Group for renewable energy cross-border projects
1. The Commission shall set up a group for renewable energy cross-border projects (‘the Group’) which shall be composed of one representative of each Member State and one of the Commission.
2. The representative of each Member State may be accompanied by other relevant parties, such as the national regulatory authority, transmission or distribution system operators, or permitting authorities.
3. The Group shall invite, as appropriate, promoters of cross-border projects in the field of renewable energy and representatives of non-EU countries involved in renewable energy cross-border projects.
4. The Group may invite to its meetings, as appropriate, organisations representing relevant stakeholders including producers, suppliers, consumers and organisations for environmental protection. The Group may organise hearings or consultations, where relevant for the accomplishment of its tasks.
5. The Group shall establish the draft list of projects to become renewable energy cross-border projects and shall monitor the implementation of the projects in the final list.
6. The Group shall adopt its own rules of procedure and shall be chaired by a representative of the Commission.
Draft list of renewable energy cross-border projects
1. The Commission shall launch a call for applications to have a project selected as a renewable energy cross-border project at least once per year.
2. Following an evaluation of the projects, in accordance with point 4(c) of Annex Part IV of Regulation (EU) 2021/1153, the Commission shall prepare and submit to the Group a list of the projects that comply with the selection criteria set out in Annex Part IV of Regulation (EU) 2021/1153, together with the relevant information referred to in point 4(d) of Annex Part IV of Regulation (EU) 2021/1153. The Commission shall not submit the full applications to the Group, or any information that was indicated by the applicant as commercially sensitive.
3. On the basis of the information received from the Commission, the Group shall establish the draft list of projects to become renewable energy cross-border projects.
Final list of renewable energy cross-border projects
1. The Commission shall adopt the final list of renewable energy cross-border projects in accordance with Article 25(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1153. The final list of projects shall not attribute ranking to the projects on the list.
2. The final list shall reflect the draft list established by the Group in accordance with Article 7(3) of this Regulation. If the final list differs from the draft list, the Commission shall obtain the positive opinion of the Group before adopting the final list.
Review of the final list of renewable energy cross-border projects
1. The Commission shall review the list at least every 2 years.
2. Without prejudice to the evaluation referred to in the previous paragraph, the Commission shall withdraw a project from the final list as soon as it establishes one of the following:
(a)
the project’s evaluation was based on incorrect information which was a determining factor in the evaluation; or
(b)
the project does not comply with Union law.
3. The Commission may withdraw a project from the list if:
(a)
the endorsement by one or all of the participating Member States has been withdrawn; and/or
(b)
the project promoter informs the group that the project is no longer pursued; or
(c)
the project has not progressed since it was put on the list; or
(d)
the project has been completed.
4. Before withdrawing a project from the list, the Commission shall consult the Group and shall take due account of the relevant information received from the members of the Group.
Monitoring the implementation of projects included in the list of renewable energy cross-border projects
1. The promoter of the project that is included in the final list shall submit a progress report with relevant updates of the project specification and implementation once per year to the Commission, and the Commission shall submit the report to the Group.
2. If project promoters include commercially-sensitive information in their reporting, they shall indicate which information shall neither be made public nor be submitted to the Group in a manner that it allows the project to which the information refers to be identified. In this case, the Commission shall provide the information on monitoring of progress of the projects to the Group in an aggregated manner.
3. For the purpose of the monitoring by the Group, the progress report submitted by the promoter shall include:
(a)
an updated project description and its status;
(b)
a timetable of the following as applicable: feasibility, design, permitting, construction, commissioning;
(c)
any administrative, legal, financial or other information that differs from the previously provided information.
4. Based on the information on progress submitted by the Commission, the Group shall monitor the implementation of the projects.
5. The Group may make recommendations pertaining to a specific project with a view to overcoming any possible delays in implementation. This may include actions to be taken in one or more Member States.
Information and publicity
1. The Commission shall publish information on the projects included in the final list of projects in a manner that is easily accessible to the general public.
2. The Commission shall publish only non-commercially sensitive information of the project, such as project description, status, implementation timetable or location.
3. The promoter of a project included in the final list shall publish at least the information indicated in the previous paragraph through its own webpage and update it at least every 6 months.
Entry into force
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
