1991L0296 — EN — 16.11.1994 — 001.001 — 1
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►B COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
of 31May 1 991
on the transit of natural gas through grids
(91/296/EEC)
(OJ L 147, 12.6.1991, p. 37)
Amended by:
Official Journal
Nopage date
►M1Commission Directive 94/49/EC of 11 November 1994 L 295 16 16.11.1994
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COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
of 31May 1 991
on the transit of natural gas through grids
(91/296/EEC)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic
Community, and in particular Article 100a thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission(1),
In cooperation with the European Parliament(2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee(3),
Whereas it is necessary to adopt measures with the aim of progressively
establishing the internal market during the period ending 31 December1992; whereas successive European Councils have recognized the needfor a single internal market and, particularly in Rhodes, the need for asingle energy market;
Whereas completion of the internal market in energy in general, and
more particularly in the natural gas sector, requires the development ofa Community energy strategy that will be equal to the challenges of:
— security of supply,
— environmental protection;
Whereas there must be greater integration of the European energy
market if the single internal market is tobe achieved; whereas naturalgas is an essential component of the Community’s energy balance;
Whereas greater reliance on natural gas is desirable as part of diversifi-
cation of energy sources;
Whereas the completion of the internal market for energy, more particu-
larly in the natural gas sector, will take into account the objective ofeconomic and social cohesion;
Whereas the objective of the internal natural gas market is to ensure
greater profitability, compatibility with the environment and security ofsupplies by free trade, without unacceptable restrictions on competition;whereas the specific characteristics of the natural gas sector must betaken into account if the pursuit of this objective is to be successful;
Whereas in completing the internal market in natural gas, consideration
should be given not only to comparable features in the Member Statesbut equally toso metimes significant differences;
Whereas trade in natural gas between the high-pressure gas transmission
grids of European countries is increasing from year to year and hasimplications in terms of investment; whereas the Community’s securityof natural gas supply could be improved and costs reduced by operatingthe interconnections required for such trade;
Whereas the exchange of natural gas between high-pressure gas trans-
mission grids is being conducted on such a scale that the transactionsrequested and their consequences should be systematically known to theCommission;
Whereas it is possible and desirable to increase natural gas transfers
between grids and also take account of the imperatives of security and
(1) OJ NoC 247, 28. 9. 1989, p. 6 and
OJ NoC 268, 24. 10. 1990, p. 9.
(2) OJ NoC 231, 17. 9. 1990, p. 72 and
OJ NoC 129, 20. 5. 1991.
(3) OJ NoC 75, 26. 3. 1990, p. 20.
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quality of natural gas supply; whereas studies show that greater natural
gas transfers between grids can minimize the cost of investment;
Whereas in the future additional interconnections between several
Member States will need tobe made toallo w adequate supplies;
Whereas increased natural gas transfers between grids would also
encourage cooperation between natural gas transmission companies tofind ways of improving natural gas transmission equipment; whereassuch improvements will also cut costs;
Whereas there are still obstacles to increased trade in natural gas
between grids; whereas, provided that they are not due to the nature ofthe technology used or of the grids themselves, such obstacles can bereduced by making the transit of natural gas through grids compulsoryand introducing an appropriate system for monitoring compliance withthis obligation;
Whereas this obligation and monitoring system concern the transit of
natural gas involved in trade which is in the Community interest,namely transit through high-pressure grids;
Whereas the financial, technical and legal conditions of such transit
must, as a general rule, be worked out directly between the gridsconcerned;
Whereas the conditions of transit should be fair and should not bring
about, directly or indirectly, conditions contrary to Communitycompetition rules;
Whereas, in order to facilitate the conclusion of transit contracts, the
Commission is providing for a conciliation procedure to be set up underwhich submission will be compulsory at the request of one of theparties, without the result of that procedure producing a legally bindingeffect;
Whereas it is necessary to approximate the provisions adopted by the
Member States which affect the transit of natural gas;
Whereas the establishment of an internal natural gas market will stimu-
late the gradual dynamic integration of national natural gas grids;whereas in this context special infrastructure measures would held toaccelerate the linking-up of outlying areas and islands in theCommunity to the overall interconnected grid;
Whereas the interconnection of European grids extends over a
geographical territory which does not coincide with the Community’sfrontiers: whereas there is an obvious advantage in seeking cooperationwith third countries involved in the interconnected European grid,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Article 1
Member States shall take the measures necessary tofacilitate transit o f
natural gas between high-pressure transmission grids in accordance withthe conditions laid down in this Directive.
