Strasbourg, 21/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - The Commission is taking Germany to the European Court of Justice over crossed subsidies granted to Deutsche Bahn, because it believes that there is still a risk that public funding for infrastructure could be being used to finance transport activities. The Commission thinks that DB could therefore be benefiting from a significant competitive advantage in the liberalised railway market.
On Wednesday 20 November, the Commission made this decision with regard to the main train operator in Germany because it believes that this is in breach of the first railway package and its provisions on financial transparency (recast of Directive 2012/34/EC). Following previous requests for clarification, the Commission has not obtained assurances that the accounts for DB's various activities are fully separate and that no transfer is possible between them. The current financial architecture does not therefore rule out the possibility that public funds for infrastructure and fees paid for track use are invested exclusively in infrastructure. The 4th Railway Package currently being examined by the European Parliament and Council is expected to improve transparency regarding financial flows in general, ahead of the opening up of the domestic passenger market.
According to one diplomatic source, Germany will argue that the handling of this issue has no foundation and will say that the profits made by the infrastructure are not as a result of public funding.
Reasoned opinions to Spain and Italy. The Commission has also sent reasoned opinions to Italy and Spain due to shortcomings in their railway legislation. The Commission is calling on Spain to comply with Directive 2008/57/EC on railway interoperability, so that trains running in Spain can also run in other neighbouring countries. Italy is being called on to improve its application of railway passenger rights in its territory, particularly by setting up a body to focus on this task. Currently, the authority in charge is only temporary and does not have full authority for ensuring passenger rights. The two countries have two months to demonstrate that they have followed the Commission's recommendations. If they fail to do so, they will face proceedings at the European Court of Justice. (MD/transl.fl)