A fully functioning and interconnected internal energy market is crucial for maintaining security of energy supply, increasing competitiveness and ensuring that all consumers can purchase energy at affordable prices.

Regulation (EC) No 714/2009 sets out non-discriminatory rules governing access to the network for cross-border exchanges in electricity with a view to ensuring the proper functioning of the internal market in electricity.

Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/1485 sets out harmonised rules on system operation for transmission system operators (‘TSOs’), regional security coordinators (‘RSCs’), distribution system operators (‘DSOs’) and significant grid users (‘SGUs’). It identifies different critical system states (normal state, alert state, emergency state, blackout state and restoration). It also includes requirements and principles to ensure the conditions for maintaining operational security throughout the Union and promote the coordination of system operation, requirements and principles for operational planning and scheduling processes required to anticipate real-time operational security difficulties and requirements and principles for Union-wide load frequency control and reserves.

A common set of minimum requirements and principles needs to be developed for the procedures and actions to be carried out specifically when in the emergency, blackout and restoration states.

Even though each TSO is responsible for maintaining operational security in its control area, the secure and efficient operation of the Union's electricity system is a task shared between all the Union TSOs since all national systems are, to a certain extent, interconnected and a fault in one control area could affect other areas. The efficient operation of the Union's electricity system also requires a close collaboration and coordination between stakeholders.

It is therefore necessary to set out harmonised requirements concerning technical and organisational measures in order to prevent the propagation or deterioration of an incident in the national system and to avoid the spread of the disturbance and blackout state to other systems. It is also necessary to set out harmonised procedures that TSOs should implement in order to restore the alert or normal state after the spread of the disturbance or blackout state.

Each TSO should establish a system defence plan and a restoration plan, through a three steps approach: a design phase, consisting of defining the detailed content of the plan; an implementation phase, consisting in the development and installation of all necessary means and services for the activation of the plan; and an activation phase, consisting of operational use of one or more measure(s) from the plan.

The harmonisation of the requirements for the establishment by TSOs of their respective system defence plan and restoration plan should ensure the overall efficiency of those plans at Union level.

TSOs should ensure the continuity of energy transactions during emergency, blackout or restoration state and only suspend market activities and market's accompanying processes as a last resort. Clear, objective and harmonised conditions under which energy transactions could be suspended and subsequently restored should be established.

Each TSO should support any other TSO in emergency, blackout or restoration state, upon request, where such support does not lead the system of the requested TSO into emergency or blackout state.

In Member States where public communication systems are used, TSOs, DSOs, SGUs and restoration service providers should endeavour to obtain telecommunication priority status from their respective telecommunication provider.

On 20 July 2015, the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (‘the Agency’) recommended the adoption by the Commission of the Network Code on Electricity Balancing, subject to the requirements contained in the recommendation of the Agency No 3/2015.

In addition to the general provisions of Regulation (EU) 2017/1485, specific requirements are needed to guarantee the information exchange and communication during the emergency, blackout or restoration states, as well as the availability of critical tools and facilities necessary to operate and restore the system.

This Regulation has been adopted on the basis of Regulation (EC) No 714/2009 which it supplements and of which it forms an integral part. References to Regulation (EC) No 714/2009 in other legal acts should be understood as also referring to this Regulation.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee referred to in Article 23(1) of Regulation (EC) No 714/2009,