Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

Added3. For a project of common interest to which paragraph 1 applies, the project promoters shall keep all relevant national regulatory authorities regularly informed, at least once per year from inclusion of the project on the Union list, and until the project is commissioned, of the progress of that project and the identification of costs and the impact associated with it. The project promoters shall take the necessary measures to ensure continuous progress of a project of common interest.

Added4. As soon as such a project of common interest has reached sufficient maturity, and is estimated to be ready to start the construction phase within the next 36 months, the project promoters, after having consulted the TSOs or HTNOs from the Member States which receive a significant net positive impact from it, shall submit an investment request. That investment request shall include a request for a cross-border cost allocation and shall be submitted to all the relevant national regulatory authorities concerned, accompanied by the following:

Added(a) up-to-date project-specific cost-benefit analysis consistent with the Union strategic scenario referred to in Article 11 applying the methodology for a harmonised energy system-wide cost-benefit analysis referred to in Article 14; that analysis shall explicitly quantify and present the distribution of potential benefits and any sensitivities referred to in Article 11, and the methodology for a harmonised energy system-wide cost-benefit analysis referred to in Article 14 and taking into account benefits beyond the borders of the Member States on the territory of which the project is located;

Added(b) a business plan evaluating the financial viability of the project, including the chosen financing solution, and, for a project of common interest falling under the energy infrastructure category referred to in point (3) of Annex II, the results of market testing; for projects contributing to Member States energy resilience, a comparison shall be made with alternative National projects;

Added(c) ▌a substantiated proposal for a cross-border cost allocation.

AddedWhere a project is promoted by several project promoters, they shall submit their investment request jointly.

AddedThe relevant national regulatory authorities shall, upon receipt, transmit to the Agency, without delay, a copy of each investment request, for information purposes.

AddedThe relevant national regulatory authorities and the Agency shall preserve the confidentiality of commercially sensitive information.

AddedThe submission of an investment request and the adoption of a cross-border cost

Addedand risk allocation decision pursuant to this Article shall not be required as a

Addedcondition for a project promoter to apply for Union financial support, including

Addedunder the Connecting Europe Facility, provided that the hosting national

Addedregulatory authority or authorities have issued a positive statement on the

Addedeligibility and maturity of the project.

Added5. Within six months of the date on which the investment request is received by the last of the relevant national regulatory authorities, those authorities shall, after consulting the project promoters concerned, take joint coordinated decisions on the allocation of efficiently incurred investment costs and, where applicable, operational costs to be borne by each system operator for the project, as well as their inclusion in tariffs, or on the rejection of the investment request, in whole or in part, if the common analysis of the relevant national regulatory authorities concludes that the project or a part of it fails to provide a significant net benefit in any of the Member States of the relevant national regulatory authorities.

AddedThe relevant national regulatory authorities shall include the relevant efficiently incurred investment costs in tariffs, as defined in the recommendation referred to in paragraph 14, in accordance with the allocation of investment costs to be borne by each system operator for the project.

AddedFor projects in the territories of their respective Member State, the relevant national regulatory authorities shall thereafter assess, where appropriate, whether any affordability issues, such as a potential increase in tariffs, might arise due to the inclusion of the investment costs in tariffs.

Added5a. Where duly justified by the complexity of the project or the need for additional cross-border data, the relevant national regulatory authorities may extend the period referred to in paragraph 5 once by up to three months provided that they inform the Agency without delay, stating the reasons for that extension.

Added6. In allocating the costs, the relevant national regulatory authorities shall take into account the following:

Added(a) actual or estimated congestion rents or other charges;

Added(b) actual or estimated revenues stemming from the inter-transmission system operator compensation mechanism established under Article 49 of Regulation (EU) 2019/943.

AddedThe allocation of costs across borders shall take into account, the economic, social and environmental costs and benefits of the projects in the Member States concerned and the need to ensure a stable financing framework for the development of projects of common interest while minimising the need for financial support. In allocating costs across borders, the relevant national regulatory authorities, after consulting the TSOs concerned, shall seek a mutual agreement based on, but not limited to, the information specified in paragraph 4, first subparagraph, points (a) and (b), of this Article. Their assessment shall be based on the Union strategic scenario and any sensitivities referred to in Article 11, allowing a robust analysis of the contribution of the project of common interest to the Union energy policy of decarbonisation, market integration, competition, sustainability and security of supply.

