The European Commission on 25 February announced its monthly package of infringement decisions, legal actions it is pursuing against EU Member States for failing to comply properly with their obligations under EU law. The Commission took 276 decisions, which include 44 reasoned opinions and 9 referrals to the European Union’s Court of Justice. The Commission also closed a number of cases where the issues with the Member States concerned have been solved without the Commission needing to pursue the procedure further.
Advertisement
Below is a summary of the referrals to the European Court of Justice.
Agriculture: European Commission refers ITALY to the Court of Justice for failure to recover milk levies due from Italian producers
The European Commission is referring refer Italy to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to meet its responsibilities adequately with regard to managing the recovery of the levy for overproduction of milk. This levy should be paid by individual producers having exceeded their individual dairy quotas.
Italy exceeded its national quota every year from 1995 to 2009, and the Italian state paid the Commission the due superlevy amounts over the said period (2.305 billion EUR). However, despite repeated requests by the Commission, the Italian authorities have clearly not taken appropriate measures to effectively recover the levy payable from the individual producers/dairies, as requested by the relevant EU legislation. This undermines the quota regime and distorts competition with those producers who respected their quotas and those who have taken steps to pay their individual superlevy bills. As underlined by the Italian Court of Auditors, this is also unfair on Italian taxpayers.
Environment: Commission takes GREECE to Court over poor waste water treatment presenting a risk to public health
The European Commission is taking Greece to Court over a failure to ensure that waste water is properly treated. Member States need adequate collection and treatment systems for urban waste water, as untreated water poses risks to human health, inland waters and the marine environment. Greece was first warned in 2010 about this particular case, which concerns areas with a population equivalent of between 2000 and 15000. Although many of the original concerns have since been addressed, the scale of the remaining problems has now led the Commission to refer the case to the EU’s Court of Justice.
Environment:Commission takes SLOVENIA back to Court for failure to issue industrial permit for a major cement factory and asks for fines
The European Commission is referring Slovenia back to Court for its failure to license industrial installations that are operating without permits. Such permits should only be issued if a number of environmental criteria are met. In 2010 the Court ruled that Slovenia was failing in its obligation to ensure that all installations operate in line with EU rules on pollution prevention and control. Four years after that judgement, a major cement factory is still operating without the necessary permit, and potentially endangering citizens’ health. The Commission is asking for a daily penalty payment of EUR 9 009 until the obligations are fulfilled and a lump sum of EUR 1,604,603.
Growth: Commission takes GERMANY to Court to remove trade barriers for pyrotechnic goods
The European Commission has decided to refer Germany to the EU Court of Justice as national rules for pyrotechnic goods, which include fireworks, do not comply with EU law. Germany imposes additional administrative requirements on the sale of such goods, even if they have already been tested and obtained CE marking in another EU Member State. The Commission believes that such restrictions do not comply with the EU’s Directive on Pyrotechnic Articles and create a barrier to trade in the internal market.
Germany requires that notification of CE-marked pyrotechnic articles, together with their user instructions, is made to the Federal Institute for Material Research and Testing (BAM) before the articles can be sold in Germany. Sellers pay a notification fee, and may also be required to amend the user instructions. The Commission believes that by imposing these additional obligations on pyrotechnic articles lawfully manufactured and certified by an approved body in another Member State, Germany is not complying with the Pyrotechnic Articles Directive.
Taxation: GERMANY referred to the Court for limitation of VAT exemption granted to shared services
The European Commission has decided to refer Germany to the Court of Justice of the European Union to ensure that the German VAT legislation on exemptions for sharing costs of services complies with EU law. Cost sharing groups are associations of taxpayers who came together to purchase services from third parties. The VAT Directive exempts from VAT services that cost sharing groups can supply to their members under the following conditions: the members’ activities should be exempted from VAT, the shared services should be directly necessary to the members’ activities, the group should claim exact reimbursement of each member’s share of the joint expenses and finally, such exemption should not cause distortions of competition. This rule does not limit the exemption to any sector.
Taxation: Commission refers PORTUGAL to Court for failing to amend registration tax for second-hand vehicles in compliance with EU law
The European Commission has decided to refer Portugal to the Court of Justice of the European Union for its failure to amend registration tax rules for imported second-hand vehicles.
Under Portuguese law, the calculation of the taxable value of second-hand vehicles introduced into Portugal from another Member State does not take into account the real value of the vehicle. No depreciation is taken into consideration before the vehicle is one year old and no further depreciation is taken into account of for vehicles older than five years. This may result in higher taxation for imported vehicles than for domestically purchased vehicles.
Transport: Commission refers AUSTRIA and LUXEMBOURG to Court for not complying with bus and coach rules on passenger rights
The European Commission has decided to refer Austria and Luxembourg to the European Court of Justice for not complying with the EU Regulation establishing the rights of passengers travelling by bus and coach (Regulation (EU) No 181/2011).
According to the Regulation, Member States have to designate competent authorities to monitor the application of the rules and to handle passenger complaints. They have to set up a penalty system to sanction those operators that breach the Regulation, and they have to designate terminals where disabled passengers can receive appropriate assistance for their journeys. Austria has not adopted any of these measures despite the Commission’s reasoned opinion of March 2014. Luxembourg has failed to set up the necessary penalty system despite the Commission’s reasoned opinion of September 2014.
Transport: Commission refers DENMARK to Court on rail safety
The European Commission has decided to refer Denmark to the European Court of Justice for not correctly transposing European rules on rail safety (Directive 2004/49/EC). The rules aim to ensure safety on the railways and improve access to the market for rail transport services. Member States are required to harmonise the regulatory structures, define safety responsibilities between actors as well as develop common safety targets and safety methods. The harmonisation of national rules requires the establishment of a national safety authority and an accident and incident investigating body. The deadline for implementation was 30 April 2006.
Source: European Commission
