L 186/44 Official Journal of the European Union 20.7.2010 COMMISSION DECISION of 14 July 2010 exempting the production and wholesale of electricity in Italy’s Macro-zone North and the retail of electricity to end customers connected to the medium, high and very high voltage grid in Italy, from the application 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 (notified under document C(2010) 4740) (Only the Italian text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2010/403[EU) THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, 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(5) and (6) thereof, Having regard to the request submitted by the Compagnia Valdostana delle Acque SpA — Compagnie valddtaine des eaux SpA (hereinafter ‘CVA’) by e-mail of 15 February 2010, After consulting the Advisory Committee for Public Contracts, Whereas: I. FACTS (1) On 15 February 2010, CVA transmitted a request pursuant to Article 30(5) of Directive 2004/17[EC to the Commission by e-mail. The Commission requested additional information of the Italian Authorities by e- mail of 15 April 2010, and of CVA by e-mail of 15 April 2010. Additional information was transmitted by the Italian authorities by e-mail of 10 May 2010 and of 20 May 2010 and, following a prolongation of the initial deadline, by CVA on 7 May 2010. (2)  The request submitted by CVA, a public undertaking within the meaning of Directive 2004/17[EC, concerns the following activities, as described in the request: (a) production and wholesale of electricity, in the entire territory of the Italian Republic; () O] L 134, 30.4.2004, p. 1. (b) in the alternative, the production and wholesale of electricity in the territory of the Northern Geographical ~ Zone  (hereinafter ~ ‘Macro-zone North’ (?)); and (c) retail sale of electricity to the final customers on the free electricity market in the entire territory of the Italian Republic. II. LEGAL FRAMEWORK (3)  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 competition 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 char- acteristics 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. This legislation is listed in Annex XI of Directive 2004/17[EC, which, for the elec- tricity 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 (). 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 (¥). () This includes the Zone Nord as well as four smaller zones (Ene, Enw, Turbigo and Monfalcone), as referred to in Annex B to Commission Communication of 10 January 2007 ‘Inquiry pursuant to Article 17 of Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 into the European gas and electricity sectors (Final Report) (COM(2006) 851 final, ‘Final Report). OJ L 27, 30.1.1997, p. 20. 4 O] L 176, 15.7.2003, p. 37. It is to be noted that Directive 2003/54/EC has been replaced by Directive 2009/72[/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity and repealing Directive 2003/54/EC (O] L 211, 14.8.2009, p. 55), which requires an even higher degree of market opening than the previous two directives. However, as the deadline for its implementation has not yet expired, reference will continue to be made to the legal framework introduced by Directive 2003/54/EC. —~— =