The Permanent Representatives Committee of the Council endorsed the agreement reached with the European Parliament on 27 November 2012 on the regulation on guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure. To enter into force it still needs formal approval in the Parliament (early 2013) and in the Council (after the plenary vote in the Parliament).

The informal agreement on energy infrastructure regulation agreed by the European Parliament negotiators and the Council on 27 November 2012 was endorsed by the Permanent Representatives Committee of the Council. The regulation still needs formal approval in the Parliament and in the Council. The Council discussed the regulatory aspects of the proposal on trans-European energy infrastructure in February 2012.

The new regulatory framework, which is one of the priorities set under the Single Market Act I that contains measures to boost the European economy and create jobs, will help to modernise and expand Europe's energy infrastructure in order to allow the EU to meet its core energy policy objectives of competitiveness, sustainability and security of supply.

The regulation gives priority to twelve strategic trans-European energy corridors and areas. It provides for the identification of projects of common interest necessary to implement them. It lays down provisions for new, more transparent and accelerated permit-granting procedures which will generally not exceed 3 years and 6 months. In addition, the regulation provides rules for possible cross-border allocation of construction costs of infrastructure projects of common interest and determines the conditions for eligibility of these projects for Union financial assistance. The regulation also contains provisions on regulatory treatment and financing. It will enter into force on the twentieth day after the date of its publication in the Official Journal of the EU.