(b) equivalent website of the other Party; and
(c) websites of its own authorities that the Party considers would provide useful information to persons interested in trading and doing business in its territory.
3. Each Party shall include an internet link in the website referred to in paragraph 1 to websites of its own authorities with information related to the following:
(a) customs laws and regulations, procedures for importation, exportation and transit as well as relevant forms, documents and other information required;
(b) laws, regulations and procedures concerning intellectual property rights, including geographical indications;
(c) technical laws and regulations including, where necessary, obligatory conformity assessment procedures and links to lists of conformity assessment bodies, in cases where third party conformity assessment is obligatory, as provided for in Chapter 4 of Title I;
(d) laws and regulations on sanitary and phytosanitary measures relating to importation and exportation as provided for in Chapter 3 of Title I;
(e) laws and regulations on public procurement, single point of access on the internet to public procurement notices as provided for in Title VI and other relevant provisions contained in that Title;
(f) company registration procedures; and
(g) other information which the Party considers may be of assistance to small and medium-sized enterprises.
4. Each Party shall include an internet link in the website provided for in paragraph 1 to a database that is electronically searchable by tariff nomenclature code and that includes the following information with respect to access to its market:
(a) in respect of tariff measures and tariff-related information:
(i) rates of customs duties and quotas, including most-favoured nation, rates concerning non most-favoured nation countries and preferential rates and tariff rate quotas;
(ii) excise duties;
(iii) taxes (value added tax/ sales tax);
(iv) customs or other fees, including other product specific fees;
(v) rules of origin as provided for in Chapter 2 of Title I;
(vi) duty drawback, deferral, or other types of relief that reduce, refund, or waive customs duties;
(vii) criteria used to determine the customs value of the good; and
(viii) other tariff measures;
(b) in respect of tariff nomenclature related non-tariff measures:
(i) information needed for import procedures; and
(ii) information related to non-tariff measures.
5. Each Party shall regularly, or if requested by the other Party, update the information and links referred to in paragraphs 1 to 4 that it maintains on its website to ensure such information and links are up-to-date and accurate.
6. Each Party shall ensure that the information and links referred to in paragraphs 1 to 4 is presented in an adequate manner to use for small and medium-sized enterprises. Each Party shall endeavour to make the information available in English.
7. No fee shall apply for access to the information provided pursuant to paragraphs 1 to 4 for any person of either Party.
Article 297. Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Contact Points
1. Upon the entry into force of this Agreement, each Party shall designate a contact point to carry out the functions listed in this Article and notify the other Party of its contact details. The Parties shall promptly notify each other of any change of those contact details.
2. The small and medium-sized enterprises contact points of the Parties shall:
(a) seek to ensure that the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises are taken into account in the implementation of this Heading and that small and medium-sized enterprises of both Parties can take advantage of this Heading;
(b) consider ways for strengthening the cooperation on matters of relevance to small and medium-sized enterprises between the Parties in view of increasing trade and investment opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises;
(c) ensure that the information referred to in Article 296 is up-to-date, accurate and relevant for small and medium-sized enterprises, Either Party may, through the small and medium-sized enterprises contact point, suggest additional information that the other Party may include in its websites to be maintained in accordance with Article 296;
(d) examine any matter relevant to small and medium-sized enterprises in connection with the implementation of this Heading, including:
(i) exchanging information to assist the Partnership Council in its task to monitor and implement the small and medium-sized enterprises-related aspects of this Heading;
(ii) assisting specialised committees, joint working groups and contact points established by this Agreement in considering matters of relevance to small and medium-sized enterprises;
(e) report periodically on their activities, jointly or individually, to the Partnership Council for its consideration; and
(f) consider any other matter arising under this Agreement pertaining to small and medium-sized enterprises as the Parties may agree.
3. The small and medium-sized enterprises contact points of the Parties shall carry out their work through the communication channels decided by the Parties, which may include electronic mail, videoconferencing or other means. They may also meet, as appropriate.
4. Small and medium-sized enterprises contact points may seek to cooperate with experts and external organisations, as appropriate, in carrying out their activities.
Article 298. Relation with Part Six
Title I of Part Six does not apply to this Title.
Title VIII. ENERGY
Chapter 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 299. Objectives
The objectives of this Title are to facilitate trade and investment between the Parties in the areas of energy and raw materials, and to support security of supply and environmental sustainability, notably in contributing to the fight against climate change in those areas.
