After section 3E of the Electricity Act 1989 M1 insert—

“3FAuthority to consult and cooperate with other authorities

(1)

When carrying out its functions as designated regulatory authority for Great Britain the Authority must, wherever it thinks fit—

(a)

consult and cooperate with the Agency and designated regulatory authorities for Northern Ireland and other Member States;

(b)

provide the Agency and the designated regulatory authorities for Northern Ireland and other Member States with information they may require in order to carry out their functions under the Electricity Directive, the Electricity Regulation or the Agency Regulation as it applies in relation to electricity; and

(c)

consult relevant national authorities.

(2)

In exercising functions in accordance with subsection (1) the Authority must, wherever it thinks fit, cooperate with the designated regulatory authorities for Northern Ireland and other Member States within a region which includes Great Britain with a view, within that region, to—

(a)

the integration of national markets;

(b)

the promotion and facilitation of cooperation between transmission system operators;

(c)

the optimal management of electricity networks;

(d)

the promotion of jointly managed cross-border trade in electricity and the allocation of cross-border capacity;

(e)

enabling an adequate level of interconnection capacity;

(f)

the coordination of the development of network codes; and

(g)

the coordination of the regulation of electricity markets, including rules concerning the management of congestion of electricity networks.

(3)

In this section—

“network code” means a network code developed under Article 6 of the Electricity Regulation and adopted by the European Commission;

“region” includes a geographical area defined in accordance with Article 12(3) of the Electricity Regulation; and

“relevant national authority” means any of the following—

(a)

the Competition Commission;

(b)

the Office of Communications;

(c)

the Office of Fair Trading;

(d)

the Water Services Regulation Authority.”.