Report ACER "The internal gas market in Europe: The role of transmission tariffs"
With this Report the Agency fulfils its obligation according to Article 36(5) oftheNC TAR. The article states that ‘within three years as from the entry into force of this Regulation, the Agency shall publish a report on the application of reference price methodologies in Member States’.
When the European Union’s (‘EU’)regulatory debate started on the reference price methodologies (‘RPMs’) in 2012, tariffs showed a wide variety of pricing structures. Different approaches were problematic where tariffs were derived from inconsistent tariff structures, impacting transportation prices of the neighbouring Member States(‘MSs’)and potentially hinderingeffective cross-border gas trade. The intended role of theCommission Regulation (EU) 2017/460 of 16 March 2017, establishing a network code on harmonised transmission tariff structures for gas (‘NC TAR’),was tocreate a level playing field amongst domestic and cross-border network users, reduce cross-subsidisation between these users, increase tariff transparency and by these beneficial impacts facilitate cross-border trade. During the implementation this intention was firmly guarded by theEuropean Union Agencyfor the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (‘the Agency’).