Article 300. Definitions
1. For the purposes of this Title, the following definitions apply:
(a) "Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators" means the Agency established by Regulation (EU) 2019/942 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1);
(b) "authorisation" means the permission, licence, concession or similar administrative or contractual instrument by which the competent authority ofa Party entitles an entity to exercise a certain economic activity in its territory;
(c) "balancing" means:
(i) for electricity systems, all actions and processes, in all timelines, through which electricity transmission system operators ensure, in an ongoing manner, maintenance of the system frequency within a predefined stability range and compliance with the amount of reserves needed with respect to the required quality;
(ii) for gas systems, actions undertaken by gas transmission system operators to change the gas flows onto or off the transmission network, excluding those actions related to gas unaccounted for as off-taken from the system and gas used by the transmission system operator for the operation of the system;
(d) "distribution" means:
(i) in relation to electricity, the transport of electricity on high-voltage, medium-voltage and low-voltage distribution systems with a view to its delivery to customers, but does not include supply;
(ii) in relation to gas, the transport of natural gas through local or regional pipeline networks with a view to its delivery to customers, but does not include supply;
(e) "distribution system operator" means a natural or legal person who is responsible for operating, ensuring the maintenance of, and, if necessary, developing the electricity or gas distribution system in a given area and, where applicable, its interconnections with other systems, and for ensuring the long-term ability of the system to meet reasonable demands for the distribution of electricity or gas;
(f) "electricity interconnector" means a transmission line:
(i) between the Parties, excluding any such line wholly within the single electricity market in Ireland and Northern Ireland;
(ii) between Great Britain and the single electricity market in Ireland and Northern Ireland that is outside the scope of point (i);
(g) "energy goods" means the goods from which energy is generated, listed by the corresponding Harmonised System (HS) code in Annex 26;
(h) "entity" means any natural person, legal person or enterprise or group thereof;
(i) "gas interconnector" means a transmission line which crosses or spans the border between the Parties;
(j) "generation" means the production of electricity;
(k) "hydrocarbons" means the goods listed by the corresponding HS code in Annex 26;
(l) "interconnection point" means, in relation to gas, a physical or virtual point connecting Union and United Kingdom entry-exit systems or connecting an entry-exit system with an interconnector, in so far as these points are subject to booking procedures by network users;
(m) "raw materials" means the goods listed by the corresponding HS chapter in Annex 26;
(n) "renewable energy" means a type of energy, including electrical energy, produced from renewable non-fossil sources;
(o) "standard capacity product" means, in relation to gas, a certain amount of transport capacity over a given period of time, at a specific interconnection point;
(p) "transmission" means:
(i) in relation to electricity, the transport of electricity on the extra high-voltage and high-voltage system with a view to its delivery to customers or to distributors, but does not include supply;
(ii) in relation to gas, the transport of natural gas through a network, which mainly contains high-pressure pipelines, other than an upstream pipeline network and other than the part of high-pressure pipelines primarily used in the context of local distribution of natural gas, with a view to its delivery to customers, but not including supply;
(q) "transmission system operator" means a natural or legal person who carries out the function of transmission or is responsible for operating, ensuring the maintenance of, and, if necessary, developing the electricity or gas transmission system in a given area and, where applicable, its interconnections with other systems, and for ensuring the long-term ability of the system to meet reasonable demands for the transport of gas or electricity, as the case may be;
(r) "upstream pipeline network" means any pipeline or network of pipelines operated or constructed as part of an oil or gas production project, or used to convey natural gas from one or more such projects to a processing plant or terminal or final coastal landing terminal.
2. For the purposes of this Title, references to "non-discriminatory" and "non-discrimination" mean most-favoured-nation treatment as defined in Articles 130 and 138 and national treatment as defined in Articles 129 and 137, as well as treatment under terms and conditions no less favourable than that accorded to any other like entity in like situations.
Article 301. Relationship with other Titles
1. Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 of Title II of this Heading apply to energy and raw materials. In the event of any inconsistency between this Title and Title II of this Heading and Annexes 19 to 24, Title II of this Heading and Annexes 19 to 24 shall prevail.
