Regulation (EU) 2019/941

In force

This text since 4 Jul 2019law://eu/reg/2019/941/art_15@2026-11-15

Contents

Article 15Cooperation and assistance#

1.Member States shall act and cooperate in a spirit of solidarity in order to prevent or manage electricity crises.

2.Where they have the necessary technical ability, Member States shall offer each other assistance by means of regional or bilateral measures that have been agreed pursuant to this Article and to Article 12 before that assistance is provided. To that end, and with the purpose of protecting public safety and personal security, Member States shall agree on regional or bilateral measures of their choice in order to deliver electricity in a coordinated manner.

3.Member States shall agree on the necessary technical, legal and financial arrangements for the implementation of the regional or bilateral measures before assistance is offered. Such arrangements shall specify, inter alia, the maximum quantity of electricity to be delivered at regional or bilateral level, the trigger for any assistance and for suspension of assistance, how the electricity will be delivered, and provisions on fair compensation between Member States in accordance with paragraphs 4, 5 and 6.

4.Assistance shall be subject to a prior agreement between the Member States concerned with regard to fair compensation, which shall cover at least:

(a)the cost of the electricity delivered into the territory of the Member State requesting assistance as well as the associated transmission costs; and

(b)any other reasonable costs incurred by the Member State providing assistance, including as regards reimbursement for assistance prepared without effective activation, as well as any costs resulting from judicial proceedings, arbitration proceedings or similar proceedings and settlements.

5.Fair compensation pursuant to paragraph 4 shall include, inter alia, all reasonable costs that the Member State providing assistance incurs from an obligation to pay compensation by virtue of fundamental rights guaranteed by Union law and by virtue of the applicable international obligations when implementing the provisions of this Regulation on assistance and further reasonable costs incurred from the payment of compensation pursuant to national compensation rules.

6.The Member State requesting assistance shall promptly pay, or ensure the prompt payment of fair compensation to the Member State providing assistance.

7.The Commission shall, by 5 January 2020, after consulting the ECG and ACER, provide for non-binding guidance on the key elements of the fair compensation referred to in paragraphs 3 to 6 and other key elements of the technical, legal and financial arrangements referred to in paragraph 3 as well as on general principles of mutual assistance referred to in paragraph 2.

8.In the event of an electricity crisis in which Member States have not yet agreed on regional or bilateral measures and technical, legal and financial arrangements pursuant to this Article, Member States shall agree on ad hoc measures and arrangements in order to apply this Article, including as regards fair compensation pursuant to paragraphs 4, 5 and 6. Where a Member State requests assistance before such ad hoc measures and arrangements have been agreed, it shall undertake, prior to receiving assistance, to pay fair compensation in accordance with paragraphs 4, 5 and 6.

9.Member States shall ensure that the provisions of this Regulation on assistance are implemented in accordance with the Treaties, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and other applicable international obligations. They shall take the necessary measures to that end.

Source: EUR-Lex, © European Union, 1998-2026. Reuse authorised under Decision 2011/833/EU.

Key facts

Type: Regulation · (EU) 2019/941 · EEA relevant
Adopted: 5 Jun 2019
In force: 4 Jul 2019
Made by: Council of the European Union, European Parliament
Official: EUR-Lex 32019R0941 · ELI

Topics

approximation of laws electrical energy electricity supply energy cooperation energy crisis energy grid security of supply Energy

History · 1 version

4 Jul 2019Reading

Connections

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Cited by 9: Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1923; Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2024/1447; Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/480; Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2025/2157; Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1366; Council Regulation (EU) 2023/706; Commission Decision (EU) 2023/3762 provisions; Asociación Española de la Industria Eléctrica (UNESA) and Others v Administración General del Estado and Others (C-80/18, C-81/18, C-82/18, C-83/18)2 provisions; this act4 provisions

Defined terms · 22

Show every defined term

capacity allocation
means the attribution of cross zonal capacity;
competent authority
means a national governmental authority or a regulatory authority designated by a Member State in accordance with Article 3;
crisis coordinator
means a person, a group of persons, a team composed of the relevant national electricity crisis managers or an institution tasked with acting as a contact point and coordinating the information flow during an electricity crisis;
cross zonal capacity
means the capability of the interconnected system to accommodate energy transfer between bidding zones;
cross-border flow
means cross-border flow as defined in point (3) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2019/943;
customer
means customer as defined in point (1) of Article 2 of Directive (EU) 2019/944;
distribution
means distribution as defined in point (28) of Article 2 of Directive (EU) 2019/944;
distribution system operator
means distribution system operator as defined in point (29) of Article 2 of Directive (EU) 2019/944;
early warning
means a provision of concrete, serious, reliable information indicating that an event may occur which is likely to result in a significant deterioration of the electricity supply situation and is likely to lead to electricity crisis;
electricity crisis
means a present or imminent situation in which there is a significant electricity shortage, as determined by the Member States and described in their risk-preparedness plans, or in which it is impossible to supply electricity to customers;
electricity undertaking
means electricity undertaking as defined in point (57) of Article 2 of Directive (EU) 2019/944;
energy from renewable sources
means energy from renewable sources or renewable energy as defined in point (31) of Article 2 of Directive (EU) 2019/944.
generation
means generation as defined in point (37) of Article 2 of Directive (EU) 2019/944;
non-market-based measure
means any supply- or demand-side measure that deviates from market rules or commercial agreements, the purpose of which is to mitigate an electricity crisis;
producer
means producer as defined in point (38) of Article 2 of Directive (EU) 2019/944;
region
means a group of Member States whose transmission system operators share the same regional coordination centre as referred to in Article 36 of Regulation (EU) 2019/943;
regulatory authorities
means regulatory authorities referred to in Article 57(1) of Directive (EU) 2019/944;
security of electricity supply
means the ability of an electricity system to guarantee the supply of electricity to customers with a clearly established level of performance, as determined by the Member States concerned;
simultaneous electricity crisis
means an electricity crisis affecting more than one Member State at the same time;
subgroup
means a group of Member States, within a region, which have the technical ability to provide each other assistance in accordance with Article 15;
transmission
means transmission as defined in point (34) of Article 2 of Directive (EU) 2019/944;
transmission system operator
means transmission system operator as defined in point (35) of Article 2 of Directive (EU) 2019/944;