What changed between the draft committee report and the plenary report

Added:(i) it involves at least two Member States by directly or indirectly, via interconnection with a third country, crossing the border of two or more Member States;

Added:(ii) it is located in the territory of one Member State, either inland or offshore, including islands, and has a significant cross-border impact as set out in point (1) of Annex IV.

Added:(iia) has a sufficient level of technological maturity or is supported by credible evidence of current or expected future demand for the energy vector concerned in the Union market.

Added:By way of derogation from point (c) of the first subparagraph of this paragraph, where studies, demonstration or pilot projects are involved, the project meets the following criteria:

Added:(i) it involves network operators of at least two different Member States, or from one Member State and a third country of the Energy Community contracting party or of the EEA;

Added:(ii) it demonstrates that it is replicable in other Member States and that it brings added value for other network operators of the Union, as set out in Annex IV.

Added:2. A project of mutual interest shall meet all of the following general criteria:

Added:(a) the project contributes significantly to the objectives referred to in Article 1(1), and those of the third country, in particular by not hindering the capacity of the third country to phase out fossil fuel generation assets for its domestic consumption, and to sustainability;

Added:(b) the potential overall benefits of the project, assessed in accordance with the relevant specific criteria in paragraph 3, for the Union, or cumulatively for the Union and the Energy Community contracting party or the EEA country directly involved in the project, outweigh its costs for the Union, or cumulatively for the Union and the Energy Community contracting party or EEA country, as relevant, including in the longer term;

Added:(ba) the project has a sufficient level of technological maturity, or is supported by credible evidence of current or expected future demand and offer for the energy vector concerned in the Union market;

Added:(c) the project connects directly the territory of at least one Member State with the territory of a third country by connecting directly the relevant Member State with the first connection point in the electricity network of the third country or the first hydrogen or CO2 connection point in the third country, and has a significant cross-border impact as set out in point (2) of Annex IV;

Added:(d) for the part of the project located in Member State territory, the project is in accordance with Directives (EU) 2019/944 and (EU) 2024/1788 where it falls within the infrastructure categories set out in points (1) and (2) of Annex II to this Regulation;

Added:(e) there is a high level of convergence of the policy framework of the third country involved and legal enforcement mechanisms are demonstrated in order to support the policy objectives of the Union, in particular to ensure:

Added:(i) the well-functioning of the internal energy market in the Union;

Added:(ii) network security, including cybersecurity, and security of supply in the Union based, inter alia, on diverse sources, cooperation and solidarity;

Added:(iii) an energy system, including production, transmission and distribution, moving towards the objective of climate neutrality, in accordance with the Paris Agreement and the Union’s targets for energy and climate and its 2050 climate neutrality objective, in particular, avoiding carbon leakage;

Added:(f) the third country involved supports the priority status of the project, as set out in Article 7, and other investments in the third country necessary for the benefits of the project to materialise as referred to in point (b) of this paragraph, and commits explicitly to complying with a similar timeline for accelerated implementation and other policy and regulatory support measures as applied to projects of common interest in the Union.

Added:As regards projects for the storage of carbon dioxide falling under the energy infrastructure category set out in point (4)(c) of Annex II, the project shall be necessary to allow the cross-border transport and storage of carbon dioxide and the third country where the project is located shall have an adequate legal framework based on demonstrated effective enforcement mechanisms to ensure that standards and safeguards apply to the project, which prevent any carbon dioxide leaks. In relation to climate, human health and ecosystems, the safety and effectiveness of the permanent storage of carbon-dioxide shall be ensured, and shall at least attain the same level as those provided by Union law.

Added:As regards energy storage projects falling under the energy infrastructure category set out in Annex II, point (1)(c), the assessment shall be carried out on the basis of cost-benefit analysis methodologies consistent with those applicable to transmission projects. Such methodologies shall include, where relevant, indicators relating to flexibility, resource adequacy, reduction of renewable energy source curtailment, system resilience, and alleviation of cross-border congestion.

Added:3. The following specific criteria shall apply to projects of common interest and projects of mutual interest, as relevant, falling within specific energy infrastructure categories:

Added:(a) for electricity transmission, distribution and storage projects falling under the energy infrastructure categories set out in points (1)(a), (b), (c), (d), (f) and (h) of Annex II, the project contributes significantly to sustainability through the integration of renewable and/or other low-carbon energy sources into the grid, the transmission or distribution of renewable generation to major consumption centres and storage sites, and to reducing energy curtailment, where applicable, and contributes to at least one of the following specific criteria:

Added:(i) market integration, including through lifting the energy isolation of at least one Member State, including where a Member State is an island Member State, peripheral or not sufficiently interconnected, and reducing energy infrastructure bottlenecks, competition, interoperability and system flexibility, including by enabling the efficient use of existing and future interconnection capacity and by contributing to the reduction of structural price divergences between electricity bidding zones across the Union;

Added:(ii) security of supply, including through interoperability, system flexibility supported by diversified and decentralised energy sources, cybersecurity, appropriate connections and secure and reliable system operation;

Added:(b) for smart electricity grid projects falling under the energy infrastructure category set out in point (1)(g) of Annex II, the project contributes significantly to sustainability through the integration of renewable and low-carbon energy into the grid, and contributes to at least two of the following specific criteria:

Added:(i) security of supply, including through efficiency and interoperability of electricity transmission and distribution in day-to-day network operation, avoidance of congestion, and integration and involvement of network users;

Added:(ii) market integration, including through efficient system operation and use of interconnectors;

