North West Region Gas Regional Initiatives Regulatory Co-ordination Workshop 23 rd April 2007

Order of Business Up-date on Progress (5 mins) Operator Comments(10 mins) Code of Practice for Regulators (30 mins) –Content –Implementation Conclusions Paper(15 mins) –Other Actions

Up-date on Progress Matrix of Regulatory Powers (Del. No.1) –Delivered Feb 07 – updates required Stakeholder Views –Operator Issues – Delivered Dec 06 (Del. No.2) –Responses to questionnaire – Feb 07 Conclusions Paper (Del. No. 3) –Draft for Discussion today Code of Practice for NW Regulators (Del. No. 4) –Draft for Discussion today

Objectives of Today Agreement on Scope of content of COP for regulator Develop ideas on how to bring cop into affect Agreement on future work for workstream and responsibilities

Regulatory Co-ordination Operator presentation Dublin, 23 April 2007

General and process Good cooperation within enabler group Operators welcome that the issue of regulatory co-operation is tackled Pleased with progress so far, but need to go further No comments on questionnaire responses (not public)

Main comments conclusions paper Regulatory co-operation should involve TSOs and other stakeholders Tariffing issues: – Disagreement on responsibilities? Cost of compatible IT systems: – Prohibitively expensive? Conclusions: points from CoP Opinions and agreed conclusions cannot always be distinguished

Main questions code of practice for regulators Are all regulators signed on? How to ensure commitment of regulators to CoP? How to ensure that the CoP works in practice? Management of Information exchange and consultation? How will “issue list” be managed? Feasibility of “persuading character of access decisions”? Agreement on mechanism for access might be necessary Involve MS to make this legally possible Definition of common infrastructure?

Going further Necessity to increase co-operation and coordination beyond the CoP – Specifically to allow all regulators to take into account the benefit of all European consumers Develop action plan on how to tackle legal barriers, involving MS

Regulatory Co-ordination Code of Practice for NW GRI Regulators

Guideline 1 Sharing Information Regulators should share relevant information with each other. The issues on which regulators should inform / consult each other will be contained on the issues check list and this should be used as a reference base. Where there is no legal basis to share market participant information, voluntary agreement should be sought with the relevant stakeholders.

Guideline 2 Requirement to Consult Where changes are being introduced in one market that may have an impact on neighbouring countries, the instigating country should consult with the regulators in the neighbouring countries. For Investment projects consultations should take place at an early stage of the project development. Decision making should be transparent and where decisions are required in two or more jurisdictions, these should be made contemporaneously, where possible. If appropriate joint meetings should be held with transporters and other stakeholders.

Guideline 3 Avoidance of Dual Regulation Regulators should consult each other before issuing licences for cross border pipelines and should endeavour to ensure that licence conditions in each jurisdiction are not inconsistent with each other. Where appropriate regulators shall agree licence conditions on access, tariffs and dispute resolution. Regulators should endeavour to establish a common dispute resolution process for customers seeking access to pipelines. They should advise each other of any access decisions made.

Guideline 4 Harmonised Business Rules Regulators should seek to make business rules compatible and where possible harmonised, subject to the safe and economic and secure operation of the network in its jurisdiction. Where guidelines are developed (in ERGEG fora or through the RGI) regulators should seek to bring these into effect.

Guideline 5 Resolution of Regulators Disagreements Regulators should enter into Memoranda of Understandings in relation to operation of common infrastructure. Where there are cross border pipelines regulators should seek to avail of an agreed conciliation process where agreement between regulators cannot be reached on issues relating to the regulation of the infrastructure.

Bringing COP into Effect Voluntary sign-up by Regulators in the NW Region? MOU for all Regulators in NW RGI? Role of ERGEG? Expanded Role for RCC? Next Steps for COP

Regulatory Co-ordination Conclusions Paper Future Work