L 319/30 Official Journal of the European Communities 11.12.1999 COMMISSION DECISION of 8 July 1999 concerning the Austrian application 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) 1551/5) (Only the German text is authentic) (1999/795EC) 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 ('), (hereinafter ‘the Directive), and in particular Article 24 thereof, Having informed the Member States of the Austrian application, Whereas: I. FACTS 1. Procedure (1) By letter of 11 February 1998, the Austrian Bundesministerium  fiir ~ wirtschaftliche ~ Angelegenheiten notified to the Commission an application for a transitional regime pursuant to Article 24 of Directive 96/92/EC. () On 23 March 1998, the Commission's representatives undertook a fact finding mission to Vienna and met with the Austrian  Bundesministerium  fiir ~ wirtschaftliche Angelegenheiten as  well as with representatives of consumers (social partners) and the electricity industry. (3) By letter of 15 October 1998, the Austrian Bundesministerium  fiir ~ wirtschaftliche ~ Angelegenheiten submitted to the Commission complementary information, in particular the final report of the independent accountants and lawyers commissioned by the Austrian Government to determine the anticipated level of compensatory payments arising from the transitional regime in question. On the basis of this report, the application for a transitional regime has been () OJ L 27, 30.1.1997, p. 20. reduced by the Austrian Government to a stranded cost amount of ATS 8,7 billion from the ATS 35,6 billion contained in the initial notification. 2. The Austrian electricity sector and implementation of Directive 96/92/EC Austria is implementing Directive 96/92/EC by the Elektrizitatswirtschafts- und Organisationsgesetz (hereinafter ‘EIWOG)), which was published on 18 August 1998 and entered into force on 19 February 1999, as well as complementary laws for the nine Linder. The EIWOG provides for a market opening starting with approximately 27 % in February 1999 and increasing to approximately 50% in 2003. Accordingly, in the first phase final customers with more than 40 GWh yearly consumption as well as distributors, which also operate transmission systems, will be eligible. From February 2000, final customers above 20 GWh/a will be eligible, as well as all distributors above 40 GWh/a. Finally, in February 2003, all final customers and all distributors above 9 GWh/a will be eligible. Austria has opted for a system of regulated network access. Osterreichische Elektrizitdtswirtschafts AG (Verbundgesellschaft) is the main transmission system operator. Through its legally separated subsidiaries, it is also Austria's main electricity producing company. Most of the nine regional electricity companies are not only distributors but also producers; some of them are also transmission system operators. 3. The transitional regime notified by the Austrian Government 3.1. Introduction Austria has notified two schemes pursuant to Article 24 of Directive 96/92/EC.