14.7.2009 Official Journal of the European Union L 181/53 COMMISSION DECISION of 8 July 2009 exempting exploration for and exploitation of oil and gas in the Netherlands from the application of Directive 2004/17/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council coordinating the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors (notified under document number C(2009) 5381) (Only the Dutch text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2009/546/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Directive 2004/17/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 coordinating the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors (), and in particular Article 30(5) and (6), Having regard to the request submitted by Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij B.V. (hereinafter referred to as NAM) by e-mail of 26 February 2009, After consulting the Advisory Committee for Public Contracts, Whereas: L. FACTS (1) By Commission Decision 93/676/EEC (3), contracting entities exploring for or extracting oil or gas in the Netherlands were authorised to apply an alternative regime in place of the normal set of rules provided for under the then applicable Directive. The alternative regime entailed certain statistical obligations and an obli- gation to observe the principles of non-discrimination and competitive procurement in respect of the award of supplies, works and service contracts, in particular as regards the information which the entity makes available to economic operators concerning its procurement inten- tions. The effects of that Decision were safeguarded without prejudice to the provisions of Article 30 of Directive 2004/17EC through its Article 27 of when it replaced the previous Directive. () OJ L 134, 30.4.2004, p. 1. (%) Commission Decision 93/676/EC of 10 December 1993 establishing that the exploitation of geographical areas for the purpose of exploring for or extracting oil or gas does not constitute in the Netherlands an activity defined in Article 2(2)(b)(i) of Council Directive 90/531/EEC and that entities carrying on such an activity are not to be considered in the Netherlands as operating under special or exclusive rights within the meaning of Article 2(3)(b) of the Directive, O] L 316, 17.12.1993, p. 0041. (2)  On 26 February 2009, NAM transmitted a request pursuant to Article 30(5) of Directive 2004/17[EC to the Commission by e-mail. In accordance with Article 30(5) first subparagraph, the Commission informed the Dutch authorities thereof by letter of 5 March 2009, to which the Dutch authorities answered by e-mail of 26 March 2009. The Commission also requested additional information of NAM by e-mail of 9 March 2009, which was transmitted by NAM by e- mail of 23 March 2009. (3)  The request submitted by NAM concerns the exploration for and exploitation of oil and gas in the Netherlands. In line with previous Commission Merger Decisions (3), three distinct activities where NAM is active, have been described in the request, namely: a) exploration for oil and natural gas; b) production of oil; and ¢) production of natural gas. In accordance with the abovementioned Commission Decisions, ‘production’ will for the purposes of this Decision be taken to include also ‘development’, i.e. the setting up of adequate infrastructure for future production (oil platforms, pipelines, terminals, etc.). II. LEGAL FRAMEWORK (4)  Article 30 of Directive 2004/17/EC provides that contracts intended to enable the performance of one of the activities to which Directive 2004/17/EC applies shall not be subject to that Directive if, in the Member State in () See in particular Commission Decision 2004/284/EC  of 29 September 1999 declaring a concentration compatible with the common market and the EEA Agreement (Case No IV/M.1383 — Exxon/Mobil) and subsequent decisions, inter alia, Commission Decision of 03/05/2007 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.4545 — STATOIL/ HYDRO) according to Council Regulation (EEC) No 139/2004.