CELEX: 51989PC0334
Language: en
Date: 1989-09-06
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE ON THE TRANSIT OF NATURAL GAS THROUGH THE MAJOR SYSTEMS

No C 247/6                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                   28. 9. 89
                                                            II
                                                     (Preparatory Acts)
                                               COMMISSION
                Proposal for a Council Directive on the transit of natural gas through the major systems
                                             COM(89) 334 final — SYN 206
                                     (Submitted by the Commission on 20 July 1989)
                                                      (89/C 247/07)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                         linked up into the European transmission grid and,
                                                                 thereby, to improve the security and quality of natural
                                                                 gas supply;
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Economic Community, and in particular Article 100a
thereof,                                                         Whereas in the future interconnections between several
                                                                 Member States will need to be made to allow adequate
                                                                 supply and compliance with the natural gas transit obli-
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,               gation and will have the effect of reducing non-technical
                                                                 obstacles; whereas compliance with this obligation
                                                                 constitutes a first stage in the development of the internal
In cooperation with the European Parliament,
                                                                 market for natural gas;
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                 Whereas this obligation must, at least at this stage, be
Social Committee,                                                confined to the transit of natural gas through high-
                                                                 pressure grids;
Whereas it is necessary to adopt the measures required
to gradually complete the internal market by 31                  Whereas the financial, technical and legal conditions for
December 1992; whereas successive European Councils              such transit must, as a general rule, be worked out
have recognized the need for a single internal market,           directly between the transmission companies concerned;
and, in particular in Rhodes, the need for a single energy
market;                                                          Whereas the conditions of transit should be equitable
                                                                 and should not bring about, directly or indirectly,
                                                                 conditions contrary to Community competition rules;
Whereas there must be greater integration of the
European energy market if a single internal market is
to be achieved; whereas natural gas is an essential              Whereas it is necessary, in order to realize this first stage
component of the Community's energy balance;                     of the internal energy market in satisfactory competitive
                                                                 conditions, to approximate legislative, regulatory or
                                                                 administrative provisions passed by Member States so as
Whereas the objective of the single natural gas market is        to provide a procedural framework for the formulation
to ensure greater profitability and security of supply by        of these agreements in the most transparent manner;
freer trade but avoid unacceptable restrictions on compe-
tition; whereas the special nature of the natural gas            Whereas it could prove necessary for the Council to
sector must be taken into account in the pursuit of this         decide, before 1 January 1993, without prejudice to the
objective;                                                       Commission's own powers, complementary conditions
                                                                 governing the modalities of intra-Community transit,
Whereas there is already increasing trade in natural gas
each year between high-pressure gas transmission grids           HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
in Europe; whereas the Community's security of natural
gas supply can be improved and costs can be reduced by
coordinating the building and operation of the intercon-                                     Article 1
nections required for such trade;
                                                                  Member States shall take the measures necessary to
                                                                  ensure compliance with the obligation for the transit of
Whereas it is possible and desirable to increase the              natural gas through high-pressure gas transmission grids
 number of interconnections to integrate more regions or          in accordance with the conditions laid down in this
even Member States which are not yet or are not fully             Directive.
 ---pagebreak--- 28. 9. 89                             Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 247/7
                          Article 2                                  sibilities of the entity responsible for transit for
                                                                     ensuring security of supply and contractual quality of
1.    Transmission of natural gas under the following                service,
conditions shall constitute transit of natural gas through
transmission grids within the meaning of this Directive:        — the Commission and the national competent
                                                                     authorities shall be informed, within eight (8) days,
(a) the transport is carried out through the high-pressure           of any agreement on transit.
    gas grid on the territory of a Member State; .
                                                                — if, after 12 months following the communication of
(b) the transport is carried out between Member States'              the request, negotiations have not achieved an
    gas companies.                                                   agreement, the Commission and the national auth-
                                                                     orities will be informed, without delay, by the
2.    Operations involved in such transmission and
                                                                     interested parties who have to indicate their reasons.
contributing to the security and quality of natural gas
supply shall be considered to form part of transit within
the meaning of this Directive.                                                             Article 4
                                                                 In the absence of due reasons for the failure to reach an
3.    The high-pressure natural gas transmission grids           agreement or if the reasons appear unjustified or insuf-
and the entities responsible for them, which are listed in       ficient, the Commission, acting on a complaint from the
the Annex, shall be covered by the provisions of this            requesting body or on its own initiative, shall put in hand
Directive. This list shall be revised whenever necessary         the procedures provided for by the Treaty or any other
by decision of the Commission.                                   applicable provision of Community law.
