Strategic energy infrastructure projects, developed in partnership with European Union member states, will benefit from a special coordination and authorization mechanism, which will accelerate their implementation. A bill in this regard was voted on by Parliament in the first reading, reports IPN.

The initiative, drafted by the Ministry of Energy, transposes into national legislation the European Union Regulation on guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructures and aims at modernizing the regulatory framework in the energy field. According to the project, the Energy Law will be supplemented with a chapter dedicated to projects of common and mutual interest. This includes the establishment of a special legal regime for strategic energy infrastructure and the introduction of a coordinated and accelerated authorization procedure.

The document establishes the designation of a single point of contact for investors, maximum deadlines for each stage of the authorization process, as well as coordination and monitoring mechanisms between the involved institutions. The authors of the project argue that the new rules will reduce the duration of administrative procedures, will avoid blockages, and will provide more predictability to investments in the energy sector. Currently, the authorization of a common interest energy project takes, on average, about three years, depending on its complexity and the number of involved institutions.

At the same time, the project contains provisions that clarify the application of legislation in the case of energy projects declared of public utility of national interest. The document is to be examined by Parliament in the second reading.