Article 1 Subject matter and scope
1. This Regulation establishes a common framework for the notification to the Commission of data and information on investment projects in energy infrastructure in the sectors of oil, natural gas, electricity — including electricity from renewable sources, electricity from coal and lignite, and cogeneration of electricity and useful heat — as well as on investment projects related to bio-fuel production and the capture, transport and storage of carbon dioxide produced by those sectors. 2. This Regulation shall apply to investment projects of the types listed in the Annex on which construction or decommissioning work has started or on which a final investment decision has been taken. Member States may furthermore submit any estimated data or preliminary information on investment projects of the types listed in the Annex on which construction work is scheduled to start within five years and on those which are scheduled to be decommissioned within three years, but for which a final investment decision has not been taken.
Article 2 Definitions
For the purpose of this Regulation, the following definitions apply: (1) ‘infrastructure’ means any type of installations or part of an installation relating to production, transmission and storage, including interconnections between the Union and third countries; (2) ‘investment projects’ means projects aiming at: (i) building new infrastructure; (ii) transforming, modernising, increasing or reducing the capacity of existing infrastructure; (iii) partial or total decommissioning of existing infrastructure; (3) ‘final investment decision’ means the decision taken at the level of an undertaking to definitively earmark funds for the investment phase of a project; (4) ‘investment phase’ means the phase during which construction or decommissioning takes place and capital costs are incurred; it excludes the planning phase; (5) ‘planning phase’ means the phase during which project implementation is prepared and which includes, where appropriate, a feasibility assessment, preparatory and technical studies, obtaining licences and authorisations and incurring capital costs; (6) ‘investment projects under construction’ means investment projects for which construction has started and capital costs have been incurred; (7) ‘decommissioning’ means the phase where an infrastructure is permanently taken out of operation; (8) ‘production’ means the generation of electricity and the processing of fuels, including bio-fuels; (9) ‘transmission’ means the transport of energy sources or products or carbon dioxide, through a network, in particular: (i) through pipelines, other than an upstream pipeline network and other than the part of pipelines primarily used in the context of local distribution; or (ii) through extra-high-voltage and high-voltage interconnected systems and other than the systems primarily used in the context of local distribution; (10) ‘capture’ means the process of capturing carbon dioxide from industrial installations for storage; (11) ‘storage’ means the stocking on a permanent or temporary basis of energy or energy sources in above-ground or underground infrastructure or geological sites or containment of carbon dioxide in underground geological formations; (12) ‘undertaking’ means any natural or legal private or public person, deciding or implementing investment projects; (13) ‘energy sources’ means: (i) primary energy sources, such as oil, natural gas or coal; (ii) transformed energy sources, such as electricity; (iii) renewable energy sources including hydroelectricity, biomass, biogas, wind, solar, tidal, wave and geothermal energy; and (iv) energy products, such as refined oil products and bio-fuels; (14) ‘specific body’ means a body entrusted by any energy sector-specific legal act of the Union with the preparation and adoption of Union-wide multi-annual network development and investment plans in energy infrastructure, such as the European network of transmission system operators for electricity (‘ENTSO-E’) referred to in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 714/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 9 ) and the European network for transmission system operators for gas (‘ENTSO-G’) referred to in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 715/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 10 ) ; (15) ‘aggregated data’ means data aggregated at the level of one or more Member States.
Article 3 Notification of data
1. While keeping the collection and reporting burden proportionate, Member States or the entities to which they delegate that task shall compile all the data and information required under this Regulation as from 1 January 2015 and every two years thereafter. They shall notify the data and relevant project information specified in this Regulation to the Commission in 2015, that year being the first reporting year, and from then onwards every two years. That notification shall be made in aggregated form, except for data and relevant information relating to cross-border transmission projects. Member States or their delegated entities shall notify aggregated data and relevant project information by 31 July of the reporting year concerned. 2. Member States or their delegated entities are exempted from the obligations set out in paragraph 1, provided that, and to the extent that, pursuant to energy sector-specific legal acts of the Union or the Euratom Treaty: (a) the Member State concerned or its delegated entity has already notified to the Commission data or information equivalent to that required under this Regulation and has indicated the date of that notification and the specific legal act concerned; or (b) a specific body is entrusted with the preparation of a multi-annual investment plan in energy infrastructure at Union level and, to that end, compiles data and information equivalent to that required under this Regulation. In this case and for the purposes of this Regulation, that specific body shall notify all the relevant data and information to the Commission.
Article 4 Data sources
The undertakings concerned shall notify the data or information referred to in Article 3 to the Member States, or their delegated entities, in whose territory they are planning to carry out investment projects before 1 June of each reporting year. The data or information notified shall reflect the situation of investment projects as of 31 March of the relevant reporting year. The first paragraph shall not apply to undertakings where the Member State concerned decides to use other means of supplying the Commission with the data or information referred to in Article 3, provided that the data or information supplied are comparable.
