EC sues Spain over failed implementation of SERA directives
The European Commission (EC) stated it will bring Spain in front of the EU Court of Justice because the country failed “to correctly transpose and apply Directive 2012/34/EU establishing a single European railway area (SERA)”. More specifically, the EC is accusing Spain of not implementing provisions concerning infrastructure management.
The provisions mentioned by the Commission include “the determination of infrastructure charges, the management of railway undertakings (RUs) according to commercial principles, and the correct drafting of contractual agreements”. The EC is contesting the fact that Spain did modify its laws concerning infrastructure charges but never put the system in operation. In fact, the law does not give the Spanish infrastructure manager (IM) ADIF a hard deadline to apply it.
This, according to the EC, poses the risk that the current system could remain in place for the next two years. “As a consequence, railway undertakings will be unable to challenge track access charges” because they are part of a law, the Commission explained. Representatives from the EC were contacted for more information about the next steps but no answer has been provided as of yet.
Too much power in the State’s hands
Another factor that might hinder the independence of public RUs and IMs from the Spanish government is that their boards are appointed by the Ministry of Transport. The Ministry also has the ability to terminate members’ mandates and decision-making rules. “it must be concluded that the State is in effect able to exercise decisive influence on management board decisions”, the EC concluded.
Directive 2012/34/EU in Spain
It all started in May 2018, when the EC sent a letter of formal notice to Spain regarding the application of the new regulations of the Directive. In January 2019, Spain responded that some had been implemented, while others still needed some work. In October 2019, the Commission sent Spain a reasoned opinion, which is a formal request to comply with EU law. At the end of 2022, the country said that more measures had been transposed, but the EC remained unsatisfied, thus its decision to sue Spain.
According to European institutions, regulations such as Directive 2012/34/EU “have helped create an open European rail market”. The directive gives publicly owned railway undertakings (RUs) and infrastructure managers (IMs) more independence from States. It does so by forcing RUs and IMs to keep separate assets, budgets, and accounts from their governments. In other words, the directive tries to put private and public entities on the same level.
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