L 319/12 Official Journal of the European Communities 11.12.1999 COMMISSION DECISION of 8 July 1999 concerning the application of Luxembourg 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) 1551/3) (Only the French text is authentic) (1999/793EC) 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 of Luxembourg pursuant to Article 24(1) of Directive 96/92/EC, Whereas: I. FACTS 1. Procedure (1) By letter of 13 February 1998, the Ministére de I'Energie du  Grand-Duché de Luxembourg notified to the Commission an application for a transitional regime according to Article 24 of Directive 96/92/EC. (2) By letter of 20 October 1998, the said Ministry submitted  supplementary  information to  the Commission. (3) On 15 December 1998, a bilateral meeting between representatives of the said Ministry and the Commission took place. 2. The electricity sector and implementation of Directive 96/92/EC in Luxembourg (4) Luxembourg has not yet implemented Directive 96/92/EC. The draft law of 16 December 1998 provides () OJ L 27, 30.1.1997, p. 20. for a system of regulated third party access. Eligible for network access are final consumers with more than 100 GWh yearly consumption, representing approximately 45 % of total national consumption. The Luxembourg electricity supply market is shared between Cegedel, a majority State-owned company supplying 70% of national consumption, and Sotel, a company owned by the heavy industry which supplies this industry as well as the railways, accounting for 30 % of national consumption. Since 1927 Cegedel has held a concession for distribution and exclusive public supply of electricity. Cegedel acts also as transmission system operator (TSO) and imports 92,8% of its electricity needs from Germany on the basis of a long-term contract with RWE. The remaining 7% is purchased from small private or public producers, mostly on the basis of hydropower and cogeneration. 3. The transitional regime notified by the government of Luxembourg The application notified by Luxembourg consists of several elements, referring to Article 24(1) as well as to Article 24(3) of Directive 96/92/EC. 3.1. Article 24(1) of Directive 96/92/EC Luxembourg considers that the power procurement agreement between Cegedel and RWE (the actual contract parties being the Luxembourg State, Société Electrique de I'Our SA and RWE AG), initially concluded on 30 April 1963, several times amended and expiring on 31 December 2000, is to be regarded as a commitment within the meaning of Article 24(1) of Directive 96/92/EC. The contract contains an exclusive supply clause in favour of RWE. Cegedel, on the other hand, supplies large industrial consumers above 100 GWh yearly consumption, which will be eligible within the meaning of Directive 96/92/EC as of 19 February 1999. If these eligible customers were to choose a supplier other than Cegedel, RWE could review