The Secretariat has submitted its response to the European Commission’s public consultation on the review of Decision 994/2012/EU of the European Parliament and the Council of 25 October 2012 establishing an information exchange mechanism with regard to intergovernmental agreements between EU Member States and third countries in the field of energy (the IGA Decision).
In its response, the Secretariat points out that negotiations and conclusion of intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) with third countries currently remain at the full discretion of EU Members States as well as of the Contracting Parties of the Energy Community, having in mind that neither common standards are set at the EU or Contracting Party level nor is compliance verification mandatory. The absence of direct obligations has led to individual national practices derogating from the EU acquis. Taking this into account, the Secretariat expresses its strong support to the European Commission’s initiative to reinforce transparency of energy related IGAs and their compatibility with EU law.
The Secretariat recommends a review of the currently existing information mechanism established by the IGA Decision and development of a thorough procedure resulting in a mandatory ex-ante notification of the ongoing negotiations with third countries and a compliance check from the perspective of the EU energy acquis.
The Secretariat also emphasises that given that the Energy Community is based on the rule of law as the EU and is an integral part of the internal energy market, a revised mechanism aimed at reinforced transparency of IGAs and their compatibility with EU law shall be equally applied both to Member States and Contracting Parties. Such an approach would ensure homogeneity in the extended internal market created by the Energy Community.