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26 MARCH 2014. - An Act to amend the Act of April 12, 1965 relating to the carriage of gaseous and other products by pipeline (1)

PHILIPPE, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
CHAPTER 1^er. - General provisions
Article 1^er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 78 of the Constitution.
Art. 2. Article 1^er of the Act of 12 April 1965 on the transport of gaseous and other products by pipeline, 20°, repealed by the Act of 1^er June 2005 was reinstated in the following wording:
"20° "consumption site": consumption facilities located in a topographically identified location, whose natural gas used for their feeding is taken from a natural gas transport network, and/or a distribution network and/or a direct pipeline by the same network user;".
Art. 3. Article 15/10, § 2, of the same law, last amended by the law of 8 January 2012, paragraphs 3, 4, 5 and 6 are repealed.
Art. 4. Article 15/11, § 1^erin the same Act, partially annulled by the Constitutional Court Decision No. 98/2013 and last amended by the Act of 26 December 2013, the following amendments are made:
1° to paragraph 1^er, 3°, b), the words "by the holders of a supply authorization referred to in section 15/3," between the words "is financed" and the words "by means of sampling" and the words "as part of the aforementioned supply authorization," between the words "by means of sampling" and the words "on the quantities delivered," are repealed;
2° Paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:
"As part of what is determined in paragraph 1^er, the King takes into account the investment programme contained in the indicative plan referred to in Article 15/13, § 2, 3°. ";
Paragraphs 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9 are repealed.
Paragraph 6 is replaced by the following:
"Each quarter, the Commission shall provide an overview to Ministers with Energy, Budget and Finance in their responsibilities, on the height and evolution of the funds referred to in paragraph 1^erter, except for the fund referred to in paragraph 1^erter, 1°. "
5° are inserted §§ 1^erbis, 1^erter, 1^erquater, § 1^erquinquies, as follows:
§ 1^erbis. A "federal assessment" is taken for funding certain public service obligations and costs related to the regulation and control of the gas market.
The federal contribution is due by any final customer established in Belgian territory, on the amounts of natural gas it collects for its own use, routed by a natural gas transport network, by a distribution network or by a direct pipeline.
The natural gas transportation network manager is responsible for the collection of the federal contribution.
To this end, it invoices the federal contribution to the holders of a transportation contract for access to its network.
In the event that the holders of a contract of carriage do not themselves consume the amount of gas collected from the network, they charge the federal contribution to their own customers, until the overload is finally charged to the person who consumed the natural gas for its own use.
By derogation from the previous paragraph, the operator of a direct conduct is responsible for the collection of the federal contribution due by the final customer(s) supplied by that direct conduct.
The proceeds of the federal contribution are affected:
1° to the partial financing of the operating costs of the commission referred to in Article 15/15, § 4, without prejudice to the other provisions of Article 15/15, § 4;
2° to the partial financing of the implementation of the measures of guidance and social assistance in the field of energy provided for in the Act of 4 September 2002 to entrust to the public welfare centres the mission of guidance and financial social assistance in the provision of energy to the most deprived persons;
3° to the financing of the net real cost resulting from the application of the maximum prices for the provision of natural gas to residential protected customers, as determined in Article 15/10, § 2.
§ 1^erter. The manager of the natural gas transport network and the operators of a direct pipeline pay to the commission the federal fee charged, according to the distribution set and published by the commission, respectively:
1° in a fund, managed by the commission, for the financing of its operating expenses, in accordance with Article 15/15, § 4;
2° in the fund, managed by the commission, referred to in § 1^erParagraph 1^er3°, for partial financing of the measures referred to in § 1^erbis, paragraph 7, 2°, whose means are, to this end, made available to public social assistance centres, in accordance with the provisions of the Act of 4 September 2002 to entrust public social assistance centres with the mission of financial guidance and social assistance in the provision of energy to the most deprived persons;
3° in a fund managed by the commission for the benefit of residential protected clients as referred to in § 1^erbis, paragraph 7, 3°.
§ 1^erquater. After the commission's opinion, the King sets by order deliberately in the Council of Ministers:
1° the amount, method of calculation and other terms of the federal contribution referred to in § 1^erbis;
2° the modalities for the management of these funds by the commission;
3° how the federal contribution is collected;
4° the procedures for the application of de-ressivity and exemption referred to in sections 15/11bis and 15/11ter, in particular the manner in which natural gas companies that charge the federal contribution to final customers may recover from the commission the advanced amounts and the evidence necessary to obtain this refund;
5° the package that can be taken into account as well as the possible ceiling limiting this package to cover the administrative costs associated with the collection of the federal contribution, financial expenses and risks;
6° the payment terms of the federal contribution for final customers who are supplied by more than one supplier or who sell their natural gas.
Any order setting out the amount, method of collection and application of deressivity and exemption, and the method of calculating the federal contribution referred to in § 1^erbis, is supposed to have never produced any effects if it has not been confirmed by law within twelve months of its effective date.
Without prejudice to paragraph 2, the King may, by order deliberately in the Council of Ministers, amend, replace or repeal the provisions of the Royal Decree of 24 March 2003 establishing a federal contribution to the financing of certain public service obligations and costs related to the regulation and control of the natural gas market, as confirmed by section 437 of the Program Law of 22 December 2003.
