The European Commission is planning to improve the transparency of agreements signed by EU countries with non-EU countries in the field of energy and their compliance with EU law– and it is seeking your opinion on how best to do this.

To achieve better transparency and compliance, an information exchange mechanism on intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) in the field of energy between EU countries and non-EU countries was established in 2012 (the IGA Decision). The main feature of this mechanism is that the Commission carries out compliance checks of IGAs after an EU country and a non-EU country have concluded such an agreement.

While the current system is useful for receiving information on existing IGAs and for identifying problems posed by them in terms of their compatibility with EU law, it is not sufficient to resolve these problems once they are identified. Under the European Commission's plans for Energy Union, and in an international situation where energy security is at the centre of the political debate, the Commission is considering reviewing the IGA Decision.

In this public consultation, the Commission is looking for ideas on how to boost the transparency of IGAs and their compliance with EU law, and how to make IGAs more able to improve the EU's energy security.

For more information:
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/consultations/consultation-review-intergovernmental-agreements-decision