Article 4
Priorities
The priorities for action by the Community on trans-European energy
networks shall be as follows:
1. for electricity networks:
— the connection of isolated electricity networks to the intercon-
nected European networks (a),
— the development of interconnections between Member States (b)
and of internal connections insofar as necessary in order to makethe best use of these interconnections (c),
— the development of interconnections with third countries in
Europe and the Mediterranean region which contribute toimprovingthe reliability and security of the Community’s elec-tricity networks or to supplyingthe Community with electricity(d);
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2. for natural gas networks:
— the introduction of natural gas into new regions (e),
— the connection of isolated gas networks to the interconnected
European networks, includingthe improvements needed to theexistingnetworks for this purpose and the connection of theseparate natural gas networks (f),
— increasingthe transmission (g as delivery pipelines) (h), reception
(LNG) and storage (g) capacities needed to satisfy demand, anddiversification of supply sources and routes for natural gas.
Article 5
Lines of action
The broad lines of action by the Community on trans-European energy
networks shall be:
— the identification of projects of common interest,
— the creation of a more favourable context for development of these
networks, in accordance with the third paragraph of Article 129d ofthe Treaty.
Article 6
Criteria
1. Any energy network project which satisfies all the following
criteria may be of common interest:
— it falls within the scope of Article 2,
— it corresponds to the objectives and priorities set out in Articles 3
and 4 respectively,
— it displays potential economic viability.
2. An indicative list of projects of common interest is given in the
Annex.
3. Any modification which changes the description of a project as it
appears in the Annex shall be decided upon in accordance with theprocedure laid down in Article 189b of the Treaty.
4. Project specifications shall not appear in the Annex. They shall be
adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 9.
Any application, by a Member State or the Commission, for updating
the specifications of a project shall be submitted by the Commissionand decided upon in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article9.
5. The criteria set out in paragraph 1 shall apply when a decision is
taken on modifications, specifications or applications for updating.
Projects of common interest which relate to the territory of a Member
State shall require the approval of the Member State concerned.
6. Member States shall take any measures they consider necessary to
facilitate and speed up the completion of projects of common interestand to minimize delays while complyingwith Community law andinternational conventions on the environment. In particular, the neces-sary authorization procedures shall be completed rapidly.
7. Where parts of projects of common interest are situated within the
territory of third countries, the Commission may, by agreement with theMember States concerned, put forward proposals, where appropriatewithin the framework of the management of the agreements between theCommunity and those third countries and in accordance with the EnergyCharter Treaty in respect of third countries which are signatories to thatTreaty, for the projects also to be recognized as of reciprocal interest bythe third countries concerned, in order to facilitate their implementation.
8. The evaluation of the economic viability referred to in the third
indent of paragraph 1 shall be based upon a cost-benefit analysis whichshall take account of all costs and benefits, includingthose in the
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medium and/or longterm, in connection with environmental aspects,security of supply and the contribution to economic and social cohesion.
Article 7
When projects are considered, an effort shall be made to take into
account the effects on competition and the prospects of privatefinancingor financingby the economic operators concerned.
Article 8
This Decision shall be without prejudice to any financial commitment
by a Member State or the Community.
Article 9
Committee procedure
1. The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee composed of
the representatives of the Member States and chaired by the repres-entative of the Commission.
2. The representative of the Commission shall submit to the
Committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The Committee shalldeliver its opinion on the draft within a time limit which the Chairmanmay lay down accordingto the urg ency of the matter. The opinion shallbe delivered by the majority laid down in Article 148 (2) of the Treatyin the case of decisions which the Council is required to adopt on aproposal from the Commission. The votes of the representatives of theMember States within the Committee shall be weighted in the mannerset out in that Article. The Chairman shall not vote.
3. (a) The Commission shall adopt the measures envisaged if they are
in accordance with the opinion of the Committee.
(b) If the measures envisaged are not in accordance with the opinion
of the Committee, or if no opinion is delivered, the Commissionshall, without delay, submit to the Council a proposal relatingtothe measures to be taken. The Council shall act by a qualifiedmajority.
If, on the expiry of a period of three months from the date of
referral to the Council, the Council has not acted, the proposedmeasures shall be adopted by the Commission.
Article 10
Every two years the Commission shall draw up a report on the imple-
mentation of this Decision, which it shall submit to the EuropeanParliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and theCommittee of the Regions.
Article 11
This Decision shall enter into force on the third day followingits
publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities .
