site.btaEuropean Commission Requests Bulgaria, Six Other Member States, to Transpose Rail Transport Directive

European Commission Requests Bulgaria, Six Other Member States, to Transpose Rail Transport Directive

Brussels, February 25 (BTA corr. Nickolay Jeliazkov) - The European Commission has requested Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Luxembourg, and Romania to transpose Directive 2012/34/EU establishing a single European railway area, the EC said Thursday, presenting key decisions in its February infringements' package.

The Directive contains the basic provisions for market opening in the railway sector. It lays down the rules for the management of infrastructure and rail transport activities, the criteria for licensing rail companies, and principles and procedures for setting and collecting infrastructure charges and for allocating infrastructure capacity as well as regulatory supervision. Member States had to bring into force the measures necessary to comply with the Directive by 16 June 2015. On 22 July 2015, the European Commission sent a letter of formal notice to a number of Member States. The above seven Member States have so far not communicated any measures to the Commission. They have two months to do so; otherwise, the Commission may refer them to the Court of Justice of the EU.