Article 2
1. Every transaction for the transport of natural gas under the
following conditions shall constitute transit of natural gas betweengrids, for the purpose of this Directive, without prejudice to any specialagreements concluded between the Community and third countries:
(a) transmission is carried out by the entity or entities responsible in
each Member State for high-pressure natural gas grids, with theexception of distribution grids, in a Member State’s territory whichcontribute to the efficent operation of European high-pressure inter-connections;
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(b) the grid of origin or final destination is situated in the Community;
(c) this transport involves the crossing of at least one intra-Community
frontier.
2. The high-pressure natural gas transmission grids and the entities
responsible for them in the Member States, which are listed in theAnnex, shall be covered by this Directive. This list shall be updated bythe Commission, after consultation with the Member State concerned,whenever necessary within the context of the objectives of thisDirective and in particular taking intoacco unt paragraph 1 (a).
Article 3
1. Contracts involving transit of natural gas between grids shall be
negotiated between the entities responsible for those grids and for thequality of service provided and, where appropriate, with the entitiesresponsible in the Member States for importing and exporting naturalgas.
2. The conditions of transit shall, pursuant to the rules of the Treaty,
be non-discriminatory and fair for all parties concerned, shall notinclude unfair clauses or unjustified restrictions and not endangersecurity of supply nor quality of service, in particular taking fullaccount of the utilization of reserve production and storage capacity andthe most efficient operation of existing systems.
3. Member States shall taken the measures necessary toensure that
the entities under their jurisdiction referred to in the Annex act withoutdelay to:
— notify the Commission and the national authorities concerned of any
request for transit;
— open negotiations on the conditions of the natural gas transit
requested;
— inform the Commission and the national authorities concerned of the
conclusion of a transit contract;
— inform the Commission and the national authorities concerned of the
reasons for the failure of the negotiations to result in the conclusionof a contract within twelve months following communication of therequest.
4. Each of the entities concerned may request that the conditions of
transit be subject to conciliation by a body, set up and chaired by theCommission on which the entities responsible for grids in theCommunity are represented.
Article 4
If the reasons for the absence of agreement on a request for transit
appear unjustified or insufficient, the Commission, acting on acomplaint from the requesting body or on its own initiative, shallimplement the procedures provided for by Community law.
Article 5
Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and adminis-
trative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive before 1January 1992. They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
When Member States adopt these measures, they shall contain a refer-
ence to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such reference on theoccasion of their official publication. The methods of making such areference shall be laid down by the Member States.
Article 6
This Directive is addressed tothe Member States.
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ANNEX
List of entities and high-pressure gas transmission grids
Member State Entity
Germany Bayerngas GmbH
BEB Erdgas und Erdöl GmbH
Erdgas Verkaufs-Gesellschaft mbH
Gas-Union GmbH
Mobil Oil AG
Ruhrgas AG
Saar Ferngas AG
Thyssengas GmbH
Vereinigte Elektrizitätswerke Westfalen AG (VEW)
Westfälische Ferngas AG
EWAG, Nürnberg
Gasversorgung Süddeutschland
Schleswag AG
Thüga AG
Verbundnetz Gas AG
Wingas GmbH
Belgium Distrigaz SA
Denmark Dansk Naturgas A/S
Spain Empresa Nacional de Gas SA (ENAGAS)
Catalana de Gas
Gas de Euskadi
Greece DEPA
Luxembourg SOTEG
Netherlands NV Nederlandse Gasunie
Italy Snam SpA
Edison Gas SpA
Società Gasodotti del Mezzogiorno SpA
France Gaz de France
SNGSO
Compagnie française du méthane (Cefem)
United Kingdom British Gas
Ireland Irish Gas Board