Commission Urges Bulgaria to Transpose Directive on EU Railway Area

The European Commission has requested Bulgaria and six other EU member states to transpose the 2012 directive for establishing a single European railway area.

The Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Luxembourg, and Romania have also been asked to transpose Directive 2102/34/EU of 21 November 2012, which contains the basic provisions for market opening in the railway sector, the EU executive body said in a statement on Thursday.

The directive sets out 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 Commission sent a letter of formal notice to the seven member states but so far those states “have not communicated any measures to the Commission,” according to the statement. Now, those member states have two months to do so.

A letter of formal notice is the the first step under the EU infringement procedures. The seven member states had two months to respond to the letters of formal notice. Failure to respond or an unsatisfactory reply triggers a formal request to implement the legislation, in the form of a reasoned opinion. A referral to the Court of Justice of the EU is the ultimate step under the infringement procedures.

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