The decision in plain language
The European Commission has proposed a Council decision on the position the European Union should take in the EEA Joint Committee. This is not an adopted Council decision, and it is not itself a new gas rule. Its immediate purpose is to prepare the EU position for a possible amendment to the European Economic Area, or EEA, Agreement.21
The possible amendment would incorporate Commission Regulation (EU) No 312/2014, called the Network Code on Gas Balancing of Transmission Networks, into Annex IV (Energy) of the EEA Agreement. Annex IV is the Agreement's energy section. The Commission says the envisaged Joint Committee decision would be binding on the parties under the Agreement.2
Why this is being proposed
The Commission presents the proposal as the route for incorporating the 2014 regulation into the EEA Agreement. It describes that Agreement as providing equal rights and obligations in the Internal Market across the 30 EEA states: EU Member States, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.2
The Commission says its attached draft Joint Committee decision would exempt Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein to a certain extent from application of the Agreement's homogeneity principle. It attributes this approach to the absence of an existing relevant gas network in those states. The supplied record does not provide a fuller definition of that principle or the exact scope of the proposed exemption.2
How it would work
Under the Commission's proposed route, the Council would first adopt a decision establishing the EU position. The Commission says it has submitted an attached draft EEA Joint Committee decision for the Council to use as the basis of that position. If adopted, the position should be presented to the Joint Committee at the earliest possible opportunity.2
The EEA Joint Committee manages the EEA Agreement and makes decisions by consensus. It is expected to consider the proposed amendment to Annex IV. The Commission identifies Article 218(9) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU as the procedural legal basis for setting an EU position in an agreement-based body that will adopt an act with legal effects.2
The Commission also identifies Article 95 TFEU as the substantive legal basis, meaning the legal basis it considers connected to the measure's subject matter. It says this follows from incorporating Regulation (EU) No 312/2014. It also considers that the eventual Joint Committee act should be published in the EU Official Journal after adoption.2
Who or what could be affected
The proposed process directly concerns the Commission, the Council and the EEA Joint Committee. It specifically concerns Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein because the Commission's attached draft addresses their application of the EEA Agreement's homogeneity principle.2
The subject is the EEA Agreement's energy annex and a regulation concerning gas balancing in transmission networks. The record does not identify particular gas companies, transmission-system operators, consumers, sites or gas-balancing zones. It therefore does not support a more specific description of practical effects.2
Where it stands and what happens next
EUR-Lex records the document as a Commission proposal for a decision dated 27 July 2026, reference COM(2026) 389 final and procedure number 2026/0216(NLE). Its metadata does not specify a current policy stage or timetable.21
The next step envisaged by the Commission is Council adoption of the EU position. The EEA Joint Committee would then consider its own decision to amend Annex IV, taking a decision by consensus. The available record does not establish that either of these steps has happened.2
What the record does not tell us
The supplied evidence refers to an attached draft EEA Joint Committee decision, but does not include that attachment. The record therefore does not show the precise terms of the proposed exemption from the homogeneity principle or any adaptations to Regulation (EU) No 312/2014.21
The record also does not state whether the proposed approach for Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein would be reconsidered if a relevant gas network existed later. It gives no dates for Council consideration or for a Joint Committee decision. The proposed Council text says only that a Council decision would enter into force on its adoption date.21