Transmission system operators and distribution system operators shall be required to provide any new producer wishing to be connected with a comprehensive and detailed estimate of the costs associated with the connection.

The maximum capacity of the interconnections and/or the transmission networks affecting cross-border flows shall be made available to market participants, complying with safety standards of secure network operation.

The actual amount payable for cross-border access to the system can vary considerably, depending on the transmission system operators involved and as a result of differences in the structure of the tarification systems applied in Member States.

Where the transmission system operator is part of a vertically integrated undertaking, it shall be independent at least in terms of its legal form, organisation and decision making from other activities not relating to transmission.

In order to ensure efficient and non-discriminatory network access it is appropriate that the transmission and distribution systems are operated through legally separate entities where vertically integrated undertakings exist.

Member States may also opt for a regulated system of access procedure, giving eligible customers a right of access, on the basis of published tariffs for the use of transmission and distribution systems, that is at least equivalent, in terms of access to the system, to the other procedures for access referred to in this Chapter.

Having regard to Council Directive 90/547/EEC of 29 October 1990 on the transit of electricity through transmission grids (1), as last amended by Commission Decision 95/162/EC (2), and in particular Article 2(2) thereof,

Where an eligible customer is connected to the distribution system, access to the system must be the subject of negotiation with the relevant distribution system operator and, if necessary, with the transmission system operator concerned.

"linepack" means the storage of gas by compression in gas transmission and distribution systems, but excluding facilities reserved for transmission system operators carrying out their functions;

independent producers to negotiate access to the system with the transmission and distribution systems operators so as to conclude supply contracts with eligible customers outside the system, on the basis of a voluntary commercial agreement.

to require a Member to authorize a service supplier of any other Member to establish, construct, acquire, lease, operate, or supply telecommunications transport networks or services, other than as provided for in its Schedule; or

Member States shall ensure the implementation of a system of third party access to the transmission and distribution systems based on published tariffs, applicable to all eligible customers and applied objectively and without discrimination between system users.

Transmission system operators shall not, in the context of sales or purchases of natural gas by related undertakings, abuse commercially sensitive information obtained from third parties in the context of providing or negotiating access to the system.

The magnitude of cross-border flows hosted and the magnitude of cross-border flows designated as originating and/or ending in national transmission systems shall be determined on the basis of the physical flows of electricity actually measured in a given period of time.

to require a Member (or to require a Member to oblige service suppliers under its jurisdiction) to establish, construct, acquire, lease, operate or supply telecommunications transport networks or services not offered to the public generally.

Contracts involving transit of electricity between transmission grids shall be negotiated between the entities responsible for the grids concerned and for the quality of service provided and, where appropriate, with the entities responsible in the Member States for importing and exporting electricity.

Transmission system operators shall procure the energy they use to cover energy losses and reserve capacity in their system according to transparent, non-discriminatory and market-based procedures, whenever they have this function.

In particular, this shall enable the parent company to approve the annual financial plan, or any equivalent instrument, of the transmission system operator and to set global limits on the levels of indebtedness of its subsidiary.

those persons responsible for the management of the transmission system operator may not participate in company structures of the integrated electricity undertaking responsible, directly or indirectly, for the day-to-day operation of the generation, distribution and supply of electricity;

those persons responsible for the management of the transmission system operator may not participate in company structures of the integrated natural gas undertaking responsible, directly or indirectly, for the day-to-day operation of the production, distribution and supply of natural gas;

Negotiations shall be entered into on a voluntary basis with a view to the progressive liberalization of trade in telecommunications transport networks and services (hereinafter referred to as 'basic telecommunications') within the framework of the General Agreement on Trade in Services.

It is also appropriate that the transmission and distribution system operators have effective decision-making rights with respect to assets necessary to maintain, operate and develop networks when the assets in question are owned and operated by vertically integrated undertakings.

Whereas mergers of entities and/or the creation of independent grid companies in Denmark, Germany, Portugal and Finland as well the request for inclusion of a second high-voltage transmission grid in Luxembourg necessitate the updating of the list;

A telecommunications network is itself defined as '... the transmission equipment and, where applicable, switching equipment and other resources which permit the conveyance of signals between defined termination points by wire, by radio, by optical or by other electromagnetic means`.

details of methodologies for determining the cross-border flows hosted for which compensation is to be paid under Article 3, in terms of both quantity and type of flows, and the designation of the magnitudes of such flows as originating and/or ending in transmission systems of individual Member States, in accordance with Article 3(5);

"congestion" means a situation in which an interconnection linking national transmission networks, cannot accommodate all physical flows resulting from international trade requested by market participants, because of a lack of capacity of the interconnectors and/or the national transmission systems concerned;

Member States shall put into place a legal framework or require transmission system operators and distribution system operators to set up and publish their standard rules relating to the sharing of costs of system installations, such as grid connections and reinforcements, between all producers benefiting from them.

land transportation, distribution, storage and supply of energy materials and products, e.g., by way of transmission and distribution grids and pipelines or dedicated rail lines, and construction of facilities for such, including the laying of oil, gas, and coal-slurry pipelines;

To that end, the transmission system operator shall be responsible for ensuring a secure, reliable and efficient electricity system and, in that context, for ensuring the availability of all necessary ancillary services insofar as this availability is independent from any other transmission system with which its system is interconnected;

Without prejudice to the supply of electricity on the basis of contractual obligations, including those which derive from the tendering specifications, the transmission system operator shall, where it has this function, be responsible for dispatching the generating installations in its area and for determining the use of interconnectors with other systems.

