New draft governmental agreement

Today, the Belgian media publish the new draft on their respective websites. Below is a (free and quick and almost literal) translation of the part on the TSO's:

The Government resolutely chooses for the independence of the TSO’s through a predominant public ownership and a public operation of the systems and by reducing the share of the producers/suppliers below 25%. Energy sector companies can acquire shares, but cannot have or use a blocking minority, for example by means of a shareholders agreement or special voting rights, nor can they appoint independent directors.

The TSO’s must have sufficient financial means to carry out replacements and new investments and the necessary maintenance to the system, inter alia in order to allow Belgium to continue its development as junction of the European transmission system.

The government watches over the promotion of interconnections at the borders.

The government will provide non-discriminatory access conditions to competitors for the import, storage and transport of natural gas. In order to safeguard our natural gas supply, the government will see to it that the policy of the CREG relating to the monitoring of the costs of the TSO’s allow the latter to invest in natural gas storage capacity and interconnection capacity. The government will continue the transformation of the Zeebrugge hub in order to strengthen the position as international pivotal point for the supply of natural gas. In general, the government will see to it that the policies of the CREG allow SO’s to guarantee an optimal quality of the systems.

New draft governmental agreement