Natural gas: common rules for the internal market

The European Parliament tabled amendments on: adding to the proposed legal basis (Article 90(2)); emphasising the need for harmonisation rather than liberalisation in the electricity/gas sectors, but without abandoning the latter; providing for harmonisation to be implemented gradually, and for a transitional period from July 1994 to the end of 1998 for that purpose; providing for special directives to be proposed quickly before the end of 1994 to harmonise the environmental protection rules and tax rules applicable to energy; establishing in each Member State a Gas and Electricity Council responsible for submitting an annual report on the state of the market in natural gas and electricity; providing for the Member States to be able to grant import, export, storage or distribution licences for a period of at least 15 years, with exclusive concessions restricted to a maximum of 15 years; also maintaining the distribution concessions of local and regional authorities; allowing the Member States to keep the concession to import and supply to the network, whilst still being able to set up a third-party access system provided that it complied with the common rules established by the directive. �