Article 12
This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
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ANNEX
TRANS-EUROPEAN ENERGY NETWORKS
Indicative list of projects of common interest (1)
ELECTRICITY NETWORKS
(a)Connection of isolated electricity networks to European interconnected networks
a1UnitedKingdom: connection by submarine cable of Northern Ireland to
Scotland;
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a2Ireland-UnitedKingdom
(Wales):connection by submarine cable of the network of Ireland to
the network of the United Kingdom (Wales);
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a4Greece—Italy: connection by submarine cable of Greek network to Italian
network through north-western Greece and south-easternItaly;
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a7UnitedKingdom: connection by submarine cable of the Isle of Man;
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a8UnitedKingdom(Scotland): connection by submarine cable of the Shetland Islands;
a9Greece: connections between the islands, and between the islands
and the mainland;
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(b)Development of interconnections between Member States
b1Germany—Denmark: connection by submarine cable between the German
network (UCPTE) and Denmark’s eastern network(Nordel);
b4France—Belgium: completion of connection between the two countries’
networks through north-eastern France and southernBelgium;
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b5France—Germany:strengthening of the connections between the two coun-
tries;
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b6France—Italy: connection between the two countries’ networks through
south-eastern France and north-western Italy;
b7France—Spain: Land connection between the two countries’ networks
through south-western France and northern Spain;
b9Belgium—Luxembourg: connection between the two countries’ networks;
b1 0Spain—Portugal: strengthening and completion of connections between the
two countries through the regions of northern Portugal andnorth-western Spain;
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b1 0( a )Spain—Portugal: new connection between the two countries through the
southern region of Portugal and the south-west of Spain;
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b1 1Finland—Sweden: strengthening interconnections north of the Gulf of
Bothnia;
b1 2Austria—Italy: strengthening connections between the North of Italy and
the Austrian network;
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b1 3Ireland—UnitedKingdom
(NorthernIreland):strengthening of connections between Ireland and Northern
Ireland;
b1 4Austria—Germany: strengthening of the connections between the two coun-
tries;
b1 5Netherlands—United
Kingdom:connection by submarine cable between south-east
England and central Netherlands;
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b1 6Denmark-Germany: strengthening the aerial connections between the two coun-
tries;
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(c)Development of internal connections necessary to make the best use of interconnections
between Member States
c2Denmark: connections by submarine cable between the country’s
western (UCPTE) and eastern (Nordel) networks;
c3Netherlands: strengthening connections in the North-East of the country;
c4France: strengthening connections in the North-East of the country;
c5Italy: streng theningand developingconnections on the East-
West axes in the North of the country and on the North-South axis;
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c 5 (a)Italy: strengthening and development of connections on the east-
west axis in the north-west of the country and on thenorth-south axis in the centre of the country;
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c6Spain: strengthening and development of internal connections;
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c7Portugal: strengthening connections necessary for inter-connections
with Spain in the North and Centre of the country;
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c8Greece: strengthening and development of internal connections;
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c9Ireland: strengthening of connections in the north-west of the
country;
c1 0Spain: strengthening and development of connections in the
north-east and west of the country, in particular to connectto the network production capacities for electricitygenerated from wind-power;
c1 1Sweden: strengthening and development of internal connections;
c1 2Germany: development of connections in the north of the country;
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c1 3UnitedKingdom(Northern
Ireland):strengthening of internal connections in Northern Ireland,
in relation to the interconnections with Ireland;
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(d)Development of interconnections with third countries in Europe and the Mediterranean region
helping to improve the reliability, security and supply of Community electricity networks
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d2Germany—Poland: strengthening of the connections between the two coun-
tries;
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d3Germany—Norway: connection by submarine cable between northern Germany
(UCPTE) and southern Norway (Nordel);
d5Italy—Switzerland: strengthening connections between northern Italy and
Switzerland;
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d8Greece—BalkanStates: strengthening of connections between Greece and, respec-
tively, Albania, Bulgaria and former Yugoslavia, includingthe restoration of the connections with the north of theformer Yugoslavia and the UCPTE network;
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d9Greece—Turkey: connections between the two countries through north-
eastern Greece;
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d1 0UnitedKingdom—Norway: connection by submarine cable between north-east/east
England and southern Norway (Nordel);
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d1 1Netherlands—Norway: connection by submarine cable between the north-eastern
Netherlands (UCPTE) and southern Norway (Nordel);
d1 3Spain—Morocco: connection by submarine cable between southern Spain
and the Moroccan network;
d1 4BalticRing:Germany—
Poland—Russia—Estonia—Latvia—Lithuania—Sweden—Finland—Denmark—Belarusstreng theningand developingconnections between these
countries’ networks by overground and/or submarinecables;
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d1 5Sweden—Norway: strengthening of the connections between the two coun-
tries;
d1 6EU—Belarus—Russia—
Ukraine:development of connections and interface between the
(extended) UCPTE network and the networks of thirdcountries in Eastern Europe, includingthe relocation of theHVDC (
1)conversion stations operatingpreviously between
Austria and Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic andGermany and the Czech Republic.
