Request for a preliminary ruling from the Audiencia Nacional (Spain) lodged on 8 August 2018 — Engie Cartagena, S.L. v Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica (formerly, Ministerio de Industria, Energía y Turismo)
(Case C-523/18)
Language of the case: Spanish
Referring court
Audiencia Nacional
Parties to the main proceedings
Applicant: Engie Cartagena, S.L.
Defendant: Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica (formerly, Ministerio de Industria, Energía y Turismo)
Questions referred
Does the statutory provision laid down in the third additional provision of Real Decreto-Ley 14/2010 Financiación de planes de ahorro y eficiencia energética para los años 2011, 2012 y 2013 (Royal Decree-Law 14/2010 on the funding of savings and efficiency plans for the years 2011, 2012 and 2013) constitute a public service obligation for the purposes of Article 3(2) of Directives 2003/54/EC 1 and 2009/72/EC 2 :
‘1. The amounts payable from the electricity system for the purpose of funding the 2008-2012 Action Plan, approved [by] Acuerdo de Consejo de Ministros de 8 de julio de 2005, por el que se concretan las medidas del documento de «Estrategia de ahorro y eficiencia energética en España 2004-2012» aprobado por Acuerdo de Consejo de Ministros de 28 de noviembre de 2003 (Decision of the Council of Ministers of 8 July 2005 giving concrete expression to the measures referred to in the document entitled “Savings and Energy Efficiency Strategy in Spain, 2004-2012”, approved by Decision of the Council of Ministers of 28 November 2003), forecast for the years 2011 and 2012 as EUR 270 million and EUR 250 million respectively, shall be financed through a contribution from each generating undertaking in the proportions set out in the following table:
Undertaking
Percentage
Endesa Generación, S.A.
34.66
Iberdrola Generación, S.A.
32.71
GAS Natural S.D.G, S.A.
16.37
Hidroeléctrica del Cantábrico, S.A.
4.38
E.ON Generación, S.L.
2.96
AES Cartagena, S.R.L.
2.07
Bizkaia Energía, S.L.
1.42
Castelnou Energía, S.L.
1.58
Nueva Generadora del Sur, S.A.
1.62
Bahía de Bizkaia Electricidad, S.L.
1.42
Tarragona Power, S.L.
0.81
Total
100.00
If that provision does actually constitute a public service obligation, is that obligation clearly defined, transparent, non-discriminatory and verifiable?
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1 Directive 2003/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2003 concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity and repealing Directive 96/92/EC — Statements made with regard to decommissioning and waste management activities (OJ 2003 L 176, p. 37).
2 Directive 2009/72/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity and repealing Directive 2003/54/EC (OJ 2009 L 211, p. 55).