13. 6. 97 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 156/55 II (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 30 May 1997 establishing that the exploitation of geographical areas for the purpose of exploring for or extracting oil or gas does not constitute in the United Kingdom an activity defined in Article 2 (2)(b) (i) of Council Directive 93/38/EEC and that entities carrying on such an activity are not to be considered in the United Kingdom as operating under special or exclusive rights within the meaning of Article 2 (3)(b) of the Directive (Only the English text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (97/367/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Directive 93/38/EEC of 14 June 1993 coordinating the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and tele- communications sectors ('), as last amended by the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden, and in par- ticular Articles 3 (4) and (5) and 40 (5) to (8) thereof, Having regard to Directive 94/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 1994 on the conditions for granting and using authorizations for the prospection, exploration and production of hydrocar- bons (%), and in particular Article 12 thereof, Whereas, pursuant to Article 3 of Directive 93/38/EEC, a Member State may request the Commission to provide that exploitation of geographical areas for the purpose of exploring for or extracting oil, gas, coal or other solid fuels is not to be considered to be an activity defined in Article 2 (2) (b) (i) of the Directive and that entities are not to be considered as operating under special or exclusive rights within the meaning of Article 2 (3) (b) by virtue of () OJ No L 199, 9. 8. 1993, p. 84. () O] No L 164, 30. 6. 1994, p. 3. carrying on one or more of those activities, provided that a number of precise conditions laid down in its para- graphs 1 and 3 are satisfied with respect to the relevant national provisions concerning such activities and that, pursuant to its paragraph 2, any Member State requesting such a decision ensures that entities observe the prin- ciples of non-discrimination and competitive procure- ment in awarding contracts and communicate to the Commission information relating to the award of such contracts; Whereas Member States, which have complied with the provisions of Directive 94/22/EC, shall be considered to satisfy the conditions laid down in Article 3(1) of Dir- ective 93/38/EEC; Whereas, by letter dated 3 February 1997, the Office of the United Kingdom Permanent Representative to the European Communities requested the Commission to provide that exploitation of geographical areas for the purpose of exploring for or extracting oil or gas should not be considered in the United Kingdom to be an ac- tivity defined in Article 2 (2) (b) (i) of Directive 93/38/EEC and the entities carrying on such an activity are not to be considered in the United Kingdom as operating under special or exclusive rights within the meaning of Article 2(3)(b) of the Directive; whereas that request did not cover the exploitation of geographical areas for the purpose of exploring for or extracting coal or other solid fuels;