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GAS NETWORKS
(e)Introduction of natural gas into new regions
e4Spain: setting up gas networks in the regions of Galicia, Estrema-
dura, Andalusia, Valencia-South, Murcia, includinganLNG (
2)terminal in Galicia;
e5Portugal: settingup in the country, in particular alongthe Atlantic
coastline, of a gas network;
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e 5 (a)Portugal: construction of an LNG terminal on the Atlantic coast;
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e6Greece: settingup a g as network in the country, in particular along
the Aegean coastline, including an LNG terminal in Atticaand storage facilities;
(f)Connection of isolated gas networks to the interconnected European networks, including the
necessary improvement of the existing networks, and connection of separate natural gasnetworks
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f1Ireland—UnitedKingdom: strengthening of the gas transport capacity between the
two countries;
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f2UK—Continent: submarine connection between the gas networks of the
United Kingdom and the continent through Belgium;
f3Luxembourg—Germany: establishinga connection to supply Luxembourgfrom the
German networks;
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f5France—Spain: strengthening of transport capacity between the two coun-
tries;
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f6Portugal—Spain: constructing gas pipelines to supply Portugal through
southern Spain and to supply Galicia and Asturias throughPortugal;
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f7France: connection of the networks of the south-west and of the
south of the country;
f8Austria—Germany: strengthening of transport capacity between Austria and
Bavaria;
f9Austria—Hungary: connection between the networks of the two countries;
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f1 0Austria—Slovakia: connection of Austria to underground storage capacity in
Slovakia;
f1 1Austria: connection between gas pipelines linking Austria to,
respectively, Germany and Italy;
f1 2Greece—Albania: connection between the networks of the two countries;
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f1 3Italy-Greece-OtherBalkan
Countries:construction of a gas pipeline to supply Greece and other
Balkan countries through Southern Italy;
f1 4Austria-CzechRepublic: construction of gas pipelines to connect the networks of
the two countries;
f1 5Austria: interconnection of isolated gas transmission networks;
f1 7Austria-Slovenia-Croatia: strengthening of the gas transport capacity between the
three countries;
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(g)Increasing reception (LNG) and storage capacity necessary to satisfy demand, and diversifica-
tion of supply sources and routes for natural gas
g1Ireland: developing natural gas storage facilities to supply the Irish
network;
g3France: extendingcapacity of existingLNG terminal in western
France;
g4Italy: construction of new LNG terminal to allow diversification
of supplies, in particular for electricity generation;
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g6Germany: developing underground gas storage facilities;
g7France: developing underground gas storage facilities;
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g8Spain: development of underground storage capacity on the coun-
try’s North-South axis;
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g8 (a)Spain: development of underground storage capacity on the Medi-
terranean axis;
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g9Portugal: constructing an underground storage facility;
g11Belgium: extendingexistingunderg round storag e capacity in
northern Belgium;
g12Denmark: extending underground storage capacity by increasing
capacity on existingsites or creatinga new site close to thefrontier with Germany;
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g13Austria: extension and development of underground storage
capacity;
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g14Italy: construction of an offshore LNG terminal;
g15UnitedKingdom: developing underground gas storage facilities;
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(h)Increasing transmission capacity (gas delivery pipelines) necessary to meet demand and
diversification of supply sources and routes for natural gas
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h1Norway—France: construction of a fourth gas pipeline from Norwegian
resources (North Sea) to the Continent;
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h3Norway—Denmark—
Sweden—Finland—Russia—BalticStates:creation and development of connections between the
networks of these countries with a view to settingup anintegrated gas network;
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h4Algeria—Spain—Portugal
—France:construction of new gas pipelines to allow Spain and
Portugal initially, and subsequently France, to be suppliedfrom Algeria via Morocco;
h5Algeria—Tunisia—Italy: increasingthe transport capacity of the trans-Mediterra-
nean gas pipeline to Italy from Algerian resources;
h6Russia—Ukraine—EU: increasingtransport capacity to the European Union from
Russian resources via the main existingaxis throug h theUkraine, Slovakia and the Czech Republic;
h7Russia—Belarus—Poland
—EU:creation of a second transport axis from Russian resources
to the European Union via Belarus and Poland;
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h1 0CaspianSeaCountries-
EuropeanCommunity:construction of new gas pipelines to allow the European
Community to be supplied from resources in the CaspianSea Countries;
h1 1Russia—Ukraine—
Moldavia—Romania—Bulgaria—Greece—OtherBalkancountries:improvements to the gas transportation networks to ensure
supplies from Russian resources to the new gas network inGreece and the other Balkan countries;
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h1 2Belgium—Germany: connecting gas pipeline between the Belgian and the
German networks;
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h1 3Germany—CzechRepublic
—Austria—Italy:construction of a system of connectingpipelines between
the German, Czech, Austrian and Italian gas networks;
h1 4Russia—Ukraine—
Slovakia—Hungary—Slov-enia—Italy:construction of a new gas pipeline from Russian resources
to Italy;
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h1 5TheNetherlands-Germany-
Switzerland-Italy:increasingg as transport capacity of the TENP pipeline
runningfrom the Netherlands throug h Germany to Italy;
h1 6Belgium-France-Switzer-
land-Italy:increasingg as transport capacity from North-Western
Europe through France to Italy;
h1 7Denmark-Poland: constuction of a gas pipeline through Denmark to Poland;
(1) This decision is without prejudice to the assessment of the environmental impact of the projects.
(2) Liquefied natural gas.