Council Regulation (EU, EURATOM) Nº 617/2010 of 24 June 2010 concerning the notification to the Commission of investment projects in energy infrastructure within the European Union, published in the OJEU on July 15th, aims at providing the Commission with an overall picture of the development of investment in energy infrastructure in the Union, in order to support decisions over European energy strategy.

Council Regulation (EU, EURATOM) Nº 617/2010 of 24 June 2010 concerning the notification to the Commission of investment projects in energy infrastructure within the European Union, which comes as part of the European Energy Programme for Recovery (EEPR), establishes a common framework for the notification to the Commission of data and information on investment projects in energy infrastructure in the oil, natural gas, electricity, including electricity from renewable sources, and bio-fuel sectors, and on investment projects related to the capture and storage of carbon dioxide produced by these sectors.

According to this Regulation member states will have to collect from concerned companies the information related to investment projects in energy infrastructures and report it to the Commission, every two years. For the purposes of such communication, investment projects will be consider:

• Building new infrastructure
• Transforming, modernising, increasing or reducing capacities of existing infrastructure
• Partial or total decommissioning of existing infrastructure

With this Regulation, the Council considers that greater attention should be paid to investment in energy infrastructure in the Union, in particular with a view to anticipating problems, promoting best practices and establishing greater transparency on the future development of the Union’s energy system. In this sense, the European Parliament already called for what it was called as an “ambitious and visionary” energy strategy, for which such information tools should be necessary.

Therefore, the Commission and in particular its Market Observatory for Energy should have at its disposal accurate data and information on investment projects, including decommissioning, in the most significant components of the energy system of the Union.

Information on investment projects in energy infrastructure to be communicated

• Volume of the capacities planned or under construction
• Type and main characteristics of infrastructure or capacities planned or under construction, including the location of crossborder transmission projects, if applicable
• Probable year of commissioning
• Type of energy sources used
• Installations capable of responding to security of supply crises, such as equipment enabling reverse flows or fuel switching
• Equipment of carbon capture systems or retrofitting mechanisms for carbon capture and storage

This Regulation will enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.