Following the mandate of the European Commission, the gas regions elaborated regional Work Plans. These outline the main projects and activities to be developed at regional level and serve as the main implementation reference. All projects clearly indicate and plan the deliverables, the deadlines, and responsible parties involved. ​
 

The currently adopted Wo​rk Plan of the So​​uth region focuses on:

• Infrastructure
• Market integration
• Decarbonisation 

The currently adopted Work Plan of the South South East (SEE) region focuses on:

• Decarbonisation package
• Survey on gas quality
• Survey on gas storage and LNG​​
   

The North-West region has been inactive since 2014.

Whenever needed, the Agency provides guidance and coordinates the updates of the Work Plans, suggesting an effective and coherent planning.

The Gas Regional Initiatives (GRIs) bring market participants together to test solutions for cross-border issues and to develop pilot projects that can be exported to other regions.

The European internal gas market has been divided in four main regions:​

• South GRI

• South South-East GRI

• North-West (currently inactive)

• Regional Gas Market Coordination Group​ (Baltic Region) (informally joined the initiative in 2018)

The Initiatives have contributed to noticeable developments in different areas such as capacity allocation, infrastructure development and market integration.

Progresses were possible thanks to effective stakeholders' engagement ensured in different fora:

• Regional Coordination Committee (RCC) 

​Composed by all NRAs of the region, it coordinates, facilitates and drives forward the regional priority projects. The European Commission and national governments may provide useful input to identify and solve specific issues.

• Implementation Group (IG) 

​Includes the relevant infrastructure operators (transmission systems, interconnectors, LNG and storage facilities) and provides a technical framework for implementing effective solutions.

• Stakeholders Group (SG) 

​All other key market participants and consumers are brought together in each region to engage in the discussions.

The Regional Initiatives developed regional Work Plans and cross-regional Roadmaps (in cooperation with ENTSOG), in order to promote the implementation of the Network Codes and market integration. ​

​​​ACER monitors the effective implementation of the Capacity Allocation Mechanisms Network Code and shares its findings in a dedicated report. ​

Capacity allocation provides mechanisms to obtain capacity products from transmission system operators. It is usually underpinned with a capacity contract between the network user and the network operator. ​​

​Previous capacity allocation methods did not provide equal and transparent access to potential entrants to the capacity markets, hindering competition.

​Equal and transparent access to transmission capacity in the EU is not a major obstacle anymore. The progressive reduction of the old capacity contracts and their gradual replacement with new ones addressed most of the existing constraints.​​​

ACER monitors the effective implementation of the Congestion Management Procedures Guidelines and shares its findings in specific reports. ACER also reports on an annual basis on the status of Congestion at Interconnection Points. On this occasion ACER also checks the transparency of the data published on the ENTSOG Transparency Platform and provides guidance on possible improvements. ​
 

What is congestion management? 

​

Contractual congestion occurs when network users cannot obtain the capacity products of their choice because the capacity demand exceeds the offer. It is different from physical congestion, where technical capacity is used to its full extent. Several measures exist to mitigate and prevent contractual congestion.​​
 

Why is congestion management important?

​

Congestion management procedures address congestions and improve market efficiency. National regulatory authorities and transmission system operators can decide on the application of these measures.
 

What does ACER say?

The Agency reports annually on the status of contractual congestion in EU gas markets and how congestion is managed. Based on the​​ monitoring results, national regulatory authorities can decide on the application of congestion management procedures.

ACER provides analyses and case studies in yearly reports about the national implementations on congestion management procedures, evaluating their effects at European level.

The Agency published its first Implementation Monitoring Report on Gas Congestion Management Procedures in 2015 and provided an update a year later. The Agency found incomplete implementation and limited application of congestion management in both years and has continued to promote the usage of congestion management instruments ever since. ​​​​​

ACER monitors the implementation of network codes and the Guidelines adopted by the European Commission. The Agency has developed methodologies to assess their effectiveness on the functioning of the internal gas market: whether they facilitate market integration, non-discrimination, effective competition, and the efficient functioning of the wholesale market.

These reports are publicly available and widely shared to inform the market, academia, and the public at large.​

Monitoring supports the correct implementation of the regulatory framework and allows to take stock of the progress made and the deficiencies to be addressed. The implementation monitoring is also helpful to clarify the understanding and the application of the EU legal terminology.

​ACER acknowledges the significant progress in harmonising capacity, balancing, interoperability, data exchange and tariff rules across the European Union. 

ACER regrets that a minority of Member States have not completed their legal requirements in full, and encourages those facing pending implementation issues to actively communicate their problems to the Agency and the European Commission. ​

The Interconnection Agreement Template covers the default terms and conditions for the minimum mandatory content of an interconnection agreement, based on the Code's requirements. In case transmission system operators fail to agree on one or more contractual terms, this template can be annexed to the agreement indicating default rules for the disagreed term(s).