Added7. In allocating the costs, the relevant national regulatory authorities shall apply the following general principles:

Added(a) where at least 10 % of the estimated benefits of a project occur in a Member State, that Member State involved directly or indirectly in interconnected projects and the relevant national regulatory authority shall take part in the cross-border cost-allocation process;

Added(b) where appropriate, the allocation of costs among the Member States shall be based on the distribution of net benefits, ensuring that the cost-allocation key reflects that distribution;

Added(c) the cross-border cost allocation shall be based on an ex-ante cost-allocation agreement designed to ensure investment certainty, whereas the agreement shall be transparent and predictable and the cross-border cost-allocation may provide for the possibility of ex-post adjustments, provided that such adjustments are explicitly defined in the cost allocation decision and clearly framed, including as regards timeframes and categories of costs covered;

Added(ca) in the case of offshore hybrid projects where a project integrates both a hybrid interconnector and an offshore renewable joint project, the cross-border cost-allocation shall be based on a uniform cross-border cost-allocation methodology that takes into consideration both infrastructure and generation assets for offshore hybrid projects.

AddedWhere a project of common interest mitigates negative externalities, such as loop flows, and that project of common interest is implemented in the Member State at the origin of the negative externality, such mitigation shall not be regarded as a cross-border benefit and shall therefore not constitute a basis for allocating costs to the TSO of the Member States affected by those negative externalities.

Added8. The relevant national regulatory authorities shall, on the basis of the cross-border cost allocation referred to in paragraph 5 of this Article, take into account actual costs incurred by a TSO, DSO, HNO or other project promoter as a result of the investments when fixing or approving tariffs in accordance with Article 78(1) of Directive (EU) 2024/1788 and Article 59(1), point (a), of Directive (EU) 2019/944, insofar as those costs correspond to those of an efficient and structurally comparable operator.

Added9. The relevant national regulatory authorities shall notify the cost allocation decision to the Agency, without delay, together with all the relevant information with respect to that decision. In particular, the cost allocation decision shall set out detailed reasons for the allocation of costs among Member States, including the following:

Added(a) an evaluation of the identified impact on each of the concerned Member States, including those concerning network tariffs;

Added(b) an evaluation of the business plan referred to in paragraph 4, first subparagraph, point (b);

Added(c) regional or Union-wide positive externalities, such as security of supply, system flexibility, solidarity or innovation, which the project would generate;

Added(d) the result of the consultation of the project promoters concerned.

AddedThe cost allocation decision shall be published on the websites of the relevant

Addednational regulatory authorities and shared with Agency and the Commission.

AddedBy [within 6 months of entry into force], the Agency shall establish a central

Addedrepository of all cross-border cost-allocation decisions taken by national regulatory

Addedauthorities and host it on its website.

Added9a. By … [24 months from the date of entry into force of this Regulation], and at least every two years thereafter, the Agency may publish a report monitoring the cross-border cost allocation decisions. Project promoters, regulatory authorities and the transmission system operators of the concerned Member States shall provide to the Agency the information necessary for the purpose of carrying out the Agency’s task under this Article.

Added10. Where the relevant national regulatory authorities have not reached an agreement on the investment request within six months of the date on which the request was received by the last of the relevant national regulatory authorities, they shall inform the Agency without delay.

AddedIn that case, or upon a joint request from the relevant national regulatory authorities, the decision on the investment request including cross-border cost allocation referred to in paragraph 5 shall be taken by the Agency within three months of the date of referral to the Agency.

AddedBefore taking such a decision, the Agency shall consult the relevant national regulatory authorities and the project promoters. The three-month period referred to in the second subparagraph may be extended by an additional period of two months where further information is sought by the Agency. That additional period shall begin on the day following receipt of the complete information.

AddedThe assessment of the Agency shall be based on the Union strategic scenario established under Article 11 and any sensitivities, allowing a robust analysis of the contribution of the project of common interest to the Union energy policy targets of decarbonisation, market integration, competition, sustainability and security of supply.

