Written by Gregor Erbach (4th edition),

Intergovernmental agreements in the field of energy
© carballo / Fotolia

The Commission has proposed a decision which would require Member States to submit draft intergovernmental agreements with non-EU countries in the field of energy to it before they are signed. The Commission would then check whether they are compliant with EU law, and Member States would have to take full account of the Commission’s opinion. At present, Member States are required to submit such agreements to the Commission after signature. The Commission considers the present system as ineffective.

The final act restricts the scope of the ex-ante assessment to gas and oil contracts, while agreements related to electricity are subject to an ex-post assessment. If a Member State departs from the opinion in the Commission’s ex-ante assessment, it must justify its decision in writing. The decision came into force in May 2017 after completion of the legislative procedure in the European Parliament and the Council.

Versions

Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on establishing an information exchange mechanism with regard to intergovernmental agreements and non-binding instruments between Member States and third countries in the field of energy and repealing Decision No 994/2012/EU
Committee responsible:

Rapporteur:

 Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE)

Zdzisław Krasnodębski (ECR, Poland)

 COM(2016) 53 final of 16.02.2016

procedure ref.:2016/0031(COD)

Ordinary legislative procedure
Procedure completed: Decision (EU) 2017/684

OJ L 99, 12.4.2017, p. 1

Stage: procedure completed