1.Without prejudice to the obligations of Member States under Article 5, two or more Member States may decide, on a voluntary basis, to join or partly coordinate their national support schemes. In such cases, a certain amount of energy from renewable sources produced in the territory of one participating Member State may count towards the renewable energy share of another participating Member State, provided that the Member States concerned:
(a)make a statistical transfer of specified amounts of energy from renewable sources from one Member State to another Member State in accordance with Article 8; or
(b)set up a distribution rule agreed by participating Member States that allocates amounts of energy from renewable sources between the participating Member States.
A distribution rule as referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph shall be notified to the Commission not later than three months after the end of the first year in which it takes effect.
2.Within three months of the end of each year, each Member State that has made a notification under the second subparagraph of paragraph 1 shall issue a letter of notification stating the total amount of electricity or heating or cooling from renewable sources produced during the year which is to be the subject of the distribution rule.
3.For the purposes of calculating the renewable energy shares under this Directive, the amount of electricity or heating or cooling from renewable sources notified in accordance with paragraph 2 shall be reallocated between the Member States concerned in accordance with the notified distribution rule.
4.The Commission shall disseminate guidelines and best practices, and, upon the request of the Member States concerned, facilitate the establishment of joint support schemes between Member States.