AddedThe Agency, in its decision on the investment request including cross-border cost allocation, shall leave the determination of the way the investment costs are included in the tariffs in accordance with the cross-border cost allocation prescribed, to the relevant national authorities at the time of the implementation of that decision in accordance with national law.

AddedThe decision on the investment request including cross-border cost allocation shall be published. Article 25(3) and Articles 28 and 29 of Regulation (EU) 2019/942 shall apply.

Added11. A copy of all cost allocation decisions, together with all the relevant information with respect to each decision, shall be notified, without delay, by the Agency to the Commission. The Agency shall publish non-confidential versions of all decisions on its website. That information may be submitted in aggregate form. The Agency and the Commission shall preserve the confidentiality of commercially sensitive information.

Added12. Cost allocation decisions shall not affect the right of TSOs and HTNOs to apply and of national regulatory authorities to approve charges for access to networks in accordance with Regulations (EU) 2019/943 and (EU) 2024/1789 and Directives (EU) 2019/944 and (EU) 2024/1788.

Added13. This Article shall not apply to projects of common interest which benefit from one or more of the following:

Added(a) an exemption from Articles 31, 32, 33 and Articles 78(7) and Directive (EU) 2024/1788, pursuant to Article 78 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1789;

Added(b) an exemption from Article 19(2) and (3) of Regulation (EU) 2019/943 or Article 6, Article 59(7) and Article 60(1) of Directive (EU) 2019/944, pursuant to Article 63 of Regulation (EU) 2019/943;

Added(c) a derogation from unbundling or third-party access rules, pursuant to Article 17 of Regulation (EC) No 714/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council or to Article 64 of Regulation (EU) 2019/943 and Article 66 of Directive (EU) 2019/944.

Added14. By [six months after entry into force of this Regulation], the Agency shall adopt a recommendation for identifying good practices for the treatment of investment requests for projects of common interest in accordance with the principles referred to in paragraph 7 of this Article.

AddedThat recommendation shall be regularly updated by the Agency as necessary. It shall take account of sectorial specificities, and shall ensure consistency with the principles on the offshore grids for renewable energy cross-border cost sharing as referred to in Article 16(1). In adopting or updating the recommendation, the Agency shall carry out an extensive consultation process, involving all relevant stakeholders. That recommendation shall also include a non-binding cross-border cost-allocation template to facilitate the work of national regulatory agencies.

Added15. Projects of mutual interest shall obtain a cross-border cost allocation under the same rules and conditions referred to in this Article as regards the benefits they bring for the Union. It shall be issued in a coordinated manner by the relevant national regulatory authorities of the benefiting Member States.

Added16. This Article shall apply mutatis mutandis to project bundles under Article 18.

Added16a. A cross-border cost allocation decision pursuant to this Article shall not be required where, on the basis of a project-specific cost-benefit analysis, the project provides net benefits to all affected Members States. Union financial assistance for works can be requested and granted without a cross-border cost allocation decision in the case of projects falling under point (2) of Annex II.

AddedArticle 18 Enabling energy infrastructure projects bundling for the purpose of cost-sharing and permitting

Added1. Project promoters may bundle two or more projects on the Union list to facilitate the discussions on cost-sharing and permitting between the relevant Member States and third countries, as appropriate, and the cross-border cost-allocation decisions between the concerned competent authorities of the Member States or between the competent authorities of the Member States and third countries, as appropriate. As regards project bundles, cost-benefit analysis and cost-sharing proposals may be assessed per bundle in an appropriate regional process among relevant Member States, their regulatory authorities and under involvement of relevant TSOs, as a basis for the cross-border cost-allocation decisions of the bundle.

Added2. The Commission may invite project promoters to submit a proposal for one or several bundles of two or more projects on the Union list to the relevant Groups for discussion. Project promoters are encouraged to jointly assess the benefits of bundling projects from the beginning of the project development process. That assessment may also be used in the application process for projects of common interest or project of mutual interest status as referred to in Article 3. A project bundle may include projects at different stages of maturity, provided that their bundling does not delay the implementation of the most mature projects.