CELEX: 51990PC0425
Language: en
Date: 1990-09-21
Title: AMENDMENT TO THE PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE ON THE TRANSIT OF NATURAL GAS THROUGH THE MAJOR SYSTEMS

24. 10. 90                           Official Journal of the European Communities                              No C 268/9
                                                            II
                                                     (Preparatory acts)
                                               COMMISSION
           Amendment to the proposal for a Council Directive on the transit of natural gas through the
                                                     major systems (')
                                             COM(90) 425 final — SYN 206
           (Submitted by the Commission pursuant to Article 149 (3) of the EEC Treaty on 21 September
                                                           1990)
                                                      (90/C 268/09)
           (') OJ No C 247, 28. 9. 1989, p. 6 (COM(89) 334 final — SYN 206).
                                                                 AMENDMENTS ADOPTED BY THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND
                    INITIAL PROPOSAL                                             ACCEPTED BY THE COMMISSION
                                                                                     Amendment No 1
                                                                                        New recital la
                                                                 Whereas development of the internal market in energy
                                                                 will require the development and adoption of an inte-
                                                                 grated approach to Community energy policy that will
                                                                 eliminate structural differences and be equal to the major
                                                                 challenges of:
                                                                 — environmental protection
                                                                 — risk minimization, and
                                                                 — security of supply;
                                                                                      Amendment No 2
                                                                                        New recital lb
                                                                 Whereas the completion of the internal market for gas
                                                                 requires the formulation and adoption by the
                                                                 Community of a global strategy for energy centred on
                                                                 risk reduction;
                                                                                     Amendment No 3
                                                                                        New recital 2a
                                                                 Whereas a major objective of the Community is to
                                                                 strengthen its reliance on natural gas, both absolutely
                                                                 and by comparison with other sources of energy, which
                                                                 is also important from an environmental standpoint;
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 268/10                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                 24. 10. 90
                                                                  AMENDMENTS ADOPTED BY THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND
                      INITIAL PROPOSAL                                              ACCEPTED BY THE COMMISSION
                                                     Amendment No 4
                                                         Third recital
Whereas the objective of the single natural gas market is         Whereas the objective of the single natural gas market is
to ensure greater profitability and security of supply by         to ensure greater profitability, environmental accept-
freer trade but avoid unacceptable restrictions on compe-         ability, and security of supply by freer trade but avoid
tition; whereas the special nature of the natural gas             unacceptable restrictions on competition; whereas the
sector must be taken into account in the pursuit of this          special nature of the natural gas sector must be taken
objective;                                                        into account in the pursuit of this objective;
                                                                                        Amendment No 5
                                                                                          New recital 3a
                                                                  Whereas in achieving the internal market in natural gas
                                                                  consideration should be given not only to comparable
                                                                  features in the Member States but also to sometimes
                                                                  significant differences, including:
                                                                       the co-existence of gas supply undertakings having
                                                                       the legal status of private entrepreneurially-oriented
                                                                       companies alongside counterpart undertakings that
                                                                       are nationalized and consequently are less exposed to
                                                                       the risks of the market,
                                                                      vertical integration of transmission and distribution
                                                                      under extensive monopolies on the one hand, and a
                                                                      multiplicity of independent undertakings at all levels
                                                                      on the other,
                                                                      State price regulation with a political orientation, or
                                                                      competitive prices,
                                                                     wide variation in the distribution of natural gas as
                                                                      between the Member States;
                                                                                        Amendment No 6
                                                                                         New recital 5a
                                                                 Whereas this increase in interconnections and greater use
                                                                 of the network will make it advisable to harmonize
                                                                 standards of security and environmental protection
                                                                 throughout the Community at the highest level; where
                                                                 there are projects for new routes or for the upgrading of
                                                                 existing lines and pipelines, there should be a prior
                                                                 assessment of their environmental impact and of possible
                                                                 risks for the population affected by transit through urban
                                                                 regions or close to inhabited areas;
 ---pagebreak--- 24. 10. 90                              Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 268/11
                                                                     AMENDMENTS ADOPTED BY THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND
                       INITIAL PROPOSAL                                             ACCEPTED BY THE COMMISSION
                                                       Amendment No 7
                                                           Sixth recital
Whereas in the future interconnections between several               Whereas in the future additional interconnections
Member States will need to be made to allow adequate                 between several Member States will need to be made to
supply and compliance with the natural gas transit obli-             allow adequate supplies of natural gas to consumers;
gation and will have the effect of reducing non-technical            whereas it will be essential to eliminate restrictions on
obstacles; whereas compliance with this obligation                   pipeline construction and to create a climate favourable
constitutes a first stage in the development of the internal         to the major investment that will be required;
market for natural gas;
                                                      Amendmend No 15
                                                    Article 3 (2), first indent
    any request for transit shall, within eight (8) days, be             any request for transit shall, within one month, be
    communicated by the requesting entity or entities to                 communicated by the requesting entity or entities to
    the Commission and the national competent auth-                      the Commission and the national competent auth-
    orities;                                                             orities,
                                                      Amendment No 18
                                                             Article 5
Before 1 January 1993, without prejudice to the                      Delete
Commission's own powers, the Council will decide — as
far as it is necessary — complementary conditions
governing the detailed rules of intra-Community transit.