An Interconnection agreement is made between adjacent transmission system operators, whose systems are connected at a particular interconnection point. This agreement specifies terms and conditions, operating procedures and provisions with respect to delivery and/or withdrawal of gas at the interconnection point.

The template covers the mandatory terms for an Interconnection Agreement. It provides ready-made solutions to facilitate the signature of these agreements between transmission system operators if they cannot agree. The mandatory terms of an interconnection agreement cover:

• rules for flow control

• measurement principles for gas quantities and quality

• rules for the matching process

• rules for the allocation of gas quantities

• communication procedures in case of exceptional events

• settlement of disputes arising from interconnection agreements

• amendment process for the interconnection agreement.

Interconnection agreements are mostly signed with a high level of compliance. The Agency recommended that by the end of 2020 national regulatory authorities proactively assess these agreements to further increase compliance and report to the Agency.​​

​​​​Appropriate and secure data exchange facilitates cross-border transmission activities. Common data exchange solutions support the implementation of the gas network codes. ​​​​

The common network operation tools (CNOTs) ensure coordination of network operations in normal and emergency conditions. These tools are developed to facilitate data exchange for capacity allocation and balancing.​

​The data exchange table lists the most appropriate data exchange solutions for near real-time communication, the integrated data exchange for real-time communication, and the interactive data exchange for non-time critical communication of TSOs and Booking Platforms.​

​ACER found ENTSOG's CNOT table compliant with the legislation and recommended ENTSOG a periodical review, as technical processes and needs evolve. In 2017, the Agency opinion on the Adoption of Common Network Operation Tools by ENTSOG was adopted.​

Multipliers are factors used to set tariffs for short-term capacity products (within-day, daily, monthly and quarterly). 

​The Network Code on Harmonised Transmission Tariff structures sets obligations for national regulatory authorities (NRAs) to consult on multipliers and defines appropriate ranges for the level of these multipliers.

In parallel with these processes, ACER issued a recommendation on 20 July 2021, encouraging national regulatory authorities to better substantiate their decisions where daily and within-day multipliers are set above 3. In particular, they should base their justifications on the specificities of each interconnection point and make explicit their regulatory objectives (market integration, liquidity, competition, cost reflectivity and tariff stability, etc.).

The Agency also recommends NRAs of those Member States connected by transmission pipelines to better coordinate their decisions when setting multipliers in combination with seasonal factors. ​

Access the Recommendation 01/2021.

Read more on its Annexes I and II (overview of multiplier levels & analysis and evaluation of responses).

The Tariff consultation template facilitates the interactions between ACER and the NRAs or TSOs in the context of the national consultations' review. ACER strongly recommends its usage while carrying out the tariff consultation.

The template explicates the requirements to be fulfilled by the consultations (not intended to constitute additional legal requirements). 

The template allows:

• A checklist of consultation obligations on the Reference Price Methodologies: providing a summary of the final consultation.

• The submission of consultation documentation to ACER.

• Publication of consultation summary submitted by the NRAs or TSOs on ACER website containing the appropriate references to the national consultation document(s).

• Access to these summaries for stakeholders on ACER website.

The online template can be filled as of its date of publication (5 July 2017). It can be saved as a draft and can be subsequently updated following the steps of the national process until the final submission.

When saving the template as a draft, the tool provides a link which is necessary to continue editing the draft.

Once the online template is submitted, the tool provides a Case ID which allows editing the online tool post submission.

In 2018 the Agency published a Report on the methodologies and parameters used to determine the allowed or target revenue of gas transmission system operators.

The study reviewed the key aspects of TSO revenue setting as well as the associated methodological approaches employed in the EU, and provided an evaluation based on a conceptual framework developed for this purpose.

Transmission System Operators (TSOs) are monopolies and therefore their revenues are set by the national regulatory authorities. A number of different methodologies are used for this purpose. The most common are the price cap, revenue cap and cost plus methodologies. These methodologies include a number of parameters used to determine the depreciation time of the TSO assets and the cost of capital for TSOs.​
 

The report provides recommendations, while the underlying study offers an overview of the main features used to set the TSOs' allowed revenue. The study looks into the practices setting the regulatory asset base and the cost of capital. In addition, the study provides country sheets describing the methodologies applied per Member State.

The report suggest a number of improvements in the design of the allowed revenue methodologies in order to increase transparency, apply benchmarking, establish EU guidelines for setting the cost of capital, and establish data collection processes that can allow comparisons across TSOs on their efficiency.​