2. For the purposes of Article 20 where a Party maintains or implements a system of virtual trading of natural gas or electricity using pipelines or electricity grids, meaning a system which does not require physical identification of the transited natural gas or electricity but is based on a system of netting inputs and outputs, the routes most convenient for international transit as referred to in that Article shall be deemed to include such virtual trading.
3. When applying Chapter 3 of Title XI of this Heading, Annex 27 also applies. Chapter 3 of Title XI of this Heading applies to Annex 27. Article 375 applies to disputes arising between the Parties concerning the interpretation and application of Annex 27.
Article 302. Principles
Each Party preserves the right to adopt, maintain and enforce measures necessary to pursue legitimate public policy objectives, such as securing the supply of energy goods and raw materials, protecting society, the environment, including fighting against climate change, public health and consumers and promoting security and safety, consistent with the provisions of this Agreement.
Chapter 2. ELECTRICITY AND GAS
Section 1. COMPETITION IN ELECTRICITY AND GAS MARKETS
Article 303. Competition In Markets and Non-discrimination
1. With the objective of ensuring fair competition, each Party shall ensure that its regulatory framework for the production, generation, transmission, distribution or supply of electricity or natural gas is non-discriminatory with regard to rules, fees and treatment.
2. Each Party shall ensure that customers are free to choose, or switch to, the electricity or natural gas supplier of their choice within their respective retail markets in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations.
3. Without prejudice to the right of each Party to define quality requirements, the provisions in this Chapter related to natural gas also apply to biogas and gas from biomass or other types of gas in so far as such gas can technically and safely be injected into, and transported through, the natural gas system. 4. This Article does not apply to cross-border trade and is without prejudice to each Party's right to regulate in order to achieve legitimate public policy goals based on objective and non- discriminatory criteria.
Article 304. Provisions Relating to Wholesale Electricity and Gas Markets
1. Each Party shall ensure that wholesale electricity and natural gas prices reflect actual supply and demand. To that end, each Party shall ensure that wholesale electricity and natural gas market rules:
(a) encourage free price formation;
(b) do not set any technical limits on pricing that restrict trade;
(c) enable the efficient dispatch of electricity generation assets, energy storage and demand response and the efficient use of the electricity system;
(d) enable the efficient use of the natural gas system; and
(e) enable the integration of electricity from renewable energy sources, and ensure the efficient and secure operation and development of the electricity system.
2. Each Party shall ensure that balancing markets are organised in such a way as to ensure:
(a) non-discrimination between participants and non-discriminatory access to participants;
(b) that services are defined in a transparent manner;
(c) that services are procured in a transparent, market-based manner, taking account of the advent of new technologies; and
(d) that producers of renewable energy are accorded reasonable and non-discriminatory terms when procuring products and services.
A Party may decide not to apply point (c) if there is a lack of competition in the market for balancing services.
3. Each Party shall ensure that any capacity mechanism in electricity markets is clearly defined, transparent, proportionate and non-discriminatory. Neither Party is required to permit capacity situated in the territory of the other Party to participate in any capacity mechanism in its electricity markets.
4. Each Party shall assess the necessary actions to facilitate the integration of gas from renewable sources.
5. This Article is without prejudice to each Party's right to regulate in order to achieve legitimate public policy goals based on objective and non-discriminatory criteria.
Article 305. Prohibition of Market Abuse on Wholesale Electricity and Gas Markets
1. Each Party shall prohibit market manipulation and insider trading on wholesale electricity and natural gas markets, including over-the-counter markets, electricity and natural gas exchanges and markets for the trading of electricity and natural gas, capacity, balancing and ancillary services in all timeframes, including forward, day-ahead and intraday markets.
2. Each Party shall monitor trading activity on these markets with a view to detecting and preventing trading based on inside information and market manipulation.
3. The Parties shall cooperate, including in accordance with Article 318, with a view to detecting and preventing trading based on inside information and market manipulation and, where appropriate, may exchange information including on market monitoring and enforcement activities.
Article 306. Third-party Access to Transmission and Distribution Networks
1. Each Party shall ensure the implementation of a system of third-party access to their transmission and distribution networks based on published tariffs that are applied objectively and in a non-discriminatory manner.
2. Without prejudice to Article 302, each Party shall ensure that transmission and distribution system operators in its territory grant access to their transmission or distribution systems to entities in that Party's market within a reasonable period of time from the date of the request for access.
Each Party shall ensure that transmission system operators treat producers of renewable energy on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms regarding connection to, and use of, the electricity network.
