COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL The future Role of Regional Initiatives
Date: 2010-12-07
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European cooperation, energy consumption, energy transport, natural gas

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 7.12.2010 
COM(2010) 721 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL  

The future Role of Regional Initiatives  

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL  

The future Role of Regional Initiatives  

1. CONTEXT 

The  Regional  Initiatives  were  set  up  in  spring  2006  by  the  European  Regulators'  Group  for 
Electricity and Gas (ERGEG), at the request of the European Commission, as an interim step 
in  moving  from  national  electricity  and  gas  markets  to  a  single  energy  market.  Seven 
electricity regions1 and three gas regions were created.  

The  Regional  Initiatives  (RIs)  have  been  beneficial  in  providing  a  forum  for  regulators, 
network  operators  and  other  stakeholders  of  neighbouring  countries  to  discuss  issues  of 
common  interest.  Many  of  the  RIs  have  made  progress  on  a  great  variety  of  issues.  The 
electricity  regions  have  mainly  focused  on  congestion  management,  balancing  and 
transparency.  The  gas  regions  have  worked  on  interconnection  issues,  interoperability, 
transparency, hubs and security of supply. 

Five  years  after  their  set  up,  the  Commission  considers  it  useful  to  evaluate  the  regional 
initiatives with a view to assessing whether any modifications to the process, composition or 
governance could further enhance their effectiveness and contribution to the completion of the 
internal  market.  Such  a  review  also  fits  with  the  entry  into  force  of  the  the  third  internal 
energy  market  package  (also  called  Third  Energy  Package)2.  The  Third  Energy  Package 
provides  for  new  tools  of  European  rulemaking  through  network  codes  which  can  be  made 
binding  by  the  Commission  using  the  comitology  procedure  and  changes  the  institutional 
architecture with the establishment of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators 
(ACER).The  Commission  has  launched  a  study  on  the  regional  initiatives  last  year.3  In 
parallel,  ERGEG  has  put  forward  its  strategy  paper  on  the  role  of  the  regional  initiatives4. 
Also  some  stakeholders  published  their  report  on  regional  cooperation5  and  a  Regional 
Initiatives Conference6 was organized by the Commission and ERGEG jointly in July.  

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the  package 

In 2008, also the Energy Community Region was established. 
See  www.ec.europa.eu/energy/gas_electricity/third_legislative_package_en.htm, 
is 
composed  of  Directives  2009/72/EC  and  2009/73/EC,  Regulations  (EC)  No  713/2009,  (EC)  No 
714/2009 and (EC) No 715/2009. 
The  study  has  been  published  on  the  website  of  DG  ENER:  "From  regional  markets  to  a  single 
European market" (April 2010): www.ec.europa.eu/energy/gas_electricity/studies/electricity_en.htm 
Strategy  for  delivering  a  more  integrated  European  energy  market:  The  role  of  the  ERGEG  Regional 
Initiatives.  An  ERGEG  Conclusions  Paper.  E10-RIG-10-04,  21  May  2010 
(www.energy-
regulators.eu/portal/page/portal/EER_HOME/EER_PUBLICATIONS/CEER_ERGEG_PAPERS/Cross
-Sectoral/2010/E10-RIG-10-04_Strategy_Conclusions_21-May-10.pdf). 
See for instance Eurelectric's report: 
http://www.eurelectric.org/Download/Download.aspx?DocumentFileID=62455. 
http://www.energy-
See 
regulators.eu/portal/page/portal/EER_HOME/EER_INITIATIVES/Regional_Initiatives_Conferences/2
010%20RI%20Conference 

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Based on the conclusions from the studies and debate, the purpose of this Communication is 
to  seek  stakeholder's  views  on  possible  options  for  strengthening  the  effectiveness  of  the 
regional initiatives going forward.  

Following this communication and depending on the reactions from all interested stakeholders 
it  might  trigger,  the  Commission  might  launch  an  initiative  based  on  Article  12.3  of  the 
Electricity and Gas Regulation.7 According to this Article, the Commission can redefine the 
geographical  area  covered  by  each  regional  cooperation  structure  within  the  context  of  a 
broader  process  of  reform  of  the  tasks  and  governance  of  Regional  Initiatives,  to  which  all 
actors, Commission, ERGEG, ACER, TSOs, Member States and stakeholders will contribute 
according to their respective roles and responsibilities.  

