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1. RULES FOR GROUPS (1) With regard to energy infrastructure falling under the competence of national regulatory authorities, each Group shall be composed of representatives of the Member States, national regulatory authorities, TSOs, as well as the Commission, the Agency, the EU DSO entity and either the ENTSO for Electricity or the ENTSO for Gas. For the other energy infrastructure categories, each Group shall be composed of the Commission and the representatives of the Member States, project promoters concerned by each of the relevant priorities set out in Annex I.

(2) Depending on the number of candidate projects for the Union list, regional infrastructure gaps and market developments, the Groups and the decision-making bodies of the Groups may split, merge or meet in different configurations, as necessary, to discuss matters common to all Groups or pertaining solely to particular regions. Such matters may include issues relevant to cross-regional consistency or the number of proposed projects included on the draft regional lists at risk of becoming unmanageable.

(3) Each Group shall organise its work in line with regional cooperation efforts pursuant to Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 715/2009, Article 34 of Regulation (EU) 2019/943, Article 7 of Directive 2009/73/EC and Article 61 of Directive (EU) 2019/944, and other existing regional cooperation structures.

(4) Each Group shall invite, as appropriate for the purpose of implementing the relevant energy infrastructure priority corridors and areas designated in Annex I, promoters of a project potentially eligible for selection as a project of common interest as well as representatives of national administrations, of regulatory authorities, of civil society and TSOs from third countries. The decision to invite third-country representatives shall be made by consensus.

(5) For the energy infrastructure priority corridors set out in Section 2 of Annex I, each Group shall invite, as appropriate, representatives of the landlocked Member States, competent authorities, national regulatory authorities and TSOs.

(6) Each Group shall invite, as appropriate, the organisations representing relevant stakeholders, including representatives from third countries, and, where deemed to be appropriate, directly the stakeholders, including producers, DSOs, suppliers, consumers, local populations and Union-based organisations for environmental protection, to express their specific expertise. Each Group shall organise hearings or consultations where relevant for the accomplishments of its tasks.

(7) As regards the meetings of the Groups, the Commission shall publish, on a platform accessible to stakeholders, the internal rules, an updated list of member organisations, regularly updated information on the progress of work, meeting agendas, as well as meeting minutes, where available. The deliberations of the decision-making bodies of the Groups and the project ranking in accordance with Article 4(5) shall be confidential. All decisions concerning to the functioning and work of the regional groups shall be made by consensus between the Member States and the Commission.

(8) The Commission, the Agency and the Groups shall strive for consistency between the Groups. For that purpose, the Commission and the Agency shall ensure, when relevant, the exchange of information on all work representing an interregional interest between the Groups concerned.

(9) The participation of national regulatory authorities and the Agency in the Groups shall not jeopardise the fulfilment of their objectives and duties under this Regulation or under Regulation (EU) 2019/942, Articles 40 and 41 of Directive 2009/73/EC and Articles 58, 59 and 60 of Directive (EU) 2019/944.

2. PROCESS FOR ESTABLISHING REGIONAL LISTS (1) Promoters of a project potentially eligible for selection as a project on the Union list wanting to obtain that status shall submit an application for selection as a project on the Union list to the Group that includes:

(a) an assessment of their projects with regard to their contribution to implementing the priorities set out in Annex I;

(b) an indication of the relevant project category set out in Annex II;

(c) an analysis of the fulfilment of the relevant criteria laid down in Article 4;

(d) for projects having reached a sufficient degree of maturity, a project-specific cost-benefit analysis consistent with the methodologies drawn up pursuant to Article 11;

(e) for projects of mutual interest, the letters of support from the governments of the directly affected countries expressing their support for the project or other non-binding agreements;

(f) any other relevant information for the evaluation of the project.

(2) All recipients shall ensure the confidentiality of commercially sensitive information.

(3) The proposed electricity transmission and storage projects of common interest falling under the energy infrastructure categories set out in point (1)(a), (b), (c), (d) and (f) of Annex II to this Regulation shall be part of the latest available Union-wide ten-year network development plan for electricity, developed by the ENTSO for Electricity pursuant Article 30 of Regulation (EU) 2019/943. The proposed electricity transmission projects of common interest falling under the energy infrastructure categories set out in point (1)(b) and (f) of Annex II to this Regulation shall derive from and be consistent with the integrated offshore network development and grid reinforcements referred to in Article 14(2) of this Regulation.

(4) From 1 January 2024, the proposed hydrogen projects of common interest falling under the energy infrastructure categories set out in point (3) of Annex II to this Regulation are projects that are part of the latest available Community-wide ten-year network development plan for gas, developed by the ENTSO for Gas pursuant Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 715/2009.

(5) By 30 June 2022 and subsequently for every Union-wide ten-year network development plan, the ENTSO for Electricity and ENTSO for Gas shall issue updated guidelines for inclusion of projects in their respective Union-wide ten-year network development plan, as referred to in points (3) and (4), in order to ensure equal treatment and the transparency of the process. For all the projects on the Union list in force at the time, the guidelines shall establish a simplified process of inclusion in the Union-wide ten-year network development plans taking into account the documentation and data already submitted during the previous Union-wide ten-year network development plan processes, provided that the documentation and data already submitted remains valid. The ENTSO for Electricity and ENTSO for Gas shall consult the Commission and the Agency about their respective draft guidelines for inclusion of projects in the Union-wide ten-year network development plans and take due account of the Commission’s and the Agency’s recommendations before the publication of the final guidelines.

(6) Proposed carbon dioxide transport and storage projects falling under the energy infrastructure category set out in point (5) of Annex II shall be presented as part of a plan, developed by at least two Member States, for the development of cross-border carbon dioxide transport and storage infrastructure, to be presented by the Member States concerned or entities designated by those Member States to the Commission.

(7) The ENTSO for Electricity and the ENTSO for Gas shall provide information to the Groups as to how they applied the guidelines to evaluate inclusion in the Union-wide ten-year network development plans.

(8) For projects falling under their competence, the national regulatory authorities and, where necessary, the Agency shall, where possible in the context of regional cooperation pursuant to Article 7 of Directive 2009/73/EC and Article 61 of Directive (EU) 2019/944, check the consistent application of the criteria and of the cost-benefit analysis methodology and evaluate their cross-border relevance. They shall present their assessment to the Group. The Commission shall ensure that criteria and methodologies referred to in Article 4 of this Regulation and Annex IV are applied in a harmonised way to ensure consistency across the regional groups.

(9) For all projects not covered in point (8) of this Annex, the Commission shall evaluate the application of the criteria set out in Article 4 of this Regulation. The Commission shall also take into account the potential for future extension to include additional Member States. The Commission shall present its assessment to the Group. For projects applying for the status of project of mutual interest, third-country representatives and regulatory authorities shall be invited to the presentation of the assessment.

(10) Each Member State to whose territory a proposed project does not relate, but on which the proposed project may have a potential net positive impact or a potential significant effect, such as on the environment or on the operation of the energy infrastructure on its territory, may present an opinion to the Group specifying its concerns.

(11) The Group shall examine, at the request of a Member State of the Group, the substantiated reasons presented by a Member State pursuant to Article 3(3) for not approving a project related to its territory.

(12) The Group shall consider whether the energy efficiency first principle is applied as regards the establishment of the regional infrastructure needs and as regards each of the candidate projects. The Group shall, in particular, consider solutions such as demand-side management, market arrangement solutions, implementation of digital solutions, and renovation of buildings as priority solutions where they are judged more cost-efficient on a system wide perspective than the construction of new supply side infrastructure.