Nederlands
Legal framework
EBN is a private limited company, incorporated under Dutch law in 1973. EBN’s objective is to perform activities designed to implement the Minister of Economic Affairs’ energy policy. All EBN’s shares are held by the Dutch State, represented by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation. Article 82 of the Dutch Mining Act (Mijnbouwwet), as amended on 1 August 2008, sets out EBN’s public tasks. In a nutshell, these public tasks are:
- Participating in oil and gas exploration and production;
- Participating in production-related activities, including the sale, transport and storage of natural gas and oil;
- Carrying out tasks in connection with the Gasgebouw (the public-private partnership agreement on exploiting the natural gas reserves in the Groningen production licence and participation in GasTerra B.V.);
- Providing advice to the Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation;
- Performing other tasks as instructed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation.
In addition to its public-sector duties, EBN may also carry out other activities with the consent of the Minister. Consent is only granted if the activities and their implementation:
- are closely related to the activities needed to perform the public-sector duties;
- do not interfere with proper performance of these public-sector duties;
- serve the general interest of the energy policy.