Added:(iii) network security, flexibility and quality of supply, including through higher uptake of innovation in balancing, flexibility markets, cybersecurity, monitoring, system control and error correction, while ensuring that digital and physical solutions used for the project comply with applicable Union law and relevant Union cybersecurity, resilience and security-of-supply frameworks, including requirements concerning risk management, supply-chain security, data protection, the assessment of risks linked to providers and jurisdictions of origin, and the protection of the Union’s essential security interests, and with the Union’s climate and environmental requirements and objectives;

Added:(iv) smart sector integration, either in the energy system through linking various energy carriers and sectors, demand response, energy storage, grid-supportive cogeneration, or non-fossil flexibility or in a wider way, favouring synergies and coordination between the energy, transport and telecommunication sectors;

Added:(iv a) climate resilience of the electricity network, including through predictive, preventive and anticipatory measures against climate-related risks, supported by digital and data-driven solutions, and enabling the ex-ante approval of investments based on forward-looking risk assessments;

Added:(iv b) climate adaptation of the network;

Added:(c) for projects falling under the infrastructure category set out in point (1)(e) and (f) of Annex II, the project contributes to the following specific criteria:

Added:(i) security of supply, including by protecting assets from risks and contributing to the measures identified pursuant Articles 7 and 11 of Regulation (EU) 2019/941 on risk-preparedness in the electricity sector;

Added:(ii) network security, including through measures facilitating a higher degree of physical security and cybersecurity, monitoring, and system control;

Added:(d) for carbon dioxide transport and storage projects falling under the energy infrastructure categories set out in point (4) of Annex II, the project contributes significantly to sustainability through the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in the connected industrial installations and contributes to all of the following specific criteria:

Added:(i) avoiding carbon dioxide emissions while maintaining security of supply;

Added:(ii) increasing the resilience, efficiency and security of transport and storage of carbon dioxide;

Added:(iii) the efficient use of resources, by enabling the connection of multiple carbon dioxide sources and storage sites via common infrastructure and minimising environmental burden and risks;

Added:(e) for hydrogen projects falling under the energy infrastructure categories set out in point (2) of Annex II, the project contributes significantly to sustainability, including by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, by enhancing the deployment of renewable or low carbon hydrogen, with an emphasis on hydrogen from renewable sources in particular in end-use applications, such as hard-to-abate sectors, in which more energy efficient solutions are not feasible, and supporting variable renewable power generation by offering non-fossil flexibility, storage solutions, or both, and the project contributes significantly to at least one of the following specific criteria:

Added:(i) market integration, including by connecting existing or emerging hydrogen networks of Member States, or otherwise contributing to the emergence of an Union-wide network for the transport and storage of hydrogen, and ensuring interoperability of connected systems;

Added:(ii) increase the resilience, security of supply and flexibility, including through appropriate connections and facilitating secure and reliable system operation;

Added:(iii) competition, including by allowing access to multiple supply sources and network users on a transparent and non-discriminatory basis;

Added:(f) for electrolysers falling under the energy infrastructure category set out in point (3) of Annex II, the project contributes significantly to all of the following specific criteria:

Added:(i) sustainability, including by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing the deployment of renewable or low-carbon hydrogen in particular from renewable sources, as well as synthetic fuels of those origins;

Added:(ii) security of supply, including by contributing to secure, efficient and reliable system operation, or by offering storage, flexibility solutions, or both, such as demand side response and balancing services;

Added:(iii) enabling flexibility services such as demand response and storage by facilitating smart energy sector integration through the creation of links to other energy carriers and sectors.

Added:4. For projects falling under the energy infrastructure categories set out in Annex II, the criteria set out in paragraph 3 of this Article shall be assessed in accordance with the indicators set out in points (3) to (8) of Annex IV.

Added:5. In order to facilitate the assessment of all projects that could be eligible as projects of common interest and that could be included in a regional list, each Group shall assess each project’s contribution to the implementation of the same energy infrastructure priority corridor or area in a transparent and objective manner. Each Group shall determine its assessment method on the basis of the aggregated contribution to the criteria referred to in paragraph 3. That assessment shall lead to a ranking of projects for internal use of the Group. Neither the regional list nor the Union list shall contain any ranking, nor shall the ranking be used for any subsequent purpose except as referred to in Section 2, point (15), of Annex III.

Added:In assessing projects, in order to ensure a consistent assessment approach among the Groups, each Group shall give due consideration to:

Added:(a) the urgency and the contribution of each proposed project in order to meet the Union’s targets for energy and climate and its 2050 climate neutrality objective, market integration, competition, sustainability, and security of supply;

Added:(b) the complementarity of each proposed project with other proposed projects, including competing or potentially competing projects;

Added:(c) possible synergies with priority corridors and thematic areas identified under trans-European networks for transport and telecommunications;

Added:(d) for proposed projects that are, at the time of the assessment, projects on the Union list, the progress of their implementation and their compliance with the reporting and transparency obligations provided by this Regulation;

Added:(e) any third country direct or indirect ownership as beneficiary, shareholder or ultimate beneficiary as project promoter in any of the proposed projects.

Added:As regards smart electricity grids falling under the energy infrastructure category set

Added:out in point (1)(g) of Annex II, and for projects falling under the energy

Added:infrastructure categories set out in point (1)(e) of Annex II, ranking shall be carried

Added:out for those projects that affect the same two Member States, and due consideration

Added:shall also be given to the number of users affected by the project, the annual energy

Added:consumption and the share of generation from non-dispatchable resources in the area

Added:covered by those users.