2. TASKS AND PRIORITIES OF THE REGIONAL INITIATIVES 

To a large extent, the Regional Initiatives have so far followed a bottom-up approach whereby 
each region has set its own priorities. That voluntary approach has had important advantages 
as  it  has  allowed  the  regions  to  focus  on  their  specific  problems.  For  example,  the  South-
South-East gas region has been able to focus on security of supply issues in the wake of the 
gas supply disruption in January 2009.  

It has also allowed pilot testing, whereby solutions can be tested in one region before being 
implemented  elsewhere.  For  example,  solutions  found  to  address  problems  in  the  volume 
coupling  between  the  Danish  and  German  electricity  markets  has  helped  create  consensus 
towards the benefits of volume coupling. 

Finally, the Regions implemented EU measures with a particular cross-border dimension. The 
electricity Regions, for instance, worked on implementing the requirements of the congestion 
management guidelines. The gas North-west region has taken forward the implementation of 
transparency  requirements  additional  to  those  defined  in  Regulation  1775/2005.  It  is  likely 
that  progress  in  implementation  would  have  been  less  or  slower  without  the  regional 
approach.  

Nevertheless, the voluntary bottom-up approach also has significant drawbacks as recognized 
from the start8. There is an inherent risk of different regions implementing different solutions 
to  similar  issues  without  a  clear  perspective  of  integration  over  time.  For  example,  if  each 
region develops its own common auction office with its own structure, own governance etc., 
without  taking  into  account  convergence  with  similar  structures  in  other  regions,  it  might 
endanger the establishment of the internal energy market in the longer run.  

The study commissioned by the Commission indicated that a lack of clear terms of reference 
for the Regional Initiatives, compounded by other factors related inter alia to the governance 
of the Regional Initiatives, has restricted the ability of the Regional Initiatives to perform the 
intended bottom-up approach most effectively. 

Further policy guidance should therefore be given to the Regional Initiatives along the lines 
set out in this section. 

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See Regulations (EC) No 714/2009 and (EC) No 715/2009. 
Hence the preparation of annual coherence and convergence reports 

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The overarching principle should be that the Regional Initiatives should only focus on issues 
where they have a clear added value. Also, taking into account resource constraints, it would 
be preferable to focus work on a limited set of priorities for which substantial progress can be 
made.  

a. Implementation of the EU acquis including network codes 

In  the  past,  the  electricity  Regional  Initiatives  dedicated  a  lot  of  their  time  on  the 
implementation  of  those  parts  of  the  acquis  requiring  cross-border  co-ordination  (especially 
cross-border  congestion,  allocation  of  cross-border  capacity  and  transparency).  Although 
progress was made on these issues, the work of the Regional Initiatives has not yet resulted in 
Member  States'  full  compliance  with  the  requirements  of  Regulation  1228/2003.  For  this 
reason,  the  Commission  has  launched  an  infringement  exercise  in  June  2010  requesting 
twenty Member States to implement and apply Single Market rules without delay.9 Therefore, 
a first priority of the Regional Initiatives should be to accelerate the correct implementation of 
the Second Energy Package10, i.e. those issues requiring cross-border co-ordination.  

In  the  future,  Regional  Initiatives  might  have  a  role  not  only  in  implementing  specific 
provisions of the Third Energy Package itself, but also in implementing legislation based on 
the  Third  Energy  Package,  i.e.  new  annexes  to  the  Regulations  and  network  codes.  When 
codes will have been adopted via comitology, they will be legally binding and be part of the 
EU acquis. Since the adoption procedures might however be lengthy, market integration could 
be  promoted  if  Regional  Initiatives  start  implementing  those  elements  of  the  network  codes 
which can be  expected to remain stable throughout the final stages of the adoption process. 
The Regional Initiatives should in that case ensure that early implementation does not exclude 
adjustments later on. Regions could move at different speeds for implementing cross-border 
aspects  of  the  acquis,  insofar  of  course  that  all  regions  meet  the  dates  by  which 
implementation is legally required.  