§ 1^erQuiet. On the proposal of the commission, the King sets out the rules for determining the net real cost, for natural gas companies, resulting from the activity referred to in Article 15/10, § 2, and their intervention for its care.
Any order made for this purpose is supposed to have never produced any effects if it has not been confirmed by law within 12 months of its effective date.
On the proposal of the commission, the King may amend, replace or delete the rules set out in the Royal Decree of January 21, 2004 determining the terms of compensation for the net real cost arising from the application of the social maxima prices on the natural gas market and the rules of intervention for their care, as confirmed by the Program Law of December 27, 2004. ".
Art. 5. In the same Act, an article 15/11bis is inserted as follows:
Article 15/11 bis. § 1^er. When a quantity greater than 20,000 MWh/year is provided to a consumer site for professional use, the federal contribution applicable to this end customer is reduced as follows, on the basis of its annual consumption:
1° for consumption between 20,000 MWh/year and 50,000 MWh/year: 15 percent;
2° for consumption between 50 001 MWh/year and 250,000 MWh/year: 20 percent;
3° for consumption between 250 001 MWh/year and 1 000.000 MWh/year: 25 percent;
4° for consumption of more than 1000 001 MWh/year: 45 percent.
The King may adapt the percentages referred to in paragraph 1^er by order deliberated in the Council of Ministers and after notice of the commission.
Any order made for this purpose is supposed to have never produced any effects if it has not been confirmed by law within 12 months of its effective date.
By consumption site and per year, the federal contribution for this consumption site is up to 750,000 euros.
The decreases referred to in this paragraph are calculated and applied by the natural gas company that charges the federal contribution to the final customer.
They are valid for the natural gas collected by all final customers except those who have not subscribed to the branch agreements or "convenient" to which they can subscribe.
When it turns out that a company, which has entered into a branch agreement or "satisfactory" and which benefits from the degressive on the basis of its declaration, does not comply with the obligations of this branch agreement or "satisfactory", it is obliged to reimburse the commission for the amounts that have not been paid by the improper application of the degressive. In addition, it loses the right to degressiveness for the following year.
§ 2. To cover the total amount resulting from the application of the decreases in the federal contribution referred to in § 1^erthe following elements are allocated to the funds referred to in Article 15/11, § 1^erter:
1° the revenues resulting from the increase in the special excise law set out in article 419, point (e) (i) and point (f) (i) of the programme law of 27 December 2004 for the gasoil of codes NC 2710 19 41, 2710 19 45 and 2710 19 49, to a maximum of 1.50 euro per 1,000 litres to 15°;
2° if the total of the sums from the 1st of this paragraph is not sufficient to cover the total amount of the decreases, it shall be allocated in addition a portion of the revenues resulting from the special excise law established in section 419, point (j) of the programme law of 27 December 2004 for coal, coke and lignite of codes NC 2701, 2702 and 2704;
3° if the total of the sums from 1° and 2° of this paragraph is not sufficient to cover the total amount of the decreases, it is allocated in addition part of the proceeds of corporate tax.
The codes of the combined nomenclature referred to in this section are those contained in the European Commission Regulation No. 2031/2001 of 6 August 2001 amending Annex 1^ère ECE Regulation No. 2658/87 on tariff and statistical nomenclature and common tariffs."
Art. 6. In the same Act, an article 15/11ter is inserted as follows:
Article 15/11ter. When the final customer's production facility is intended solely for the production of electricity, the amounts of natural gas that are taken from the natural gas transmission network or direct pipeline for the production of electricity injected into the electricity grid are exempt from the federal contribution referred to in 15/11, § 1^erbis, as defined by Royal Decree deliberated in the Council of Ministers.
When the amount of natural gas collected is intended to supply a combined electricity and heat production facility, the exemption is granted only on the terms and conditions defined by the Royal Decree deliberated in the Council of Ministers. This order is supposed to have never produced any effects if it has not been confirmed by law within 12 months of its entry into force.
The exemption referred to in this subsection is applied by the natural gas company that charges the federal contribution to the final customer."
Art. 7. Section 15/15 of the Act, inserted by the Act of 29 April 1999 and replaced by the Act of 20 July 2006, is supplemented by a paragraph 4, which reads as follows:
§ 4. The Commission's operating expenses are covered by the federal contribution referred to in Article 15/11, § 1^erbis, up to the budget established by the House of Representatives pursuant to Article 25, § 5, of the Act of 29 April 1999 on the organization of the electricity market. ".
CHAPTER 2. - Final provisions
Art. 8. The Royal Decree of 22 December 2003 establishing the terms and conditions for financing the net real cost resulting from the application of maximum prices for the provision of natural gas to residential protected customers, confirmed by the Program Act of 9 July 2004, is repealed.
Art. 9. This Act comes into force on 1^er April 2014, with the exception of sections 5 and 6 that come into force on 1^er July 2014.
Promulgation of this law, let us order that it be clothed with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels, March 26, 2014.
PHILIPPE
By the King:
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior and Equal Opportunities,
Ms. J. MILQUET
The Secretary of State for Energy,
Mr. WATHELET
Seal of the state seal:
The Minister of Justice,
Ms. A. TURTELBOOM
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Note
(1)
Note
House of Representatives:
(www.lachambre.be)
Documents: 53-3386 - 2013/2014
Full report: 13 March 2014.
Senate:
(www.senate.be)
Documents: 5 - 2744 - 2013/2014