Member States shall ensure that technical safety criteria are defined and that technical rules establishing the minimum technical design and operational requirements for the connection to the system of LNG facilities, storage facilities, other transmission or distribution systems, and direct lines, are developed and made public.

This Decision shall apply to terminal equipment intended to be connected to the public telecommunications network termination point of ONP 2 048 kbit/s digital structured leased lines using 120 ohm interfaces and falling within the scope of the harmonized standard identified in Article 2 (1).

This Decision shall apply to terminal equipment intended to be connected to the public telecommunications network termination point of ONP 2 048 kbit/s digital unstructured leased lines using 120 ohm interfaces and falling within the scope of the harmonized standard identified in Article 2 (1).

This Decision establishes requirements for terminal equipment intended to be connected to the public telecommunications network termination point of ONP 34 368 kbit/s digital unstructured leased lines (D34U) or ONP 34 368 kbit/s digital structured leased lines (D34S) with an information transfer rate of 33 920 kbit/s without restriction on binary content and falling within the scope of the harmonized standard identified in Article 2 (1).

In the light of the experience gained with the operation of Council Directive 90/547/EEC of 29 October 1990 on the transit of electricity through transmission grids(7), measures should be taken to ensure homogeneous and non-discriminatory access regimes for transmission, including cross-border flows of electricity between Member States.

This Decision establishes requirements for terminal equipment intended to be connected to the public telecommunications network termination point of ONP 139 264 kbit/s digital unstructured leased lines (D140U) or ONP 139 264 kbit/s digital structured leased lines (D140S) with an information transfer rate of 138 240 kbit/s without restriction on binary content and falling within the scope of the harmonized standard identified in Article 2 (1).

"ancillary services" means all services necessary for access to and the operation of transmission and/or distribution networks and/or LNG facilities and/or storage facilities including load balancing and blending, but excluding facilities reserved exclusively for transmission system operators carrying out their functions;

This Regulation shall apply without prejudice to the obligations for notified operators to comply with the principle of non-discrimination, when using the fixed public telephone network in order to provide high speed access and transmission services to third parties in the same manner as they provide for their own services or to their associated companies, in accordance with Community provisions.

Each Member shall ensure that service suppliers of any other Member have access to and use of any public telecommunications transport network or service offered within or across the border of that Member, including private leased circuits, and to this end shall ensure, subject to paragraphs (e) and (f), that such suppliers are permitted:

This Decision shall apply to terminal equipment intended to be connected to the public telecommunications network termination point of ONP 64 kbit/s digital unrestricted leased lines with octet integrity using 120 ohm interfaces and falling within the scope of the harmonized standard identified in Article 2 (1).

"storage facility" means a facility used for the stocking of natural gas and owned and/or operated by a natural gas undertaking, including the part of LNG facilities used for storage but excluding the portion used for production operations, and excluding facilities reserved exclusively for transmission system operators in carrying out their functions;

The transmission system operator or any other competent authority designated by the Member State concerned shall draw up and publish under State supervision, at least every two years, a regular estimate of the generating and transmission capacity which is likely to be connected to the system, of the need for interconnectors with other systems, of potential transmission capacity and of the demand for electricity.

Where appropriate, Member States shall put in place a legal framework or require transmission system operators and distribution system operators to ensure that fees charged for the transmission and distribution of electricity from plants using renewable energy sources reflect realisable cost benefits resulting from the plant's connection to the network.

inform the Commission and the national authorities concerned of the reasons for the failure of the negotiations to result in the conclusion of a contract within 12 months following communication of the request.

Each Member shall ensure that service suppliers of any other Member may use public telecommunications transport networks and services for the movement of information within and across borders, including for intra-corporate communications of such service suppliers, and for access to information contained in data bases or otherwise stored in machine-readable form in the territory of any Member.

Member States shall put into place a legal framework or require transmission system operators and distribution system operators to set up and publish their standard rules relating to the bearing of costs of technical adaptations, such as grid connections and grid reinforcements, which are necessary in order to integrate new producers feeding electricity produced from renewable energy sources into the interconnected grid.

Whereas the adaptations to Commission Decision 77/190/EEC of 26 January 1977 implementing Directive 76/491/EEC regarding a Community procedure for information and consultation on the prices of crude oil and petroleum products in the Community (2), Council Directive 90/547/EEC of 29 October 1990 on the transit of electricity through transmission grids (3) and Council Directive 91/296/EEC of 31 May 1991 on the transit of natural gas through grids (4) made by Chapter XII (Energy), points 3, 5 and 6 of Annex I to the Act concerning the conditions of accession of 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, need to be taken account of in the EEA Agreement;

Where appropriate, the Commission shall, acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 13(2), amend the guidelines on the management and allocation of available transfer capacity of interconnections between national systems set out in the Annex, in accordance with the principles set out in Articles 5 and 6, in particular so as to include detailed guidelines on all capacity allocation methodologies applied in practice and to ensure that congestion management mechanisms evolve in a manner compatible with the objectives of the internal market.

"network" means transmission systems and, where applicable, switching or routing equipment and other resources which permit the conveyance of signals by wire, by radio, by optical or by other electromagnetic means, including satellite networks, fixed (circuit- and packet-switched, including Internet) and mobile terrestrial networks, electricity cable systems, to the extent that they are used for the purpose of transmitting signals, networks used for radio and television broadcasting, and cable TV networks, irrespective of the type of information conveyed;

energy pipelines and transmission networks,