Early implementation by one region might provide a useful test bed on how best to implement 
new codes, on the time needed to do so and practical hurdles to be overcome. Lessons learned 
may  facilitate  and  speed  up  implementation  in  other  regions.  The  work  done  so  far  in  the 
Central-West electricity region on market coupling and in the Central-East electricity region 
on application of flow based capacity allocation provide good examples in this regard.  

In  order  to  avoid  that  individual  regions  interpret  or  apply  some  provisions  of  the  acquis 
differently or in a manner which makes future integration with other regions more difficult, 
ACER  should  actively  monitor  the  coherent  implementation  of  the  codes  and  other  acquis 
across regions. 

Electricity  Regional  Initiatives  should  collectively  pursue  the  target  of  full  market  coupling 
across  the  EU  by  2015.  Market  coupling  is  a  way  to  foster  market  integration  and  will  be 
easier to achieve (and thus quicker) if the countries which are still not using market coupling 
work together regionally in order to join the EU market coupling.  

For  gas,  the  potential  role  of  market  coupling  in  fostering  market  integration  between 
balancing  zones  is  to  be  examined  in  the  discussion  on  a  gas  market  target  model.  Market 

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See press release IP/10/836, 24 June 2010. 
The package is composed of Directives 2003/54/EC and 2003/55/EC, Regulations (EC) No 1228/2003, 
(EC) No 1775/2005 

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coupling should be aimed at by 2015 building on the work of the regulators. Necessary steps 
in this direction, such as making available firm day ahead capacity and joining exit and entry 
capacities to form one integral hub-to-hub capacity product are already under way.  

For electricity, the Central West Region and the Northern Region have achieved full market 
coupling in November 2010. Therefore they are at the forefront for the implementation.  

However,  the  way  market  coupling  has  to  be  done  at  the  EU  scale  should  be  discussed 
between Regions for example at the Florence and Madrid Fora. Discussions on the method to 
be followed to achieve market coupling should be held as soon as possible to avoid technical 
problems at a later stage.  

b. Regional issues: Investments in infrastructure, regional balancing and security of supply  

Depending on the specific market conditions of a region, there will be a need for each region 
to work on issues specific to their region even though such issues may at some point become 
relevant for other regions as well. Against the background of overall EU energy policy, three 
issues  are  to  be  considered  as  priorities:  regional  investments  in  infrastructure,  regional 
balancing and security of supply. 

The  Commission  has  set  out  its  vision  on  infrastructure  development  needs  in  its 
Communication11 "Energy infrastructure priorities for 2020 and beyond - A Blueprint for an 
integrated  European  energy  network",  in  which  it  is  proposed  that  the  Regional  Initiatives 
could play a key role in identifying infrastructure priorities for their respective regions and in 
coordinating cross-border investments, typically in new interconnectors. In order to promote 
cross  border  investments,  investment  needs  must  be  clearly  established,  an  appropriate 
regulatory  framework  put  in  place  and  planning  and  authorisation  issues  addressed.  ACER 
plays  an  important  role  in  facilitating  cooperation  between  regulators  on  the  regulatory 
aspects of investments decisions. Regional Initiatives can also play a facilitating role as they 
provide  a  platform  of  regulators,  TSOs,  network  users  and  Member  States,  with  the 
cooperation of the Commission and ACER, where such issues can be addressed. It should in 
addition  remain  possible  to  address  those  issues  in  ad  hoc  settings  outside  the  scope  of  the 
Regional  Initiatives  where  such  ad  hoc  settings  are  more  effective  and  efficient  to  promote 
cross-border investments.  

Such  investments  can  also  be  of  particular  importance  in  ensuring  security  of  supply  (like 
investments  enabling  physical  reverse  flows  for  gas).  The  Regulation  on  security  of  gas 
supply recognizes the need for regional cooperation. 

Work on consolidation of balancing zones could be another focus for the Regional Initiatives, 
depending on the outcome of the discussion on the gas market target model.  

Finally, regional cooperation is crucial to enhance the integrity of networks, avoid technical 
disruptions  and  blackouts,  and  address  those  effectively  when  they  arise  with  minimum 
disturbance for users and producers. 

c. Pilot testing  

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Communication 
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/infrastructure/strategy/doc/com(2010)0677_en.pdf  

COM(2010)677 

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For  issues  which  are  not  yet  covered  by  framework  guidelines  and  network  codes,  the 
Regional Initiatives can have an important role as test-bed for new ideas. Eventually this pilot 
testing  might  result  into  an  initiative  to  develop  new  binding  rules,  e.g.  via  new  network 
codes.  

