27.10.2012 Official Journal of the European Union L 299/13 DECISIONS DECISION No 994/2012/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 25 October 2012 establishing an information exchange mechanism with regard to intergovernmental agreements between Member States and third countries in the field of energy (Text with EEA relevance) THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 194 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments, Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1), After consulting the Committee of the Regions, Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (3), Whereas: 1 The European Council has asked Member States to inform the Commission as of 1 January 2012 of all their new and existing bilateral agreements with third countries in the field of energy. The Commission should make this information available to all other Member States in an appropriate form, having regard to the need for protection of commercially sensitive information. Article 4 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) requires Member States to take all appropriate measures to ensure fulfilment of the obligations arising out of the Treaties or resulting from the acts of the Union institutions. Member States should therefore avoid or eliminate any incompati- bility between Union law and international agreements concluded between Member States and third countries. The proper functioning of the internal energy market requires that the energy imported into the Union be fully governed by the rules establishing the internal energy market. An internal energy market that does not function properly puts the Union in a vulnerable and disadvantageous position with regard to security of () O] C 68, 6.3.2012, p. 65. (3) Position of the European Parliament of 13 September 2012 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and decision of the Council of 4 October 2012. energy supply, and undermines its potential benefits to European consumers and industry. A high degree of transparency with regard to agreements between Member States and third countries in the field of energy would allow the Union to take coordinated action, in the spirit of solidarity, in order to ensure that such agreements comply with Union law and effec- tively secure energy supply. Such transparency would also be of benefit in achieving both closer intra-Union cooperation in the field of external energy relations and the Union’s long-term policy objectives relating to energy, climate and security of energy supply. A new information exchange mechanism should therefore be established. It should cover only intergovern- mental agreements having an impact on the internal energy market or on the security of energy supply in the Union as the two issues are intrinsically linked. The initial assessment as to whether an intergovernmental agreement, or another text to which an intergovern- mental agreement refers explicitly, has an impact on the internal energy market or the security of energy supply in the Union, should be the responsibility of Member States; in case of doubt, Member States should consult the Commission. In principle, agreements that are no longer in force or are no longer applied do not have an impact on the internal energy market or on the security of energy supply in the Union and should therefore not be covered by this information exchange mechanism. The information exchange mechanism should comprise in particular all intergovernmental agreements which have an impact on the supply of gas, oil or electricity through fixed infrastructure or which have an impact on the amount of energy imported into the Union. Intergovernmental agreements which must be notified in their entirety to the Commission on the basis of other Union acts should be excluded from the information exchange mechanism. However, that exemption should not apply to intergovernmental agreements with third countries which have an impact on the development and use of gas infrastructure and gas supplies and which must be communicated to the Commission in accordance with point (a) of Article 13(6) of Regulation (EU) No 994/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 concerning measures to safeguard security of gas supply (}). Such agreements () OJ L 295, 12.11.2010, p. 1.