CELEX: 51989PC0336
Language: en
Date: 1989-09-29
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE ON THE TRANSIT OF ELECTRICITY THROUGH TRANSMISSION GRIDS

No C 8/4                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                       13. 1.90
                                                              II
                                                       (Preparatory Acts)
                                                COMMISSION
                 Proposal for a Council Directive on the transit of electricity through transmission grids
                                              COM(89) 336 final — SYN 207
                                      (Submitted by the Commission on 20 July 1989)
                                                         (90/C 8/05)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                           improved and costs would be reduced by coordinating
                                                                   the building and operation of the interconnections
                                                                   required for such trade;
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Economic Community, and in particular Article 100a
thereof,
                                                                   Whereas the exchange of electricity between high-
                                                                   voltage electricity grids which are based on contracts
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                 with a minimum duration of one year can have impli-
                                                                   cations as far as the necessary investments are
                                                                   concerned; such proposed transactions should therefore
In cooperation with the European Parliament,                       be systematically known to the Commission;
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee,                                                  Whereas it is possible and desirable to increase electricity
                                                                   transfers between grids and also take account of the
                                                                   imperatives of security and quality of electricity supply;
Whereas it is necessary to adopt the measures required             whereas studies show that greater electricity transfers
to complete the internal market during the period ending           between grids can minimize the cost of investment and
31 December 1992; whereas successive European                      fuels involved in electricity generation and transmission
Councils have recognized the need for a single internal            and ensure optimum use of the means of production;
market, and, in particular in Rhodes, the need for a
single energy market;
                                                                   Whereas increased electricity transfers between grids
Whereas the achievement of the single internal market              may also encourage cooperation between electricity
implies that the European energy market must be better             generation and transmission companies to find ways of
integrated; whereas electricity is an essential component          improving production and transmission equipment;
of the Community's energy balance;                                 whereas such improvements will also cut costs;
Whereas the completion of the internal market for
energy and more particularly in the electricity sector will        Whereas there are still obstacles to greater trade in elec-
take into account the objective of economic and social             tricity between grids; whereas, provided they are not due
cohesion;                                                          to the nature of technology used or the nature of the
                                                                   grids themselves, such obstacles can be reduced by
                                                                   making the transit of electricity through grids
Whereas the objective of the single electricity market is          compulsory and introducing an appropriate system of
to ensure greater profitability and security of supply by          monitoring compliance with this obligation; whereas
freer trade without unacceptable restrictions on compe-            compliance with this obligation is a first step towards an
tition; whereas the special nature of the electricity sector       internal energy market;
must be taken into account in the pursuit of this
objective;
                                                                   Whereas this obligation and monitoring system must be
Whereas there is increasing trade in electricity each year         confined, at least at this stage, to the transit of electricity
between high-voltage electricity grids in Europe; whereas          involved in trade which is in the Community interest, i.e.
the Community's security of electricity supply would be            transit through high-voltage grids;
 ---pagebreak---  13. 1.90                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                 No C 8/5
Whereas the financial, technical and legal conditions of        2.     Transactions involving transmission as well as
 such transit must, as a general rule, be worked out            contributing to the security and quality of electricity
 directly between the networks concerned;                       supply shall be considered to form part of transit.
Whereas the conditions of transit should be equitable           Transit shall, as a general rule, be through one or more
 and should not bring about, directly or indirectly,            intermediary grids irrespective of whether these grids fall
 conditions contrary to Community competition rules;            within the territorial jurisdiction of the same Member
                                                                State or not.
Whereas it is necessary, in order to realize this first stage
of the internal energy market in satisfactory competitive
conditions, to approximate legislative, regulatory or           3.    The high-voltage electricity transmission grids and
administrative provisions introduced by Member States,          the entities responsible for them, which are listed in the
to frame procedurally the formulation of these                  Annex, shall be covered by the provisions of this
agreements in the most transparent manner;                      Directive. This list shall be revised whenever necessary
                                                                by decision of the Commission.
