Notification obligations with respect to intergovernmental agreements
Article 3
1
When a Member State intends to enter into negotiations with a third country or an international organisation in order to amend an intergovernmental agreement or to conclude a new intergovernmental agreement, the Member State shall inform the Commission in writing of its intention at the earliest possible moment before the envisaged opening of the negotiations.
The Member State concerned should keep the Commission regularly informed of the progress of the negotiations. The information provided to the Commission shall include an indication of the provisions to be addressed in the negotiations and the objectives of the negotiations in accordance with Article 8.
2
As soon as an agreement has been reached by the parties on all the main elements of a draft intergovernmental agreement relating to gas or oil or an amendment to an intergovernmental agreement relating to gas or oil, but before the closure of formal negotiations, the Member State concerned shall notify to the Commission the draft agreement or amendment, including any annexes thereto, for ex-ante assessment in accordance with Article 5.
Where that draft agreement or amendment refers explicitly to other texts, the respective Member State shall also submit those other texts in so far as they contain elements which concern the purchase, trade, sale, transit, storage or supply of gas or oil in or to at least one Member State or the construction or operation of gas or oil infrastructure with a physical connection to at least one Member State.
3
Where a Member State negotiates an intergovernmental agreement or amendment relating to electricity and has been unable, on the basis of its own assessment, to reach a firm conclusion as to the compatibility of the intergovernmental agreement or amendment under negotiation with Union law, it shall notify to the Commission the draft agreement or amendment, including any annexes thereto, for ex-ante assessment in accordance with Article 5, as soon as an agreement has been reached by the parties on all the main elements of that draft, but before the closure of formal negotiations.
4
Member States may avail themselves of the first and second subparagraphs of paragraph 2 for intergovernmental agreements or amendments relating to electricity.
5
Upon ratification of an intergovernmental agreement or of an amendment to an intergovernmental agreement, the Member State concerned shall notify the intergovernmental agreement or amendment, including any annexes thereto, to the Commission. Where the Commission has issued an opinion pursuant to Article 5(2), and the Member State concerned has departed from the Commission's opinion, that Member State should, without undue delay, explain to the Commission in writing the reasons underlying its decision.
Where the ratified intergovernmental agreement or amendment to the intergovernmental agreement refers explicitly to other texts, the Member State concerned shall also submit those other texts in so far as they contain elements which concern the purchase, trade, sale, transit, storage or supply of energy in or to at least one Member State or the construction or operation of energy infrastructure with a physical connection to at least one Member State.
6
The obligation to notify to the Commission pursuant to paragraphs 2, 3 and 5 does not apply in respect of agreements between undertakings.
Where a Member State is in doubt as to whether an agreement constitutes an intergovernmental agreement and thus whether it is to be notified in accordance with this Article and Article 6, the Member State shall consult the Commission without delay.
7
All notifications pursuant to paragraphs 1 to 5 of this Article and to Article 6(1) and (2) shall be made through a web-based application provided by the Commission. The periods referred to in Article 5(1) and (2) and Article 6(3) shall start to run on the date when the complete notification file has been registered in the application.