1.3.2007 Official Journal of the European Union L 62/23 II (Acts adopted under the EC Treaty/Euratom Treaty whose publication is not obligatory) DECISIONS COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 26 February 2007 establishing that Article 30(1) 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 applies to the supply of electricity and gas in England, Scotland and Wales (notified under document number C(2007) 559) (Only the English text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2007/141EC) 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 (1), and in particular Article 30(4) and (6) thereof, Having regard to the request submitted by the United Kingdom by e-mail of 24 October 2006 and confirmed by a signed fax of the same date, and to the additional information requested by Commission staff by e-mail of 17 November 2006 and submitted by the United Kingdom by e-mail of 27 November 2006, Having regard to the conclusions of the independent national authority, the Office of the Gas and Electricity Markets (OFGEM), that the conditions for the applicability of Article 30(1) of Directive 2004/17/EC would be met, (") OJ L 134, 30.4.2004, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Council Directive 2006/97/EC (O] L 363, 20.12.2006, p. 107). Whereas: (1)  Article 30 of Directive 2004/17/EC provides that contracts intended to enable the performance of one of the activities to which the Directive applies shall not be subject to the Directive if, in the Member State in which it is carried out, the activity is directly exposed to compe- tition on markets to which access is not restricted. Direct exposure to competition is assessed on the basis of objective criteria, taking account of the specific charac- teristics of the sector concerned. Access is deemed to be unrestricted if the Member State has implemented and applied the relevant Community legislation opening a given sector or a part of it. (2)  This legislation is listed in Annex XI of Directive 2004/17[EC, which, for the electricity sector, refers 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 (3. Directive 96/92/[EC  has been superseded by Directive 2003/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2003 concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity and repealing Directive 96/92/EC (*), which requires an even higher @ O] L 27, 30.1.1997, p. 20. () O] L 176, 15.7.2003, p. 37. Directive as last amended by Commission Decision 2006/653/EC (O] L 270, 29.9.2006, p. 72).