11.3.2019

Official Journal of the European Union

C 93/34

(Case C-5/19)

(2019/C 93/45)

Language of the case: Bulgarian

Referring court

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicants: Оvergaz Mrezhi AD, Non-profit association Bulgarska Gazova Asotsiatsia

Defendant: Komisia za energiyno i vodno regulirane

Questions referred

1.Is a national measure such as the one in issue in this case, provided for in Article 35 of the Zakon za energetikata (Energy Law) and set out in more detail in Article 11 of Naredba No 2 za regulirane na tsenite na prirodnia gaz (Ordinance No 2 on Natural Gas Price Regulation) of the Darzhavnata Komisia za energiyno i vodno regulirane (State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission; ‘KEVR’) of 19 March 2013, according to which the entire financial burden associated with the public service obligations imposed on the energy companies is to be borne by customers, permissible under Articles 36 and 38 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and under Article 3 of Directive 2009/73/EC (1) of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common rules for the internal market in natural gas and repealing Directive 2003/55/EC, considering that:

(a)the economic burden arising from the public service obligations does not affect all energy companies;

(b)the costs of the public service obligations are borne mainly by the end customers, who are unable to contest them, even though they obtain natural gas from the end suppliers at freely determined prices;

(c)there is no differentiation of the economic burden arising from the performance of the public service obligations which is borne by different types of customers;

(d)there is no time limitation for the application of this measure;

(e)the calculation of the value of the public service obligations is made on the basis of the costs accounting method according to a forecast model?

2.Is a national legal provision such as Section 5 of the Transitional and Final Provisions of the Zakon za normativnite aktove (Law on Normative Legal Acts), which releases the KEVR from the obligations of Articles 26 to 28 of the Zakon za normativnite aktove and in particular from the obligations that exist when preparing the draft of a sub-statutory normative legal act to observe the principles of necessity, merit, foreseeability, transparency, coherence, subsidiarity, proportionality and stability, to hold a public hearing with citizens and legal persons, to publish the draft in advance together with the reasoning and to set out reasoning, including with regard to compatibility with EU law, permissible under Article 3 of Directive 2009/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common rules for the internal market in natural gas and repealing Directive 2003/55/EC, in consideration of recitals 44, 47, 48 and 49 thereof?

Language of the case: Bulgarian.

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