Whereas it could prove necessary that the Council
decide, without prejudice to the Commission's own
                                                                                          Article 3
powers, complementary conditions governing the
modalities of intra-Community transit;                           1.   The conditions for transit of electricity through
                                                                grids shall be freely negotiated and agreed by the bodies
                                                                responsible for the grids concerned and for the quality of
Whereas the establishment of an internal electricity            service provided.
market will stimulate gradual integration of national
electricity grids, and whereas special infrastructure
measures would help to speed up the linking-up of
outlying areas and islands in the Community to the              2.    Member States shall take the necessary measures to
interconnected grid;                                            ensure that the entities referred to in the Annex and
                                                                under their jurisdiction shall proceed to examine requests
                                                                for transit under the following conditions:
Whereas the territory covered by interconnected
European grids over which trade must be coordinated
extends beyond the Community's frontiers; whereas               — every request for transit corresponding to a sales
there must hence be concertation with third countries               contract of electricity with a duration of one year
involved in the interconnected European network,                    will be communicated, within a maximum of eight
                                                                    days, to the Commission and to the national auth-
                                                                    orities by the requesting entity or entities,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
                                                                — the responsible entities shall be obliged, within a
                                                                    maximum of one month, to open negotiations on the
                          Article 1                                 conditions of the electricity transit requested,
Member States shall take the measures necessary to
ensure compliance, on their territory, with the obligation
of transit of electricity between high-voltage grids in         — the transit conditions must be equitable for all the
accordance with the conditions laid down in this                    parties concerned and should not include unfair
Directive.                                                          clauses or unjustified restrictions; in particular,
                                                                    payment for transit must take account of the respon-
                                                                    sibilities of the entity responsible for transit for
                          Article 2                                 ensuring security of supply and contractual quality of
                                                                    service,
1.     Every transaction for the transport of electricity
under the following conditions, shall constitute transit of
electricity between grids, within the meaning of this           — the Commission and the competent national auth-
Directive:                                                          orities shall be informed within a maximum of eight
                                                                    days of the conclusion of a transit agreement,
(a) transmission through a high-voltage electricity grid
     in a Member State's territory (which contributes to
                                                                — if, after 12 months following the communication of
     the efficient operation of European high-voltage
                                                                    the request, negotiations have not achieved an
     interconnections);
                                                                    agreement, the Commission and the competent
                                                                    national authorities shall be informed without delay
(b) transmission from one grid to another within the                by the interested parties who shall indicate their
     meaning of this Article.                                       reasons.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 8/6                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                13. 1. 90
                        Article 4                                                       Article 6
If the absence of agreement is not duly motivated, or if       Member States shall bring into force the laws, regu-
the motivation appears unjustified or insufficient, the        lations and administrative provisions necessary to comply
Commission, acting on a complaint from the requesting          with this Directive not later than 1 July 1990 and shall
body or on its own initiative, shall put in hand the           forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
procedures provided for by the Treaty or other
applicable Community legal provisions.
                                                               The provisions adopted pursuant to the first paragraph
                        Article 5                              shall make express reference to this Directive.
Before 1 January 1993, without prejudice to the
Commission's own powers, the Council will decide — as
far as necessary and in conformity with Article 100a of                                 Article 7
the Treaty — principles and complementary conditions
governing the modalities of transit.                           This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
 ---pagebreak--- 13. 1.90                          Official Journal of the European Communities                                 No C 8/7
                                                          ANNEX
                         List of entities and grids in the Community covered by the Directive
               Member State                           Entity                              Grid
         BELGIUM                       CPTE — Societe pour la coordi-      Coordinating body for public supply
                                       nation de la production et du       grid
                                       transport de l'electricite
         DENMARK                       ELSAM                               Public supply grid
                                                                           (Jutland)
                                       ELKRAFT                             Public supply grid
                                                                           (Seeland)
         FRANCE                        Electricity de France               Public supply grid
         FEDERAL REPUBLIC              Badenwerk AG                        Regional public supply grids
         OF GERMANY                    Bayernwerk AG
                                       Berliner Kraft und Licht AG
                                       (Bewag)
                                       Energie-Versorgung,
                                       Schwaben AG (EVS)
                                       Hamburgische Elektrizitats-
                                      Werke (HEW)
                                       Preussen-Elektra AG
                                       Rheinisch-Westfalisches
                                       Elektrizitatswerk AG (RWE)
                                      Vereinigte Elektrizitatswerke
                                      Westfalen AG (WEW)
         GREECE                        Public Power Corporation            Public supply grid
         IRELAND                       Electricity Supply Board            Public supply grid
         ITALY                         ENEL                                Public supply grid
         LUXEMBOURG                    CEGEDEL                             Public supply grid
         NETHERLANDS                   SEP                                 Public supply grid
         PORTUGAL                      EDP                                 Public supply grid
         SPAIN                         Red Electrica de Espana (Redesa)    Public supply grid
         UNITED                       Gridco Transco                       Public supply grid
         KINGDOM