Article 5 Content of the notification
1. With regard to investment projects of the types listed in the Annex, the notification provided for in Article 3 shall indicate, where appropriate: (a) the volume of the capacity planned or under construction; (b) the type and main characteristics of infrastructure or capacity planned or under construction, including the location of cross-border transmission projects, if applicable; (c) the probable year of commissioning; (d) the type of energy sources used; (e) the installations capable of responding to security of supply crises, such as equipment enabling reverse flows or fuel switching; and (f) the equipment of carbon capture systems or retrofitting mechanisms for carbon capture and storage. 2. With regard to any proposed decommissioning of capacities, the notification provided for in Article 3 shall indicate: (a) the character and the capacity of the infrastructure concerned; and (b) the probable year of decommissioning. 3. Any notification under Article 3 shall include where appropriate: (a) the total volume of installed production, transmission and storage capacities which are in place at the beginning of the reporting year concerned or whose operation is interrupted for a period exceeding three years; and (b) relevant information concerning delays and/or obstacles to the implementation of an investment project, where Member States, their delegated entities or the specific body concerned possess that information.
Article 6 Quality and publicity of data
1. Member States, their delegated entities or, where appropriate, the specific bodies shall aim to ensure the quality, relevance, accuracy, clarity, timeliness and coherence of the data and information which they notify to the Commission. Where specific bodies make the notification, the data and information notified may be accompanied by appropriate comments from Member States. 2. The Commission may publish aggregated data and information forwarded pursuant to this Regulation, in particular in analyses referred to in Article 10(3), provided that no details concerning individual undertakings and installations are disclosed or can be inferred. 3. Member States, their delegated entities, or the Commission shall each preserve the confidentiality of commercially-sensitive data or information in their possession.
Article 7 Implementing provisions
Within the limits laid down by this Regulation, by 10 June 2014, the Commission shall adopt the provisions necessary for the implementation of this Regulation, concerning the form and other technical details of the notification of data and information referred to in Articles 3 and 5. Until then, Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 833/2010 shall remain applicable.
Article 8 Data processing
The Commission shall be responsible for developing, hosting, managing and maintaining the IT resources needed to receive, store and carry out any processing of the data or information on energy infrastructure which is notified to it pursuant to this Regulation. The Commission shall also ensure that the IT resources referred to in the first paragraph guarantee the confidentiality of the data or information which is notified to it pursuant to this Regulation.
Article 9 Protection of individuals with regards to the processing of data
This Regulation is without prejudice to Union law and, in particular, does not alter Member States’ obligations with regard to the processing of personal data, as laid down in Directive 95/46/EC, or the obligations incumbent upon the Union’s institutions and bodies under Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 with regard to the processing of personal data by them in the course of their duties.
Article 10 Monitoring and reporting
1. On the basis of data and information forwarded and, if appropriate, of any other data sources including data purchased by the Commission, and taking into account relevant analyses such as the multi-annual network development plans for gas and for electricity, the Commission shall forward to the European Parliament, to the Council and to the European Economic and Social Committee and shall publish every two years a cross-sector analysis of the structural evolution and perspectives of the Union’s energy system. That analysis shall aim in particular at: (a) identifying potential future gaps between the demand and supply of energy that are of significance for the Union’s energy policy, including for the functioning of the internal energy market, with an emphasis on potential future deficiencies and flaws in the production and transmission infrastructure; (b) identifying investment obstacles and promoting best practices to address them; and (c) increasing transparency for market participants and potential market entrants. On the basis of this data and information, the Commission may also provide any specific analysis deemed necessary or appropriate. 2. In preparing the analyses referred to in paragraph 1, the Commission may be assisted by experts from Member States and/or any other experts, professional associations with specific competence in the area concerned. The Commission shall provide all Member States with an opportunity to comment on the draft analyses. 3. The Commission shall discuss the analyses with interested parties, such as ENTSO-E, ENTSO-G, the Gas Coordination Group, the Electricity Coordination Group and the Oil Coordination Group.
Article 11 Review
By 31 December 2016, the Commission shall review the implementation of this Regulation, and present a report on the results of that review to the European Parliament and to the Council. In the review, the Commission shall, inter alia, examine: (a) the possible extension of the scope of this Regulation to include: (i) the extraction of gas, oil and coal; (ii) terminals for compressed natural gas; (iii) additional types of electricity storage; and (b) the question as to whether or not thresholds for renewable energy installations should be lowered. In examining those options, the Commission shall take into account the need to ensure a balance between the increased administrative burden and the benefits of acquiring the additional information.
Article 12 Repeal
Regulation (EC) No 736/96 shall be repealed from 9 April 2014.
Article 13 Entry into force
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .