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Energy
ConsultationClosed

Evaluation of the TEN-E regulation

Details

Status
Closed
Opening date
Deadline

Target audience

All citizens and organisations are welcome to participate in this consultation.

The consultation may be particularly relevant to citizens and groups with an interest in the effect of the cost of energy transmission projects on energy prices, and in the impact of these projects on the environment. 

The companies, trade associations and Member State regulatory authorities directly involved in the implementation of PCIs have been approached with a much more detailed set of questions on the TEN-E Regulation. These stakeholders are welcome to complete this consultation as well, but there will be some duplication in the questions.

Why we are consulting

Objective of the consultation

The Trans-European Networks - Energy (TEN-E) Regulation is an EU law which aims to assist national governments and companies to better interconnect electricity and gas infrastructure across national borders. This public consultation is part of a wider evaluation to assess the impact of the TEN-E regulation on Europe's energy networks and the progress of Projects of Common Interest (PCIs), including a consideration of how the regulation might evolve in the future. The evaluation as a whole will also fulfil a requirement of the TEN-E Regulation for a report on the implementation of PCIs to be completed by 2017. This report needs to include an evaluation of:

  • The progress of PCIs;
  • The evolution of the interconnection between Member States;
  • The effectiveness of the permit granting provisions of the Regulation,
  • The regulatory treatment that PCIs receive, and
  • The overall effectiveness of the Regulation for market integration and contributing to climate and energy targets.

The questionnaire contains questions relating to the following:

  • Identification. This is obligatory for all respondents and collects information about the respondent and asks for the right to publish the information.
  • Relevance and coherence. The section covers whether there are any conflicts with other policy objectives.
  • Effectiveness. The section addresses whether the TEN-E Regulation achieves what it was intended to achieve
  • Efficiency and EU added value. The section covers views on the costs and benefits and the value of EU as opposed to national level action.
  • Alternatives. The section explores suggestions on the future scope and nature of the regulation.

The TEN-E regulation were designed to help overcome some of the key barriers which were identified as slowing or preventing, the development of European wide energy infrastructure. These barriers included the complex and time consuming nature of getting the required permits to build the infrastructure, delays caused by a lack of public acceptance, lack of incentives and systems to capture the EU level benefits of cross border energy transmissions projects and difficulties in accessing finance to construct the projects. By encouraging more integrated networks, the TEN-E Regulation aims to help encourage a more competitive and sustainable energy market with improved security of supply.

The TEN-E Regulation sets out a new method for planning trans-European energy transmission infrastructure. It defines broad energy infrastructure priority corridors (e.g. North to South, West Europe electricity corridor) and thematic areas (e.g. smart grids) and is intended to help identify and implement the projects that are needed to improve these networks. These projects are known as Projects of Common Interests ("PCIs"). The Regulation introduced several measures to make the preparation and development of these PCIs easier. These measures include:

  • PCIs receiving the highest national priority status and being included in national network development plans.
  • National regulatory authorities providing the necessary incentives for PCIs to happen.
  • PCIs benefiting from ‘cross-border cost allocation’ decisions to assist the sharing of project costs between countries in line with their expected benefits.
  • Streamlined permitting procedures with a maximum limit of 3½ years for a permitting decision.
  • The ability to benefit from the financing instruments under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).

How to submit your contribution

  • Contributions may be submitted in any EU language.
  • You can skip questions that you do not feel comfortable responding to. However, replies to questions marked with an asterisk are compulsory. You can also pause at any time and continue later. Once you have submitted your answers, you will be able to download a copy of your completed questionnaire.

Participants in the consultation and particularly stakeholders affected by the provisions of the TEN-E Regulation or with specialist knowledge of the topics are invited to share additional data and analysis on specific aspects of the legislation to be considered in the review. This information can be posted to:

or sent by e-mail to: ENER-B1-SECRETARIATatec [dot] europa [dot] eu (ENER-B1-SECRETARIAT[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)

This document provides further information on the background to the TEN-E regulation, what they include and what this evaluation is intended to assess.

More information on the nature of the TEN-E regulation and the progress of PCIs can be found on the following website.

Transparency and confidentiality

Please note that contributions received from this survey, together with the identity of the contributor, will be published on the European Commission's website, unless the contributor objects to publication of the personal information. In this case, the contribution will be published in anonymous form.

Follow the explanations about the protection of personal data.

The policy on "protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions" is based on Regulation (EC) N° 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000.

Important notice

As part of the European Transparency Initiative, organisations are invited to use the Register of interest representatives to provide the European Commission and the public at large with information about their objectives, funding and structures.

If you are not registered yet in this register, please visit: http://ec.europa.eu/transparencyregister/

View the contributions

In the interest of transparency, organisations have been invited to provide the public with relevant information about themselves by registering in the Transparency register and subscribing to its Code of Conduct. If the organisation is not registered, the submission is published separately from the registered organisations.

Disclaimer

Please note that this document has been drafted for information and consultation purposes only. It has not been adopted or in any way approved by the European Commission and should not be regarded as representative of the views of Commission staff. It does not in any way prejudge, or constitute the announcement of, any position on the part of the Commission on the issues covered. The European Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the information provided, nor does it accept responsibility for any use made thereof.

Protection of personal data:

18 DECEMBER 2014
Specific Privacy Statement Public consultation on the list of proposed Projects of Common Interest (electricity and gas)
English
(125.04 KB - PDF)
Download

 

Respond to the consultation

The response period for this consultation has ended. Thank you for your input.