REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the exercise of the power to adopt delegated acts conferred on the Commission pursuant 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
Date: 2016-08-22
Institutions: Directorate-General for Energy, European Commission
Subjects: delegated legislation, delegation of power, energy cooperation, energy grid, powers of the institutions (EU), project of common interest, trans-European network

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 22.8.2016  COM(2016) 509 final   REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the exercise of the power to adopt delegated acts conferred on the Commission pursuant 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. INTRODUCTION 

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 715/20091  ('TEN-E  Regulation')  lays  down  guidelines  for  the  timely  development  and 
interoperability of priority corridors and areas of trans-European energy infrastructure.  

The TEN-E Regulation introduces the notion of a 'project of common interest' ('PCI') which is 
an  infrastructure  project  necessary  to  implement  the  abovementioned  energy  infrastructure 
priority corridors and thematic areas. PCIs are energy infrastructure projects which are key for 
building  well-interconnected  energy  networks  in  Europe  and  are  cornerstones  of  various 
European  strategies,  including  the  Energy  Union  Strategy,  the  2020  Energy  and  Climate 
Strategy and the 2030 Framework for Climate and Energy. 

The  TEN-E  Regulation  also  provides  (i)  a  regulatory  framework  for  selecting  PCIs  that  are 
necessary  to  implement  priority  corridors  and  areas,  and  (ii)  lays  down  a  set  of  measures 
which facilitate the timely implementation of PCIs, including rules for streamlining the permit 
granting, rules and guidance for the cross-border allocation of costs and risk-related incentives 
as well as rules determining the conditions for eligibility of PCIs for financial assistance.  

PCIs are set out in a Union list of PCIs which constitutes an annex to the TEN-E Regulation 
('Union  list').  The  Union  list  is  established  by  a  delegated  act  adopted  by  the  Commission 
pursuant to Article 3(4) of the TEN-E Regulation, subject to the conditions for the exercise of 
the delegation laid down in its Article 16.  

Article  3(4)  of  the  TEN-E  Regulation  requires  the  Union  list  to  be  established  every  two 
years, on the basis of the regional lists adopted by the decision-making bodies of the so-called 
'Regional  Groups',  as  established  according  to  Article  3(1)2  of  the  TEN-E  Regulation, 
following the procedure set out in Article 3(3) and (4) as well as Annex III.2 to the TEN-E 
Regulation. 

Since the adoption of the TEN-E Regulation, the Commission has exercised its competence 
twice by adopting delegated regulations establishing  two consecutive Union lists of PCIs in 
2013 and in 2015, respectively.  

2. LEGAL BASIS 

The  present  report  of  the  Commission  is  required  under  Article  16(2)  of  the  TEN-E 
Regulation.  This  provision  grants  to  the  Commission  the  power  to  adopt  delegated  acts 
establishing the Union list of PCIs, as set out in Article 3(4) of the TEN-E Regulation. 

In accordance with Article 16(2) of the TEN-E Regulation the power to adopt delegated acts 
is conferred on the Commission for a period of four years, starting from 15 May 2013. The 
Commission is required to prepare a report in respect to the exercise of the delegated powers 
nine months before the end of the four-year period at the latest. 

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2  

OJ L 115, 25.4.2013, p. 39-75.  
The Regional Groups as defined by the TEN-E Regulation consist of the Commission and the Member States 
that  are  located  in  particular  geographic  areas  ('priority  corridors')  as  set  out  in  Annex  I.1  to  the  TEN-E 
Regulation.  

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Article  16(2)  of  the  TEN-E  Regulation  envisages  that  the  delegation  of  the  power  will  be 
tacitly  extended  for  consecutive  four-year  periods,  unless  the  European  Parliament  or  the 
Council opposes such an extension not later than three months before the end of each four-
year period.  

3. EXERCISE OF THE DELEGATION 

3.1. Delegated act in force  

One delegated regulation is currently in force. It has been adopted by the Commission, based 
on  the  delegation  conferred  on  it  by  Article  3(4)  of  the  TEN-E  Regulation,  and  passed 
successfully the period for objection of the co-legislators:  

  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 interest3. 

Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  No  2016/89,  which  entered  into  force  on  16  February  2016, 
amended Annex VII of the TEN-E Regulation by setting out the (second) Union list of PCIs. 

3.2. Expired delegated act  

One delegated regulation adopted by the Commission, pursuant to Article 3(4) of the TEN-E 
Regulation and which had passed successfully the period for objection of the co-legislators, is 
no longer valid:  

  Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1391/2013 of 14 October 2013 amending 
Regulation  (EU)  No  347/2013  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  on 
guidelines  for  trans-European  energy  infrastructure  as  regards  the  Union  list  of 
projects of common interest4.  

Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  1391/2013,  which  entered  into  force  on  10  January  2014, 
amended the TEN-E Regulation by setting out the (first) Union list of PCIs. The Union list set 
out  by  Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  2016/89  replaced  the  Union  list  set  out  by  Delegated 
Regulation (EU) No 1391/2013.5 

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4  
5  

OJ L 19, 27.1.2016, p. 1. 
OJ L 349, 21.12.2013, p. 28.  
See recital (10) and Article 1 of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 2016/89. 

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3.3 Public consultations prior to the adoption of delegated acts  

  Delegated Regulation (EU) No 2016/89 of 18 November 2015  

The Commission carried out a public consultation from 22 December 2014 to 31 March 2015. 
The consultation process was open and it was not subject to any limitations with regard to the 
categories  of  stakeholders.  The  consultation  complied  with  the  Commission's  consultation 
standards. 

  Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1391/2013 of 14 October 2013  

The Commission had started the consultation process sixteen months prior to the adoption of 
the  delegated  act.  The  (second)  open  public  consultation  was  held  between  20  June  and  4 
October  2012.  The  consultation  process  was  open  and  it  was  not  subject  to  any  limitations 
with  regard  to  the  categories  of  stakeholders.  The  consultation  complied  with  the 
Commission's consultation standards. 

3.4. Delegated acts to be adopted in the future  

The Commission, according to Article 3(4) of the TEN-E Regulation, is obliged to ensure that 
the Union list of PCIs is established every two years. Consequently, the Union list established 
by Delegated Regulation (EU) No 2016/89 of 18 November 2015 will be replaced by a new 
(third) Union list of PCIs to be laid down by a Commission delegated regulation that will be 
adopted in 2017 in accordance with the procedure in the TEN-E Regulation.  

4. CONCLUSION 

With this report the Commission complies with the reporting obligation laid down in Article 
16(2) of the TEN-E Regulation. The Commission considers that it has exercised its delegated 
powers within the scope conferred to it by the TEN-E Regulation, with due respect to all the 
Regulation's provisions regarding transparency and public participation.  

In accordance with Article 16(2) of the TEN-E Regulation, the delegation of power conferred 
by  Article  3(4)  of  the  TEN-E  Regulation  should  be  extended  in  order  to  enable  the 
Commission  to  adopt  consecutive  Union  lists  of  PCIs,  including  the  (third)  one  in  2017 
needed to achieve the EU's energy and climate objectives.  

The Commission invites the European Parliament and the Council to take note of this report. 

The Commission considers that the extension of delegation of power defined in Article 16(2) 
of the TEN-E Regulation should not be opposed.  

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