No C 75/26 Official Journal of the European Communities 26. 3. 90 
Opinion on the draft Council Regulation (EEC) amending Regulation (EEC) No 1056/72 on 
notifying the Commission of investment projects of interest to the Community in the 
petroleum, natural gas and electricity sectors (*) 
(90/C 75/07) 
On 28 September the Council, acting in accordance with Article 198 of the EEC Treaty, 
asked the Economic and Social Committee for an Opinion on the abovementioned draft 
Regulation. 
The Committee instructed its Section for Energy, Nuclear Questions and Research to prepare 
the Opinion. The Section adopted its Opinion on 1 December 1989. (Rapporteur: Mr. 
Aspinall.) 
The Committee adopted with one vote against and one abstention the Opinion set out below 
at its 273rd plenary session (meeting of 31 January 1990). 
1. Introduction — extend the list of investment projects considered to 
be of Community interest and hence covered by the 
iy/z Regulation. 1.1. The key role of investment in determining the 
structure and operation of the Community energy mar­
ket was first recognized by the Council back in 1972, 
when it adopted the first Regulation on Commission 
notification of investment projects of Community 
interest in the petroleum, natural gas and electricity 
sectors (2). 
1.2. The Regulation requires Member States to 
notify the Commission, before 15 February of each 
year, of investment projects (listed in an Annex) relating 
to the production, transport, storage or distribution of 
petroleum, natural gas or electric power and which are 
scheduled to start within three years from 1 January of 
the year of notification. 
1.3. The Regulation thus extended to the petroleum, 
natural gas and electricity sectors' obligations already 
incumbent on the coal and nuclear industries under 
Article 54 of the Treaty of the European Coal and Steel 
Community (ECSC) and Chapter IV of the Euratom 
Treaty respectively. 
1.4. The Regulation was first amended in 1976 (3) in 
order to: 
— require notification of investment projects in the 
electricity sector scheduled to start within five years 
from 1 January of the year of notification, 
— include in the notification, in the case of investment 
projects which are at the planning stage, infor­
mation on the stage reached in decisions on each 
project, 1.5. The Committee Opinion on the Regulation, 
adopted in November 1975 (4), stated that 'the most 
comprehensive, accurate and timely information poss­
ible on future investments is among the most important 
prerequisites for a Community energy policy'. 
1.6. The Regulation is now being amended for the 
second time. The four aims of the present proposal are 
listed on pages 1 and 2 of the accompanying explanatory 
memorandum, i.e. 'without increasing the workload of 
the Member States and firms concerned which derives 
from the 1972 Regulation', the Commission proposal, 
based on Article 213 of the Treaty is designed to: 
— enable the Commission to be informed, at the feasi­
bility study stage, of investment projects planned in 
the member States in the fields covered by the 
Regulation, 
— enable the Commission to inform the other Member 
States of aspects of those investment projects which 
are of Community interest, 
— enable the Commission to organize a flexible form 
of consultation between the member States con­
cerned with a view to achieving the greatest possible 
consistency of planned major investment, 
— enable the party responsible to take the fullest poss­
ible account of Community interest when taking 
the final decision authorizing the investments. 
(') OJ No C 250, 3. 10. 1989, p. 5. 
(2) OJ No L 120, 25. 2. 1972. 
(3) OJ No L 140, 28. 5. 1976. (4) OJ No C 35, 16. 2. 1976. 
26. 3. 90 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 75/27 
2. General comments 
2.1. As the Community progresses towards an Euro­
pean strategy for a Single Internal Market, the Section 
agrees that appropriate procedures are required, while 
preserving undertakings' current freedom, to promote 
a certain level of consultation between the Member 
States on the development of investment in the energy 
sector. 
2.2. The Committee considers that closer cooper­
ation between member States resulting in a more coor­
dinated approach to investments could lead to lower 
overall costs in new and replacement capacity, which 
in turn would benefit the consumer through lower 
prices of energy. 
2.3. To achieve this objective, the Commission con­
siders that it is not only necessary that Member States 
and the Commission be informed of investment projects 
that persons and undertakings are planning to carry 
out, but also that this information be provided at a 
stage which permits consultation to take place. 
2.4. The Committee notes that the aim of the new 
procedures proposed is to permit a flexible form of 
consultation between Member States with a view to 
achieving the greatest possible consistency of planned 
major investments and that it is not the intention of the 
Commission to interfere with the investment policies of 
the persons and undertakings concerned; they would 
remain free to carry out their investment projects as 
originally planned, or to modify them. 
2.5. In noting the Commission's desire to maintain 
confidentiality of information and indeed competitive­
ness, the Committee believes that any developed form 
of consultation between the interested parties at the 
end of the feasibility study stage would negate such an 
objective and is premature. 
