Council Directive 91/296/EEC of 31 May 1991 on the transit of natural gas through grids
Modified by
Actconcerning the conditions of accession of the Kingdom of Norway, the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded(94/C 241/08)Decision of the Council of the European Unionof 1 January 1995adjusting the instruments concerning the accession of new Member States to the European Union(95/1/EC, Euratom, ECSC), 11994N31995D0001, August 29, 1994
Decision of the Council of the European Unionof 1 January 1995adjusting the instruments concerning the accession of new Member States to the European Union(95/1/EC, Euratom, ECSC), 31995D0001, January 1, 1995
Commission Directive 94/49/ECof 11 November 1994updating the list of entities covered by Council Directive 91/296/EEC on the transit of natural gas through grids, 31994L0049, November 16, 1994
Commission Directive 95/49/ECof 26 September 1995updating the list of entities covered by Directive 91/296/EEC on the transit of natural gas through grids(Text with EEA relevance), 31995L0049, September 30, 1995
Directive 2003/55/EC of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 26 June 2003concerning common rules for the internal market in natural gas and repealing Directive 98/30/EC, 32003L0055, July 15, 2003
Council Directiveof 31 May 1991on the transit of natural gas through grids(91/296/EEC)THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 100a thereof,Having regard to the proposal from the CommissionOJ No C 247, 28. 9. 1989, p. 6 andOJ No C 268, 24. 10. 1990, p. 9.,In cooperation with the European ParliamentOJ No C 231, 17. 9. 1990, p. 72 andOJ No C 129, 20. 5. 1991.,Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social CommitteeOJ No C 75, 26. 3. 1990, p. 20.,Whereas it is necessary to adopt measures with the aim of progressively establishing the internal market during the period ending 31 December 1992; whereas successive European Councils have recognized the need for a single internal market and, particularly in Rhodes, the need for a single energy market;Whereas completion of the internal market in energy in general, and more particularly in the natural gas sector, requires the development of a Community energy strategy that will be equal to the challenges of:security of supply,environmental protection;Whereas there must be greater integration of the European energy market if the single internal market is to be achieved; whereas natural gas is an essential component of the Community's energy balance;Whereas greater reliance on natural gas is desirable as part of diversification of energy sources;Whereas the completion of the internal market for energy, more particularly in the natural gas sector, will take into account the objective of economic and social cohesion;Whereas the objective of the internal natural gas market is to ensure greater profitability, compatibility with the environment and security of supplies by free trade, without unacceptable restrictions on competition; whereas the specific characteristics of the natural gas sector must be taken into account if the pursuit of this objective is to be successful;Whereas in completing the internal market in natural gas, consideration should be given not only to comparable features in the Member States but equally to sometimes significant differences;Whereas trade in natural gas between the high-pressure gas transmission grids of European countries is increasing from year to year and has implications in terms of investment; whereas the Community's security of natural gas supply could be improved and costs reduced by operating the interconnections required for such trade;Whereas the exchange of natural gas between high-pressure gas transmission grids is being conducted on such a scale that the transactions requested and their consequences should be systematically known to the Commission;Whereas it is possible and desirable to increase natural gas transfers between grids and also take account of the imperatives of security and quality of natural gas supply; whereas studies show that greater natural gas transfers between grids can minimize the cost of investment;Whereas in the future additional interconnections between several Member States will need to be made to allow adequate supplies;Whereas increased natural gas transfers between grids would also encourage cooperation between natural gas transmission companies to find ways of improving natural gas transmission equipment; whereas such improvements will also cut costs;Whereas there are still obstacles to increased trade in natural gas between grids; whereas, provided that they are not due to the nature of the technology used or of the grids themselves, such obstacles can be reduced by making the transit of natural gas through grids compulsory and introducing an appropriate system for monitoring compliance with this obligation;Whereas this obligation and monitoring system concern the transit of natural gas involved in trade which is in the Community interest, namely transit through high-pressure grids;Whereas the financial, technical and legal conditions of such transit must, as a general rule, be worked out directly between the grids concerned;Whereas the conditions of transit should be fair and should not bring about, directly or indirectly, conditions contrary to Community competition rules;Whereas, in order to facilitate the conclusion of transit contracts, the Commission is providing for a conciliation procedure to be set up under which submission will be compulsory at the request of one of the parties, without the result of that procedure producing a legally binding effect;Whereas it is necessary to approximate the provisions adopted by the Member States which affect the transit of natural gas;Whereas the establishment of an internal natural gas market will stimulate the gradual dynamic integration of national natural gas grids; whereas in this context special infrastructure measures would held to accelerate the linking-up of outlying areas and islands in the Community to the overall interconnected grid;Whereas the interconnection of European grids extends over a geographical territory which does not coincide with the Community's frontiers: whereas there is an obvious advantage in seeking cooperation with third countries involved in the interconnected European grid,HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: