JAO publishes NRA-approved 4th amendment to CCR Core Regional Specific Annex of the HAR, adding SEM-FR border and HVDC return rules ahead of 18 Nov 2026 entry into force

JAO published the 4th amendment of the Regional Specific Annex for the CCR Core region to the Harmonised Allocation Rules (HAR), following approval by the relevant national regulatory authorities. The amendment confirms the 18 November 2026 entry-into-force date already tracked for the EU-wide HAR amendments, but adds border-specific substance: it will apply to long-term transmission rights with a delivery period starting from 1 January 2027; it includes the SEM-FR (Ireland-France) bidding zone border within the CCR Core annex with a new compensation cap effective from the interconnector's operation date; it removes optimisation-function constraint provisions for the CZ-SK-DE/LU-PL borders following go-live of CORE long-term flow-based allocation; and it introduces enhanced provisions for the return of long-term transmission rights on HVDC interconnectors (BE<>DE/LU and SEM<>FR).

These are the concrete border-specific mechanics that operationalise the EU-wide HAR amendments previously tracked: without a compliant Regional Specific Annex, TSOs and JAO cannot run LTTR auctions on CCR Core borders under the new rules. Adding SEM-FR extends harmonised long-term hedging instruments to a new interconnector, while removing legacy optimisation constraints on CZ-SK-DE/LU-PL reflects the operational maturation of CORE flow-based allocation. The enhanced HVDC return provisions affect how holders of rights on BE-DE/LU and SEM-FR can return capacity, which is directly relevant to liquidity and risk management for traders using these instruments to hedge cross-border price risk.

This publication functions as an implementation-tier confirmation and elaboration of the earlier ACER-approved EU-wide HAR amendments rather than a new regulatory track. The fact that NRA approval (rather than ACER) governs this Regional Specific Annex is consistent with Article 4 of the HAR, which allocates border/regional specificities to national regulatory regimes layered on top of the EU-wide rulebook. The alignment of the entry-into-force date (18 November 2026) with the delivery-period start (1 January 2027) suggests a deliberate buffer for TSOs, JAO and registered participants to adapt systems and auction calendars before rights with the new rules become deliverable. The SEM-FR inclusion and its interconnector-contingent compensation cap imply the amendment anticipates a specific but as-yet-unconfirmed commissioning timeline for that interconnector; market participants should treat the cap's effective date as a distinct, currently unscheduled trigger event. The removal of CZ-SK-DE/LU-PL optimisation constraints appears to be a technical clean-up following prior flow-based go-live rather than a new policy direction, and is unlikely to materially move price formation, but the HVDC return-rule enhancements could affect secondary liquidity and flexibility for LTTR holders on those specific borders.

Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/1719 (FCA Regulation), Article 51; Article 4 (regional specificities); Regulation (EU) 2019/943; ACER Decision approving HAR amendments; NRA approval of the CCR Core Regional Specific Annex

Amended HAR and CCR Core Regional Specific Annex (incl. SEM-FR inclusion, HVDC return provisions) enter into force for EU internal borders · 18 Nov 2026

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