11.12.1999 Official Journal of the European Communities L 319/41 COMMISSION DECISION of 8 July 1999 concerning the application of the Spanish Government for a transitional regime under Article 24 of Directive 96/92/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity (notified under document number C(1999) 1551/7) (Only the Spanish text is authentic) (1999/797EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Directive 96/92/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 1996 concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity (1), and in particular Article 24 thereof, Having informed the Member States of the application made by the Spanish Government, Whereas: I. FACTS 1. Procedure (1) By letter of 18 February 1998, the Spanish Ministry of Industry and Energy notified the Commission of an application for a transitional regime pursuant to Article 24 of Directive 96/92/EC. The application referred to the Spanish Electricity Sector Act No 54/1997, notified under Article 27 of the Directive by letter of 20 January, and in particular to two provisions thereof: (1) the provisions on costs of transition to competition (hereinafter ‘CTC), and (2) the provision concerning the systems on the islands and outside the Iberian peninsula. (2) On 3 June 1998, the Commission's services undertook a fact-finding mission to Madrid and met with officials from both the Ministry of Industry and Energy and the Comisién Nacional del Sistema Eléctrico (CNSE). (3) By letter of 16 October 1998, the Spanish Ministry of Industry and Energy submitted complementary information to the Commission. () OJ L 27, 30.1.1997, p. 20. (4) By letter of 28 January 1999, the Spanish Government notified the transitional regime (which had been notified pursuant to Article 24 of the Directive) with certain modifications, in accordance with Article 88 of the EC Treaty. This notification is not the subject of this Decision but is being dealt with in a parallel procedure under Article 88 of the EC Treaty. 2. The Spanish electricity sector and the implementation of Directive 96/92/EC (5) Spain implemented Directive 96/92/EC with the Act No 54/1997 of 27 November 1997, which entered into force on 1 January 1998. This Act introduces regulated network access for all customers with a consumption of more than 15 GWh per year. This represents approximately 30% of total consumption by the end of 1998 (3). The Act, together with amendments which entered into force on 1 January 1999, already provides for further progressive market opening steps which will lead to 100 % market opening in 2007. (6) Furthermore, the Spanish Act introduced the functions of independent system operator and independent market operator, which are separated in legal and ownership terms from other electricity companies (no shareholder may hold more than 10% of these bodies, the sum of shareholders operating in the electricity sector may not exceed 40%). Royal Decree 2019/1997 designated Red Eléctrica de Espafia, SA (REE) as system operator and Compafiia Operadora del Mercado Espafiol de Electricidad, SA (OMEL) as market operator. (7) The market operator (OMEL) manages the coordination of supply and demand on the spot market. All producers generating more than 50 MW are obliged to regularly submit offers on the spot market, and are also allowed to sell their electricity under bilateral contracts. All distributors, suppliers and eligible customers may act as buyers on the spot market. Thus, eligible customers currently have three possibilities: (1) remaining with their supplier/distributor at regulated supply tariffs, (2) purchasing directly on the spot market, and (3) (3 Directive 96/92/EC requires a minimum market opening of 26,48 % as of 19 February 1999.