EN Official Journal of the European Union L 90/38

COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) 2018/540

of 23 November 2017

amending Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council 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 establishes a framework for the identification, planning and implementation of projects of common interest (‘PCIs’) which are required to implement the nine strategic geographical energy infrastructure priority corridors identified in the fields of electricity, gas and oil, and the three Union-wide energy infrastructure priority areas for smart grids, electricity highways and carbon dioxide transportation networks.

(2) Pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 347/2013, the Commission is empowered to establish the Union list of PCIs (‘Union list’).

(3) Projects proposed for the inclusion in the Union list have been assessed by the regional groups and meet the criteria laid down in Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 347/2013.

(4) The draft regional lists of PCIs were agreed by the regional groups at technical-level meetings. Following positive opinions of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (‘ACER’) on 10 October 2017 on the consistent application of the assessment criteria and the cost/benefit analysis across regions, the regional groups' decision-making bodies adopted the regional lists on 17 October 2017. Pursuant to Article 3(3)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 347/2013, prior to the adoption of the regional lists, all proposed projects were approved by the Member States to whose territory the projects relate.

(5) Organisations representing relevant stakeholders, including producers, distribution system operators, suppliers, and consumer and environmental protection organisations were consulted on the projects proposed for inclusion in the Union list.

(6) PCIs should be listed per strategic trans-European energy infrastructure priorities in the order laid down in Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 347/2013. The Union list should not contain any ranking of projects.

(7) PCIs should be listed either as stand-alone PCIs or as a part of a cluster of several PCIs because they are interdependent or (potentially) competing.

(8) The Union list is established every two years, therefore the Union list established by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/89 (2) is no longer valid and should be replaced.

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

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

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

Article 2

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, 23 November 2017. For the Commission The President Jean-Claude JUNCKER

(1) OJ L 115, 25.4.2013, p. 39.

(2) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/89 of 18 November 2015 amending Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the Union list of projects of common interest (OJ L 19, 27.1.2016, p. 1).