L 166/28 Official Journal of the European Union 25.6.2011 COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION of 24 June 2011 exempting exploration for oil and gas and exploitation of oil 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(2011) 4253) (Only the Italian text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2011/372[EV) 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, setting up of adequate infrastructure for future production (oil platforms, pipelines, terminals, etc.). Furthermore, established Commission practice also found that ‘the development, production and sales of crude oil' constitutes ‘one relevant product market’ (3). Thus, for the purposes of this Decision, ‘production’ will be taken as including both ‘development’ as well as (first) sale of oil. Assomineraria is a trade association which, in this context, acts on behalf of the main undertakings operating in the exploration and production of hydro- Whereas: carbons sector in Italy. The four main companies affiliated to the association are ENI SpA, Edison SpA, Shell Italia E&P SpA and Total E&P Italia SpA. I. FACTS (1)~ On 23 March 2011 the Italian Petroleum and Mining Industry Association — Assomineraria transmitted a request pursuant to Article 30(5) of Directive 2004/17[EC to the Commission by e-mail. In accordance with Article 30(5) first subparagraph, the Commission informed the Italian authorities thereof by letter of 1 April 2011, to which the said authorities answered on 19 April 2011. The request submitted by Assomi- neraria concerns the exploration for oil and gas and exploitation of oil in Italy. In line with previous Commission Merger Decisions (?), two distinct activities have been described in the request, namely: (a) exploration for oil and natural gas; and (b) production of oil. In accordance with the abovementioned Commission Decisions, ‘production’ will for the purposes of this Decision be taken to include also ‘development, i.e. the () O] L 134, 30.4.2004, p. 1. II. LEGAL FRAMEWORK Article 30 of Directive 2004/17/EC provides that contracts intended to enable the performance of one of the activities to which Directive 2004/17/EC applies shall not be subject to that 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 EU legislation opening a given sector or a part of it. Since Italy has implemented and applied Directive 94/22[EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 1994 on the conditions for granting and using authorisations for the prospection, exploration and production of hydrocarbons (%), access to the market should be deemed not to be restricted in accordance with the first subparagraph of Article 30(3) () See in particular Commission Decision 2004/284/EC  of of Directive 2004/17/EC. Direct exposure to competition 29 September 1999 declaring a concentration compatible with the common market and the EEA Agreement (Case No IV/M.1383 — Exxon/Mobil) and subsequent decisions, inter alia, Commission Decision of 3 May 2007 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.4545 — STATOIL/ HYDRO) according to Council Regulation (EEC) No 139/2004. (}) See, inter alia, Commission Decision 2001/45/EC of 29 September 1999 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market and the EEA Agreement (Case IV/M.1532. BP Amoco/Arco), point 14. (%) OJ L 164, 30.6.1994, p. 3.