The internal market in natural gas, which has been progressively implemented throughout the Union since 1999, aims to deliver real choice for all final customers in the Union, be they citizens or businesses, new business opportunities, fair conditions of competition, competitive prices, efficient investment signals and a higher standard of service, and to contribute to security of supply and sustainability.
(2)
Directives 2003/55/EC (4) and 2009/73/EC (5) of the European Parliament and of the Council have made a significant contribution towards the creation of the internal market in natural gas.
(3)
This Directive seeks to address obstacles to the completion of the internal market in natural gas which result from the non-application of Union market rules to gas transmission lines to and from third countries. The amendments introduced by this Directive are intended to ensure that the rules applicable to gas transmission lines connecting two or more Member States are also applicable, within the Union, to gas transmission lines to and from third countries. This will establish consistency of the legal framework within the Union while avoiding distortion of competition in the internal energy market in the Union and negative impacts on the security of supply. It will also enhance transparency and provide legal certainty to market participants, in particular investors in gas infrastructure and system users, as regards the applicable legal regime.
(4)
To take account of the lack of specific Union rules applicable to gas transmission lines to and from third countries before the date of entry into force of this Directive, Member States should be able to grant derogations from certain provisions of Directive 2009/73/EC to such gas transmission lines which are completed before the date of entry into force of this Directive. The relevant date for the application of unbundling models other than ownership unbundling should be adapted for gas transmission lines to and from third countries.
(5)
Pipelines connecting a third-country oil or gas production project to a processing plant or to a final coastal landing terminal within a Member State should be considered to be upstream pipeline networks. Pipelines connecting an oil or gas production project in a Member State to a processing plant or to a final coastal landing terminal within a third country should not be considered to be upstream pipeline networks for the purpose of this Directive, since such pipelines are unlikely to have a significant impact on the internal energy market.
(6)
Transmission system operators should be free to conclude technical agreements with transmission system operators or other entities in third countries on issues concerning the operation and interconnection of transmission systems, provided that the content of such agreements is compatible with Union law.
(7)
Technical agreements regarding the operation of transmission lines between transmission system operators or other entities should remain in force provided that they comply with Union law and the relevant decisions of the national regulatory authority.
(8)
When such technical agreements are in place, the conclusion of an international agreement between a Member State and a third country or of an agreement between the Union and a third country regarding the operation of the gas transmission line concerned is not required by this Directive.
(9)
The applicability of Directive 2009/73/EC to gas transmission lines to and from third countries remains confined to the territory of the Member States. As regards offshore gas transmission lines, Directive 2009/73/EC should be applicable in the territorial sea of the Member State where the first interconnection point with the Member States' network is located.
(10)
It should be possible for existing agreements concluded between a Member State and a third country on the operation of transmission lines to remain in force, in accordance with this Directive.
(11)
With regard to agreements or parts of agreements with third countries which may affect common rules of the Union, a coherent and transparent procedure should be established by which to authorise a Member State, upon its request, to amend, extend, adapt, renew or conclude an agreement with a third country on the operation of a transmission line or an upstream pipeline network between the Member State and a third country. The procedure should not delay the implementation of this Directive, should be without prejudice to the allocation of competence between the Union and the Member States, and should apply to existing and new agreements.
(12)
Where it is apparent that the subject matter of an agreement falls partly within the competence of the Union and partly within that of a Member State, it is essential to ensure close cooperation between that Member State and the Union institutions.
(13)
Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/703 (6), Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/459 (7), Commission Decision 2012/490/EU (8), as well as Chapters III, V, VI and IX, and Article 28 of Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/460 (9) apply to entry points from and exit points to third countries, subject to the relevant decisions of the relevant national regulatory authority, whereas Commission Regulation (EU) No 312/2014 (10) applies exclusively to balancing zones within the borders of the Union.
(14)
In order to adopt decisions authorising or refusing to authorise a Member State to amend, extend, adapt, renew or conclude an agreement with a third country, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (11).
(15)
Since the objective of this Directive, namely to establish consistency of the legal framework within the Union while avoiding distortion of competition in the internal energy market in the Union, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States, but can rather, by reasons of its scale and effects, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Directive does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve that objective.
(16)
In accordance with the Joint Political Declaration of 28 September 2011 of Member States and the Commission on explanatory documents (12), Member States have undertaken to accompany, in justified cases, the notification of their transposition measures with one or more documents explaining the relationship between the components of a Directive and the corresponding parts of national transposition instruments. With regard to this Directive, the legislator considers the transmission of such documents to be justified.
(17)
Directive 2009/73/EC should therefore be amended accordingly,