Regional  pilot  projects  might  be  useful  for  the  acceleration  of  smart  grids  or  cross-border 
retail  market.  The  European  Electricity  Grid  Initiative  set  up  within  the  Strategic  Energy 
Technology  plan  (SET  plan)  have  established  a  framework  under  which  ENTSO-E  has 
presented  a  detailed  roadmap  for  the  coming  years.  Regional  Initiatives could  play  a  useful 
role  in  the  implementation  of  R&D  projects  (see  the  Roadmap12).  Obviously,  also  on  other 
issues,  the  regions  should  be  free  to  engage  in  pilot  testing,  depending  on  specific  regional 
needs. 

3. NUMBER OF REGIONS 

The  electricity  regions  have  been  defined  in  decision  2006/770/EC  which  amended  the 
congestion management guidelines annexed to Regulation 1228/2003.13 For gas, the regions 
have not been formally defined in a binding decision. The gas regions resulted from informal 
consultation between the Commission, regulators, TSOs and other stakeholders. Practice has 
shown  that  the  gas  regions  have  managed  to  achieve  progress  in  the  absence  of  a  formal 
decision establishing the regions and their tasks.  

Going forward, two options are possible. The first option is to lay down the composition of 
the gas regions and their tasks in a formal decision, which has as main advantage that it would 
avoid discussion and uncertainty and would identify more precisely what is expected from the 
Member  States  concerned  and  their  energy  stakeholders.  The  second  option  is  to  continue 
with the informal definition of gas regions, which has as main advantage that it would allow 
for more flexibility in the composition of the regions over time and their tasks. 

Apart from the instrument used to define the regions, the question of their composition arises. 
The composition of the regions should be determined in function of their tasks. If the aim of 
the region is to make progress on certain specific priorities, the shape of the region will have 
to correspond to this.  

For  electricity,  the  shape  of  the  existing  regions  seems  to  be  well  suited  to  address  the 
priorities proposed above and there seems to be no reason to change the composition of the 
current  seven  Regions.  However,  over  time  when  sufficient  interconnectors  will  have  been 
developed  to  physically  link  the  relevant  regions,  it  may  be  appropriate  to  integrate  the 
France-UK-Ireland  region  with  the  Central-West  region  and  the  Baltic  Region  with  the 
Northern region.  

For  gas,  there  are  sound  reasons  to  reshape  the  current  South-South-East  region.  The  study 
commissioned  by  the  Commission  concluded  that:  "Due  to  the  heterogeneity  in  size  and 
differing  interests  of  members,  the  Region  (South-South-East)  has  probably  suffered  more 
than  others  from  the  drawbacks  of  the  voluntary  and  cooperative  approach  which 
characterises  the  RIs,  that  is  to  say  a  certain  organisational  looseness  and  lack  of 
commitments".  Given  the  importance  of  developing  new  gas  infrastructure  and  new 

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https://www.entsoe.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/_library/news/EEGI_Implementation_plan_May_2010.pdf 
Commission Decision of 9 November 2006 amending the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 1228/2003 on 
conditions  for  access  to  the  network  for  cross-border  exchanges  in  electricity,  O.J.,  L  312  of 
11.11.2006, p. 59-65 

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interconnections for the creation of the internal gas market and for security of supply reasons, 
the  Commission  proposes  to  split  the  current  "South,  South-East"  region  into  three  new 
regions for gas including the Baltic States and the Nordic countries as follows:  
•  New Central-South region: IT, AT, SK, SI, HU, RO, BG, EL;  
•  New Central-East region: DE, PL, CZ, SK, AT;  
•  New BEMIP region: SE, FI, EE, LV, LT, PL, DE, DK. 

Reshaping  the  region  may  temporarily  disrupt  the  work  of  the  region  on  operational  issues. 
However,  it  would  be  preferable  to  get  the  structure  right  and  to  set  up  new  more  efficient 
regions even if it will cost some months, rather than continuing with a structure which appears 
not suitable to deliver the desired results.  

There are also reasons to combine Italy with the current South region (encompassing France 
and  the  Iberian  Peninsula)  since,  for  instance,  this  region  would  be  the  main  entry  for  the 
natural  gas  coming  from  the  north  of  Africa.  The  change  could  have  a  positive  effect  on 
liquidity  in  this  new  South  Region.  As  an  overlapping  country  Italy  could  help  ensure  the 
necessary coherence of both southern regions.  

In addition to market design issues and the implementation of the acquis, each of the regions 
should focus on the development of new interconnections.  

The  format  and  membership  of  the  current  North-West  region  appears  adequate  and  should 
not be changed.  

It is important to underline that the Regional Initiatives should not exclude other formats of 
cooperation  between  TSOs,  regulators  or  Member  States,  such  as  the  North  Seas  Countries 
Offshore Grid Initiative signed by Germany, United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Sweden, the 
Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland and Luxembourg. The fact that a Member State is part of one 
region  does  not  prevent  it  from  working  together  with  one  or  more  Member  States  from 
another region, insofar as this collaboration does not go against the work of the regions.  

Moreover, as also suggested by ERGEG, there are sound reasons for regions to work together 
on  certain  topics  like  e.g.  the  market  coupling  between  Central-West  and  Nordic  countries. 
However, such collaboration should not delay the work and deliverables of the regions. If one 
region  gives  the  "good  example",  the  other  regions  should  aim  at  following  that  example 
(taking into account, if need be, regional specificities). 

It  is  quite  likely  that  the  number  of  regions  and  their  composition  will  have  to  be  changed 
again over time. At least from a theoretical viewpoint, the regions will be really successful the 
day they are not needed anymore.  

A regular assessment on the work of the regions and their composition could be done at the 
occasion of the Florence and Madrid fora.  

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4. GOVERNANCE ISSUES 

1. Structure of each region 

The current governance structure of the Regional Initiatives consists of three bodies. In each 
region, there is the Regional Co-ordination Committee (RCC) which comprises all NRAs of 
the region. The RCC acts as overall co-ordinator of the tasks facing the Region and provides 
leadership  and  strategy.  The  Implementation  Group  (IG)  consists  of  NRAs  and  the  main 
stakeholders. It proposes and commits to undertake concrete actions in response to the priority 
issues  identified  at  the  RCC  level.  Finally,  the  Stakeholder  Group  (SG)  consists  of  all 
stakeholders. 

The  study  on  the  Regional  Initiatives  identified  the  need  for  providing  more  political 
guidance.  Very  often,  progress  in  the  Regional  Initiatives  necessitates  the  involvement  of 
governments  in  order  to  change  the  national  legal  and  regulatory  framework  and  support  at 
the  political  level,  e.g.  for  cross-border  infrastructure  projects.  The  involvement  of  Member 
States in the Regional Initiatives should also minimize the risk of a possible multiplication of 
fora by Member States setting up ad hoc structures outside the Regional Initiatives. 

From its entry into force onwards, ACER should play an active role in the Regional Initiatives 
with a view to ensure effectiveness and consistency in the work of the various regions. 

Also  the  Commission  has  to  provide  political  guidance  given  its  role  to  promote  the 
establishment of the internal energy market and given its duty as guardian of the Treaties and 
the  EU  acquis.  The  Commission  must  be  able  to  make  proposals  concerning  any  new  tasks 
that a region should deal with.  

The governance of the Regional Initiatives could be strengthened creating a Regional Steering 
Committee  (RSC)  including  ACER,  the  Commission  as  well  as  the  Member  States  and 
regulators  from  the  region  along  the  Regional  Coordination  Committee  (RCC)  and  by 
enlarging the RCC with ACER and the Commission. The scope of the RSC work would be 
twofold : to promote and foster cooperation at regional level and provide a high level steer to 
the work plan for the region to be developed by the RCC in co-ordination with that of ACER, 
in  terms  of  identifying  the  implications  for  political  goals  relating  to  security  of  supply, 
competitiveness  and  sustainability;  and  to  boost  progress  on  implementation  of  the  network 
codes  given  the  new  role  of  the  RIs  in  facilitating  implementation  and  encouraging  early 
implementation of other projects as well as infrastructure development at regional level. The 
RSC could give a high level impetus to implementation when problems arise. Pure regulatory 
issues would remain with the RCC.  