The transmission or distribution system operator may refuse access where it lacks the necessary capacity. Duly substantiated reasons shall be given for any such refusal.
3. Without prejudice to legitimate public policy objectives, each Party shall ensure that charges applied to entities in that Party's market by transmission and distribution system operators for access to, connection to or the use of networks, and, where applicable, charges for related network reinforcements, are appropriately cost-reflective and transparent. Each Party shall ensure publication of the terms, conditions, tariffs and all such information that may be necessary for the effective exercise of the right of access to and use of transmission and distribution systems.
4. Each Party shall ensure that the tariffs and charges referred to in paragraphs 1 and 3 are applied in a non-discriminatory manner with respect to entities in that Party's market.
Article 307. System Operation and Unbundling of Transmission Network Operators
1. Each Party shall ensure that transmission system operators carry out their functions in a transparent, non-discriminatory way.
2. Each Party shall implement arrangements for transmission system operators which are effective in removing any conflicts of interest arising as a result of the same person exercising control over a transmission system operator and a producer or supplier.
Article 308. Public Policy Objectives for Third-party Access and Ownership Unbundling
1. Where necessary to fulfil a legitimate public policy objective and based on objective criteria, a Party may decide not to apply Articles 306 and 307 to the following:
(a) emergent or isolated markets or systems;
(b) infrastructure which meets the conditions set out in Annex 28,
2. Where necessary to fulfil a legitimate public policy objective and based on objective criteria, a Party may decide not to apply Articles 303 and 304 to:
(a) small or isolated electricity markets or systems;
(b) small, emergent or isolated natural gas markets or systems.
Article 309. Existing Exemptions for Interconnectors
Each Party shall ensure that exemptions granted to interconnections between the Union and the United Kingdom under Article 63 of Regulation (EU) 2019/943 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1) and under the law transposing Article 36 of Directive 2009/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (2) in their respective jurisdictions, the terms of which extend beyond the transition period, continue to apply in accordance with the laws of their respective jurisdictions and the terms applicable.
Article 310. Independent Regulatory Authority
1. Each Party shall ensure the designation and maintenance of an operationally independent regulatory authority or authorities for electricity and gas with the following powers and duties:
(a) fixing or approving the tariffs, charges and conditions for access to networks referred to in Article 306 or the methodologies underlying them;
(b) ensuring compliance with the arrangements referred to in Articles 307 and 308;
(c) issuing binding decisions at least in relation to points (a) and (b);
(d) imposing effective remedies.
2. In performing those duties and exercising those powers, the independent regulatory authority or authorities shall act impartially and transparently.
Section 2. TRADING OVER INTERCONNECTORS
Article 311. Efficient Use of Electricity Interconnectors
1. With the aim of ensuring the efficient use of electricity interconnectors and reducing barriers to trade between the Union and the United Kingdom, each Party shall ensure that:
(a) capacity allocation and congestion management on electricity interconnectors is market based, transparent and non-discriminatory;
(b) the maximum level of capacity of electricity interconnectors is made available, respecting the:
(i) need to ensure secure system operation; and
(ii) most efficient use of systems;
(c) electricity interconnector capacity may only be curtailed in emergency situations and any such curtailment takes place in a non-discriminatory manner;
(d) information on capacity calculation is published to support the objectives of this Article;
(e) there are no network charges on individual transactions on, and no reserve prices for the use of, electricity interconnectors;
(f) capacity allocation and congestion management across electricity interconnectors is coordinated between concerned Union transmission system operators and United Kingdom transmission system operators; this coordination shall involve the development of arrangements to deliver robust and efficient outcomes for all relevant timeframes, being forward, day-ahead, intraday and balancing; and
(g) capacity allocation and congestion management arrangements contribute to supportive conditions for the development of, and investment in, economically efficient electricity interconnection.
2. The coordination and arrangements referred to in point (f) of paragraph 1 shall not involve or imply participation by United Kingdom transmission system operators in Union procedures for capacity allocation and congestion management.
3. Each Party shall take the necessary steps to ensure the conclusion as soon as possible of a multi-party agreement relating to the compensation for the costs of hosting cross-border flows of electricity between:
(a) transmission system operators participating in the inter-transmission system operator compensation mechanism established by Commission Regulation (EU) No 838/2010 (1); and