Article 7

For each cross-border interconnection between Member States, except for those exempted under Article 6(5)(a) and except where bi-directional capacity already exists or is under construction and no enhancement has been requested by one or more Member States for security of supply reasons, transmission system operators shall, not later than 3 March 2012, submit to their Member States or, where Member States so provide, their Competent Authorities or their regulatory authorities (together referred to in this Article as the ‘authorities concerned’), after consulting with all other transmission system operators concerned: a proposal for bi-directional capacity concerning the reverse direction (reverse flow capacity); or a request for an exemption from the obligation to enable bi-directional capacity. The proposal for reverse flow capacity or the request for exemptions referred to in paragraph 1 shall be based on an assessment of market demand, projections for demand and supply, technical feasibility, the costs of reverse flow capacity, including the consequent reinforcement of the transmission system, and the benefits for security of supply, taking also into account, where appropriate, the possible contribution of reverse flow capacity to meeting, together with other possible measures, the infrastructure standard set out in Article 6 in the case of the Member States benefiting from the reverse flow capacity. The authority concerned receiving the proposal or exemption request shall notify the authorities concerned of the other Member States that could, according to the risk assessment, benefit from reverse flow capacity and the Commission of the proposal or the exemption request without delay. That authority concerned shall give those authorities concerned and the Commission the possibility to issue an opinion within a period of 4 months following receipt of that notification. Within 2 months of the expiry of the period referred to in paragraph 3, the authority concerned, on the basis of the criteria referred to in paragraph 2 and of the risk assessment carried out in accordance with Article 9, and taking utmost account of the opinions received in accordance with paragraph 3 of this Article, and taking into account aspects that are not strictly economic, such as security of gas supply and the contribution to the internal gas market, shall: grant an exemption if reverse flow capacity would not significantly enhance the security of supply of any Member State or region or if the investment costs would significantly outweigh the prospective benefits for security of supply; or accept the proposal for reverse flow capacity; or require the transmission system operator to amend its proposal. The authority concerned shall notify its decision without delay to the Commission, together with all relevant information showing the reasons for the decision, including the opinions received in accordance with paragraph 3 of this Article. The authorities concerned shall endeavour to ensure that mutually dependent decisions which concern the same interconnection or interconnected pipelines do not contradict each other. Within 2 months of receipt of that notification, and where there are discrepancies between the decision of the authority concerned and the opinions of other authorities concerned, the Commission may require that the authority concerned amend its decision. That period may be extended by 1 month where additional information is sought by the Commission. Any proposal by the Commission requiring amendment to the decision of the authority concerned shall be made on the basis of the elements and criteria set out in paragraph 2 and point (a) of paragraph 4, taking into account the reasons for the decision of the authority concerned. The authority concerned shall comply with the request by amending its decision within a period of 4 weeks. In the event that the Commission does not act within that 2-month period, it shall be deemed not to have raised objections to the decision of the authority concerned. Where additional reverse flow capacity is needed according to the results of the risk assessment carried out in accordance with Article 9, the procedure set out in paragraphs 1 to 5 of this Article shall be repeated upon the request of a transmission system operator, an authority concerned or the Commission. The Commission and the authority concerned shall preserve the confidentiality of commercially sensitive information at all times.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-04 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.