If  appropriate,  the  RCC  and  the  RSC  could  invite  the  TSOs,  Power  Exchanges  or  other 
stakeholders  to  their  meetings,  depending  on  the  topics  and  projects  addressed.  Such  early 
involvement of the industry would warrant that any strategy and policy decisions are feasible 
and  workable  and  would  address  concerns,  raised  in  the  Commission's  study,  that 
stakeholders currently are involved too late. 

To complement the RCC and the RSC, the Implementation Group and the Stakeholder Group 
should continue to function as today.  

2. Governance and coherence across regions 

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Not only a clear governance structure within regions is important; it is equally important to 
guarantee  the  coherence  of  the  work  across  regions.  So  far,  ERGEG  regularly  published 
coherence and convergence reports but it is not clear to what extent the reports were followed 
up on by the regions. 

Coherence of the work of the different regions will in first instance take the form of top-down 
guidance, which concretely will be provided by the framework guidelines and network codes. 
These, in turn, will be the translation, as far as electricity is concerned, of the reference model 
developed by the ERGEG Ad Hoc Advisory Group (AHAG). In addition, there will be a need 
to verify the coherent application of the network codes across regions. If regions are working 
on issues which are not treated (yet) in the network codes, there is a need for overall guidance 
in order not jeopardise the establishment of the internal energy market. 

There  is  no  need  to  create  an  additional  structure  to  provide  for  coherence  across  regions. 
First,  it  is  a  deliberate  choice,  both  in  the  gas  and  electricity  regions  that  certain  Member 
States  are  part  of  more  than  one  region.  These  Member  States  will  automatically  have  the 
tendency  to  guarantee  coherence  in  order  to  avoid  implementing  different  solutions  at 
different  borders.  Secondly,  ACER  will  have  an  important  role  to  play  in  this  respect  in 
addition to the policy steer provided by the Commission including through participation in the 
new RSC. As the Florence and Madrid fora bring together the Commission, ERGEG/ACER, 
the  ENTSOs,  NRAs,  Member  States  and  trade  associations  of  the  industry,  they  may  also 
offer  appropriate  platforms  to  provide  policy  steer  to  the  regions  and  monitor  coherence. 
Finally, it might be appropriate that work programmes are developed for the coming year or 
years.  The  work  programme  should  be  sent  to  ACER  that  will  assess  the  coherence  of  the 
regions' work programmes with other work programmes, Framework Guidelines and Network 
Codes.  In  case  of  inconsistencies,  ACER  shall  inform  the  Commission  so  that  the 
Commission  can  adopt  binding  rules  for  the  Work  Programme(s)  concerned  in  accordance 
with the last sentence of Article 7(3) of Regulation EC (No) 713/2009. This review function 
for ACER should be mentioned in ACER's Work Programme. According to Article 7.3 of the 
ACER  Regulation,  one  of  ACER's  tasks  is  to  provide  a  framework  within  which  national 
regulators can cooperate. Moreover, ACER must monitor the regional co-operation of TSOs 
(Article 6.9 of the ACER-Regulation). It thus seems appropriate for ACER, from March 2011 
onwards, to take over ERGEG's role of co-ordinating the regional initiatives. As ERGEG is 
doing  today,  ACER  will  need  to  rely  on  its  member  NRAs  as  driving  forces  behind  the 
Regional Initiatives.  

Moreover, it is important that the work of the Regional Initiatives feeds into the overall work 
of ACER.  

5. THE WAY FORWARD 

This Communication has presented an assessment of the performance of Regional Initiatives 
and  their  contribution  to  the  creation  of  an  internal  market  for  energy,  five  years  after  their 
establishment.  It  has  set  out  possible  directions  for  reviewing  their  role,  clarifying  their 
membership and reinforcing their effectiveness. As a staging post towards a truly integrated 
single energy market, regional initiatives have a key role to play in shaping up the future EU 
energy  policy  and  in  promoting  the  construction  of  integrated  energy  networks  fit  for  the 
needs of the next decades.  

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The  Commission  invites  the  European  Parliament,  the  Council  and  all  interested  parties  to 
express their views on the policy orientations expressed in this paper (by 15 February 2011).  

Based on this feedback, the Commission will consider possible legislative or policy initiatives 
to reinforce cooperation at regional level in the second half of 2011. 

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