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The main characteristics of the mechanism established by the EEG 2012 are set out in paragraphs 4 to 12 of the judgment under appeal as follows: ‘4 In the first place, network operators at all voltage levels (“NOs”) ensuring the general supply of electricity are required (i) to connect installations producing EEG electricity within their area of activity to their network (Paragraphs 5 to 7 of the EEG 2012), (ii) to feed that electricity into their network, transmit it and distribute it by way of priority (Paragraphs 8 to 12 of the EEG 2012) and (iii) to make to the operators of those installations a payment that is calculated on the basis of tariffs laid down by law, in the light of the nature of the electricity at issue and the rated or installed capacity of the installation concerned (Paragraphs 16 to 33 of the EEG 2012). Alternatively, operators of installations producing EEG electricity are entitled, first, to sell all or part of that electricity directly to third parties and, secondly, to require the NO to which the installation would have been connected but for such direct sale to pay them a market premium calculated on the basis of the amount that would have been payable had the installation been connected (Paragraphs 33a to 33i of the EEG 2012). In practice, it is not in dispute that those obligations are borne essentially by local low or medium-voltage distribution system operators (“DSOs”). 5 In the second place, the DSOs are required to transmit the EEG electricity to the interregional upstream operators of high and very-high-voltage transmission systems (“TSOs”) (Paragraph 34 of the EEG 2012). As consideration for that obligation, the TSOs are required to pay the DSOs the equivalent of the payments and market premiums received by installation operators from the DSOs (Paragraph 35 of the EEG 2012). 6 In the third place, the EEG 2012 provides for a ‘nationwide compensation mechanism’ in respect of, first, the quantities of EEG electricity which each TSO feeds into its network and, secondly, the sums paid by way of consideration to the DSOs (Paragraph 36 of the EEG 2012). In practice, each TSO that has fed in and paid for a quantity of EEG electricity greater than the quantity provided by electricity suppliers to final customers located in its area may claim, in regard to the other TSOs, an entitlement to compensation corresponding to that difference. Since the years 2009-10, the compensation no longer takes place in actual form (exchange of EEG electricity flows) but in financial form (compensation of the related costs). Three of the four TSOs concerned by that compensation mechanism are private undertakings (Amprion GmbH, TenneT TSO GmbH and 50Hertz Transmission GmbH), whilst the fourth is a public undertaking (Transnet BW GmbH). 7 In the fourth place, the TSOs are required to sell the EEG electricity which they feed into their network on the spot market of the electricity exchange (Paragraph 37(1) of the EEG 2012). If the price thereby obtained does not enable them to cover the financial burden imposed upon them by the statutory obligation to pay for that electricity at the rates laid down by law, they are entitled, under the conditions laid down by the legislative authorities, to require the suppliers to the final customers to pay them the difference, in proportion to the quantities sold. This mechanism is called the “EEG surcharge” (Paragraph 37(2) of the EEG 2012). The amount of the EEG surcharge may nevertheless be reduced by EUR 0.02 per kilowatt hour (kWh) in certain cases (Paragraph 39 of the EEG 2012). In order to obtain such a reduction, referred to by the EEG 2012 as a “reduction of the EEG surcharge”, but also known as the “green electricity privilege”, electricity suppliers must in particular demonstrate (i) that at least 50% of the electricity that they deliver to their customers is EEG electricity, (ii), that at least 20% of that electricity is derived from wind or solar radiation energy and (iii) that the electricity is sold directly to their customers. 8 ... 9 In the fifth place, it is not in dispute that, although the EEG 2012 does not oblige electricity suppliers to pass the EEG surcharge on to the final customers, it does not prevent them from doing so, either. Nor is it in dispute that the suppliers, which are themselves obliged to pay the surcharge to the TSOs, in practice pass it on to their customers, as the Federal Republic of Germany indeed confirmed at the hearing. The manner in which the surcharge is to be shown on the bill sent to customers is prescribed by the EEG 2012 (Paragraph 53 of the EEG 2012), as are the conditions under which customers must be informed of the proportion of renewable energy subsidised under the Law on renewable energy that is supplied to them (Paragraph 54 of the EEG 2012). 10 In addition, the EEG 2012 lays down a special compensation scheme, under which the Bundesamt für Wirtschaft und Ausfuhrkontrolle (Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control; ‘the BAFA’) each year caps the amount of the EEG surcharge that may be passed on by electricity suppliers to two specified categories of customers — namely, first, ‘electricity-intensive undertakings in the manufacturing sector’ (‘EIUs’) and, secondly, ‘railways’ — following a request which must be submitted by them by 30 June of the previous year, with the aim of reducing their electricity costs and, in so doing, of maintaining their competitiveness (Paragraph 40 of the EEG 2012). 11 The EEG 2012 specifies the conditions for qualifying for that scheme, the procedure that must be followed by eligible undertakings, the detailed rules for determining the cap on a case-by-case basis and the effects of decisions adopted in this connection by the BAFA (Paragraphs 41 to 44 of the EEG 2012). The EEG 2012 provides in particular that, for undertakings in the manufacturing sector whose electricity consumption costs represent at least 14% of their gross value added and whose consumption is at least 1 gigawatt hour (GWh), the cap is set at 10% of the EEG surcharge for the part of their consumption between 1 GWh and 10 GWh, at 1% of that surcharge for the part of their consumption between 10 GWh and 100 GWh, and at EUR 0.0005 per kWh above that. The EEG 2012 also provides that, for undertakings in the manufacturing sector whose electricity consumption costs represent at least 20% of their gross value added and whose consumption is at least 100 GWh, the EEG surcharge is capped at EUR 0.0005 per kWh from the first kilowatt hour. The EEG 2012 further states that electricity suppliers must inform undertakings that have received a notice capping the EEG surcharge (i) of the proportion of renewable energy benefiting from aid under the Law on renewable energy that is supplied to them, (ii) of the composition of their overall energy mix and (iii), for undertakings which are supported pursuant to the Law on renewable energy, of the composition of the energy mix that is provided to them (Paragraph 54 of the EEG 2012). 12 In the sixth place, the EEG 2012 contains a set of obligations requiring the provision of information and publication that are imposed on operators of installations, NOs and electricity suppliers, in particular vis-à-vis TSOs and the Bundesnetzagentur (Federal Networks Agency; “the BNetzA”), as well as a series of transparency obligations owed specifically by TSOs (Paragraphs 45 to 51 of the EEG 2012). That law also specifies the powers of supervision and control that the BNetzA possesses in respect of DSOs and TSOs (Paragraph 61 of the EEG 2012).’