2.6. The whole process leading up to the completion 
of an investment project of the magnitude under con­
sideration—from the feasibility study stage, through 
the stage when final proposals are submitted to the 
competent authority for authorization to proceed—may 
take several years depending on the financial or political 
factors involved. 
2.7. The Committee believes that a more appropriate 
stage to pass on information relating to an energy 
investment project would be when a proposal is placed 
before a competent authority for approval to proceed. 2.8. It should be noted that, whether the investment 
project is in the private or the public sector, factors 
related to the building programme, the type of plant to 
be built, and the option to purchase land and obtain 
planning permission, determine the point in time when 
a decision can be taken to submit a proposal to a 
competent authority. The decision-making process is a 
delicately balanced one. 
2.9. The Committee agrees that, ultimately, the new 
procedures to be set up should enable the parties con­
cerned to take into account, if they wish to do so, the 
comments which may have been made relating to the 
Community dimension of the investment project in 
question. 
2.10. Article 2a of the proposal provides for a period 
of not more than one month for the submission of 
comments by Member States on a given investment 
project. The Committee considers that this is too short 
to enable Member States to comment and to permit 
serious consultation to take place between them. 
2.11. In any case, the Committee stresses that a time 
limit, from the date when a given investment project is 
notified to the other Member States, should be set by 
which the whole process should be completed. Beyond 
this time limit, the parties concerned would be entitled 
to proceed with the investment project, whether or not 
comments had been made and taken into account. The 
Committee considers appropriate that it should not 
exceed three months. 
2.12. The proposed Regulation does not provide for 
any changes in the thresholds for the planned capacity 
or power of the investment projects referred in Annex I 
to the 1972 Regulation, as modified in 1976. Since the 
new Regulation will cover the investment projects 
in question, the Committee wonders whether these 
thresholds remain appropriate, and asks the Com­
mission to look into the matter and, if necessary, to 
make proposals to modify them. 
2.13. The Committee believes that the closing down 
of energy infrastructure may have an impact on the 
supply and demand of energy and may also have signifi­
cant economic and social consequences. Therefore it 
considers that the Commission should examine whether 
it is necessary to make proposals to set up information 
procedures which would permit consultation to take 
place between Member States on the closing down of 
energy infrastructure. 
3. Specific comments 
3.1. In the light of the comments made above, the 
Committee would suggest that the Commission pro-
No C 75/28 Official Journal of the European Communities 26. 3. 90 
posal be amended to provide for more information in 
the spirit of its objectives yet at the same time ensuring 
entrepreneurial freedom, confidentiality and competi­
tiveness. 
3.2. Therefore the Committee would propose the 
following amendments it urges the Commission and 
Council to take into consideration. 
3.2.1. In Article 1 (1), first line of the first paragraph, 
the word 'communicate' should be replaced by 'notify'. 
3.2.2. The second paragraph of Article 1 (1) should 
be amended as follows: 
'(2) In order to fulfill the obligations laid down in 
paragraph 1, the persons and undertakings con­
cerned shall communicate details of the investment 
projects referred to in paragraph 1 to the Member 
State in whose territory they are planning to carry 
them out, before any final authorization has been 
given by a competent authority.' 
3.2.3. Article 2a should be amended as follows: '(a) Upon receipt of the notification referred to in 
Article 1 the Commission shall immediately 
inform the other Member States of the invest­
ment project and invite them to submit to the 
Commission within a period which it sets, any 
comments they may have relating to the Com­
munity dimension of the project and in particu­
lar, on the existence of possible alternatives to 
the planned investment or of proposals for such 
alternatives. 
(b) The Commission shall immediately communi­
cate to the Member State referred to in Arti­
cle 1 (2) the comments it has received on the 
basis of the provisions of paragraph (a). 
(c) The Member State in question shall immediately 
communicate the comments it has received on 
the basis of the provisions of paragraph (b) to 
both the competent authority and the persons 
and undertakings, referred to in Article 1 (2). 
(d) The procedure referred to in paragraphs (a), (b) 
and (c) shall be completed within a period which 
cannot exceed three months.' 
3.2.4. The rest of the draft Regulation would remain 
unchanged. 
Done at Brussels, 31 January 1990. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Alberto MASPRONE 
APPENDIX 
The following amendment was rejected during the discussions: 
Page 3 — point 2.4 
Insert the following after 2.4: 
'Special procedures should be laid down for the petroleum sector in particular, bearing in mind the impact 
which unduly early knowledge of projects could have on competing enterprises in the sector.' 
Reason 
Self explanatory. 
Voting 
For: 20, against: 42, abstentions: 12.