                          Article 3                                                        Article 5
 1.   The conditions of natural gas transit through gas          Before 1 January 1993, without prejudice to the
transmission grids shall be negotiated and agreed by the         Commission's own powers, the Council will decide — as
bodies responsible for the grids concerned.                      far as it is necessary — complementary conditions
                                                                 governing the detailed rules of intra-Community transit.
2.    Member States shall take the measures necessary to
ensure examination by the entities which come under
                                                                                           Article 6
their territorial jurisdiction of any request for transit
according to the following conditions:                           Member States shall bring into force the laws, regu-
                                                                 lations .and administrative provisions necessary to comply
— any request for transit shall, within eight (8) days, be
                                                                 with this Directive not later than 1 July 1990. They shall
    communicated by the requesting entity or entities to
                                                                 forthwith      inform   the Commission thereof          and
    the Commission and the national competent auth-
                                                                 communicate to the Commission the provisions of
    orities,
                                                                 national law which they adopt in the field covered by
 — the responsible entities shall be obliged, within a           this Directive.
    maximum of one month, to open negotiations on the
    conditions of the natural gas transit requested.             The provisions adopted pursuant to the first paragraph
                                                                 shall make express reference to this Directive.
 — the transit conditions must be equitable for all the
    parties concerned and should not include unfair                                         Article 7
    clauses or unjustified restrictions, in particular,
    payment for transit must take account of the respon-         This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 247/8                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                       28. 9. 89
                                                       ANNEX
                              List of entities and high-pressure gas transmission grids
               Member State                   Entity                                      Grid
           Federal Republic Bayerngas GmbH                              Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
           of Germany                                                   pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                        consumers
                            BEB Erdgas und Erdol GmbH                   Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                        pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                        consumers
                            Deutsche Erdgas Transport GmbH              Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                        pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                        consumers
                            Energieversorgung       Weser-Ams    AG     Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                            (EWE)                                       pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                        consumers
                            Erdgas Verkaufs-Gesellschaft mbH            Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                        pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                        consumers
                            Ferngas Nordbayern GmbH                     Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                        pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                        consumers
                            Ferngas Salzgitter GmbH                     Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                        pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                        consumers
                            Gas-Union GmbH                              Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                        pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                        consumers
                            Mobil Oil AG                                Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                        pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                        consumers
                            Ruhrgas AG                                  Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                        pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                        consumers
                            Saar Ferngas AG                             Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                        pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                        consumers
                            Thyssengas GmbH                             Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                        pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                        consumers
                            Vereinigte Elektrizitatswerke West-          Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                            falen AG (VEW)                              pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                        consumers
                            Westfallische Ferngas AG                    Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                         pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                         consumers
                            Energieversorgung Mittelrhein                Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                         pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                         consumers
                            EWAG, Niirnberg                              Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                         pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                         consumers
                            Erdgas Schwaben GmbH                         Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                         pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                         consumers
                            Erdgas Siidbayern GmbH                       Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                         pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                         consumers
                            GEW Koln                                     Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                         pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                         consumers
 ---pagebreak--- .28. 9. 89                       Official Journal of the European Communities                               No C 247/9
                 Member State                 Entity                                Grid
                              Gasversorgung Siiddeutschland        Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                   pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                   consumers
                              Gasversorgung Siidhannover Nord-     Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                              hessen                               pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                   consumers
                              Hamburger Gaswerke                   Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                   pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                   consumers
                              Landesgasversorgung Niedersachsen    Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                   pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                   consumers
                              Main-Gaswerke AG                     Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                   pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                   consumers
                              Schleswag AG                         Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                   pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                   consumers
                              Slidhessische Gas und Wasser AG      Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                   pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                   consumers
                              Technische Werke der Stadt Stuttgart Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                              AG                                   pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                   consumers
                              Thiiga AG                            Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                   pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                   consumers
                              GASAG, Berlin                        Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                   pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                   consumers
           Belgium            Distrigaz SA                         Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                   pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                   consumers
           Denmark            Dansk Naturgas A/S                   Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                   pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                   consumers
           Spain              Empresa Nacional de Gas SA           Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                              (ENAGAS)                             pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                   consumers
                              Catalana de Gas                      Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                   pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                   consumers
                              Gas de Euskadi                       Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                   pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                   consumers
           Greece             DEPA                                 Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                   pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                   consumers
           Luxembourg         SOTEG                                Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                   pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                   consumers
           Netherlands        NV Nederlandse Gasunie               Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                   pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                   consumers
           Italy              Snam SpA                             Grid supplying end distributors (munici-
                                                                   pal authorities, etc.) and major end
                                                                   consumers
 ---pagebreak--- No C 247/10                      Official Journal of the European Communities       28. 9. 89
               Member State                  Entity                            Grid
          France             Gaz de France                         Public grid
                            .SNGSO                                 Public grid
          United Kingdom     British Gas                           Public grid
          Ireland            Irish Gas Board                       Public grid