L 296/28 Official Journal of the European Union 14.10.2014 COMMISSION DECISION of 13 October 2014 on the establishment of the annual priority lists for the development of network codes and guidelines for 2015 (Text with EEA relevance) (2014/713[EU) THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 714/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 on conditions for access to the network for cross-border exchanges in electricity and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1228/2003 (*) (Electricity Regulation’), and in particular Article 6(1) thereof, Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 715/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 on conditions for access to natural gas transmission networks and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1775/2005 (3 (‘Gas Regu- lation’), and in particular Article 6(1) thereof, Whereas: (1)  The development and implementation of network codes and guidelines is an important action to be taken in order to fully integrate the internal energy market. The Third energy package has created an institutional set up for developing network codes with a view to harmonising, where necessary, the technical, operational and market rules governing the electricity and gas grids. In this institutional setup there is a key role for the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER’), for the European Network of Transmission System Operators (ENTSOs’) and for the European Commission to work in close cooperation with all relevant stakeholders on the development of network codes. The areas in which network codes can be developed are set out in Article 8(6) of the Electricity Regulation and the Gas Regulation. (2)  Despite the possibility to develop network codes according to the process laid down in Articles 6 and 8 of the Electricity Regulation and the Gas Regulation, the Commission can develop guidelines by itself and subsequently initiate the adoption procedure to make them legally binding. The areas in which guidelines can be developed are set out in Article 18(1), (2) and (3) of the Electricity Regulation and Article 23(1) of the Gas Regulation. (3)  As a first step towards binding European network codes, an annual priority list identifying the areas to be included in the development of network codes has to be established by the Commission in accordance with Article 6(1) of the Electricity Regulation and the Gas Regulation. Before setting the annual priorities, the Euro- pean Commission has to consult ACER, the ENTSOs and the other relevant stakeholders. This decision sets out the priorities as decided by the Commission based on the outcome from the public consultation. (4)  Harmonised gas rules on congestion management procedures, capacity allocation and balancing have already been adopted in 2012 and 2013. (5)  The public consultation, as required by Article 6(1) of the Electricity and the Gas Regulation, took place from 26 February to 9 May 2014. The Commission received 20 responses () including from ENTSO-E. ACER and ENTSOG have not submitted a response to the public consultation. In the public consultation the majority of stakeholders supported the prioritization of the work already started and emphasised the importance of the proper and well-coordinated implementation of adopted network codes and guidelines. Additionally on 3 June 2014 ACER informed the Commission that according to its scoping exercise () on the necessity of harmonised rules for gas trading related to technical and operational provisions of network access services and system balan- cing (hereafter ‘RfT’) such rules are currently not needed. ) OJL211,14.8.2009, p. 15. %) OJL211,14.8.2009, p. 36. The responses are published under http://ec.europa.eu/energy/gas_electricity/consultations/20140509_network_code_en.htm () 0 (*) Commission Decision 2013/442/EU on the annual priority list for 2014 had foreseen this scoping exercise (O] L 224, 22.8.2013, p. 14).