Views: 4
In its regular package of infringement decisions, the European Commission pursues legal action against some member states for failing to comply with their obligations under EU law. We have chosen only these decisions that cover various sectors and EU policy areas in the Baltic Sea region; they generally aim to ensure the proper application of EU law for the benefit of citizens and businesses.
Sectoral issues
The key decisions taken by the Commission are presented below and grouped by policy area; the Commission is also closing 104 cases in which the issues with the EU member states concerned have been solved without the Commission needing to pursue the procedure further.
General reference on infringements in: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/inf_25_242
= Energy and climate
1. Sweden, alongside some other states, has been sent send a reasoned opinion for not having transposed into national law EU rules accelerating permitting procedures for renewable energy projects set out in Directive 2023/2413. This Directive amends the Renewable Energy Directive 2018/2001 providing new rules to simplify and shorten permitting procedures both for renewable energy projects and for the infrastructure projects which are necessary to integrate the additional capacity into the electricity system.
It includes clear time limits for permit-granting procedures targeted to specific technologies or types of projects. In addition, it introduces the presumption that renewable energy projects, storage and the related grid infrastructure are of overriding public interest. There is also an obligation for the EU states to design “renewable acceleration areas” where projects can benefit from shorter deadlines for permits given the low environmental impacts. The deadline to transpose these provisions into national law was 1 July 2024. In September 2024, the Commission sent letters of formal notice to 26 EU states (except Denmark) for failing to fully transpose the Directive into national law.
Sweden has now two months to respond and take the necessary measures; otherwise, the Commission may decide to refer the cases to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
2. European Commission decided to send a reasoned opinion to Poland for not having fully transposed EU rules for the internal electricity market set out in the Directive 2019/944, amending Directive 2012/27. The Directive lays down key rules regarding the organisation and functioning of the EU electricity sector to create integrated, competitive, consumer-centered electricity markets across the EU. The deadline to transpose the Directive into national law was 31 December 2020. The Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Poland in May 2022, after concluding that not all the provisions of the Directive had been transposed into their national legislation. After having examined their replies as well as the national transposition measures notified, the Commission considers that Poland has still not fully transposed the Directive: hence, Poland has now two months to respond and take the necessary measures; otherwise, the Commission may decide to refer the cases to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
3. Commission urges Estonia and Latvia again to fully transpose the 2018 Renewable Energy Directive by sending additional reasoned opinion for not having fully transposed EU rules on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources set out in Directive 2018/2001. This Directive provides the legal framework for the development of renewable energy in electricity, heating and cooling and transport in the EU. It sets an EU-level binding target for 2030 for renewable energy and includes specific rules for guarantees of origin (GOs). GOs are electronic certificates to inform the final customers on the share of energy from renewable sources in a supplier’s energy mix.
The Directive further includes sustainability and greenhouse gas emissions savings criteria for biofuels, bioliquids and biomass fuels and rules on the verification of compliance of those fuels with these criteria. It also facilitates the participation of citizens in the energy transition by enabling self-consumption and the setup of renewable energy communities. The deadline to transpose the Directive into national law was 30 June 2021; in July 2021, the Commission sent letters of formal notice to these states for failing to fully transpose the Directive. The Commission then followed up with reasoned opinions due to their continuous failure to fully transpose the Directive. After having examined their replies and the subsequently notified measures, the Commission has decided to issue additional reasoned opinions to Estonia and Latvia due to incomplete transposition. These states now have two months to respond and take the necessary measures; otherwise, the Commission may decide to refer the cases to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
= Mobility and transport
1. Commission calls on Lithuania to fully transpose EU rules on tolls and vignettes for road infrastructure use. The European Commission decided to send a reasoned opinion to Lithuania for its failure to transpose the Eurovignette Directive 1999/62 as amended by Directive 2022/362. The Eurovignette Directive sets common rules on imposing distance-based charges (tolls) and time-based user charges (vignettes), allowing the EU states to recover infrastructure costs (construction, operation, maintenance) through tolls and vignettes. Amending Directive 2022/362 now includes passenger cars, buses and coaches as well as small heavy-duty vehicles. The revised Directive also requires the states to include the environmental costs of air pollution into their charging systems to set charges based on a vehicle’s CO2 emissions, aiming to reduce emissions and encourage cleaner heavy-duty vehicles. The deadline to transpose the Directive into national law was 25 March 2024; already in May 2024, the Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Lithuania for failing to fully transpose the Directive into national law. Lithuania has failed to communicate all transposition measures; therefore, the Commission has decided to issue a reasoned opinion. Lithuania has two months now to respond and take the necessary measures; otherwise, the Commission may decide to refer the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
2. Commission calls on Estonia to transpose all trans-European transport network streamlining measures; Commission sends an additional reasoned opinion to Estonia for failing to notify all measures for the transposition into national law of Directive 2021/1187 on streamlining measures for advancing the realisation of the trans-European transport network. This Directive aims to ensure a better coordination and an effective realisation of key TEN-T core network projects by making permit granting and public procurement procedures clearer. It targets high-priority TEN-T core network projects, cross-border initiatives, and European Transport Corridors with budgets exceeding €300 million. To achieve this, the Directive sets out four key requirements for the EU states: assigning a designated authority for each project, simplifying permit-granting procedures to take no more than four years, make procedures transparent, and improve cross-border coordination. The EU states had to transpose it into national law by 10 August 2023; in September 2023 the Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Estonia followed by a first reasoned opinion in April 2024. Estonia has still not taken all measures necessary to ensure the full transposition of the Directive into its national law and, in any event, has failed to notify such measures to the Commission. Therefore, the Commission has decided to issue an additional reasoned opinion to Estonia, which now has two months to respond and take the necessary measures. Otherwise, the Commission may decide to refer the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
3. Commission calls on Lithuania to fully implement EU rules on the maximum weights and dimensions of certain road vehicles; Commission sends an additional reasoned opinion to Lithuania for failing to correctly transpose EU rules on the maximum weight and dimensions of certain road vehicles according to Directive 2015/719; among other measures, the Directive introduces derogations for heavy goods vehicles involved in intermodal transport operations to encourage such operations. Following the reasoned opinion issued in September 2023 and after assessing the national legislation notified by Lithuania in February 2024, the Commission is of the view that the Lithuanian legislation, notably its definition of intermodal transport operations, is still not in line with the Directive. Therefore, the Commission has decided to issue an additional reasoned opinion to Lithuania; the country now has two months to reply to the arguments raised by the Commission. Otherwise, the Commission may refer Lithuania to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
= Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union
Commission decides to refer Finland to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to transpose the Directive on Non-Performing Loans (Directive 2021/2167), which aims to foster the development of a well-functioning secondary market for non-performing loans by establishing rules for the authorization and supervision of credit purchasers and servicers.
The Directive further provides a set of harmonised criteria allowing credit servicers to market non-performing loans cross-border: the EU states were required to transpose this Directive by 29 December 2023. Presently most EU states have declared complete transposition of the Directive; however, national implementing measures have still not been notified by Finland (alongside Bulgaria, Spain, Hungary, Netherlands, Austria and Portugal). The Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Finland on 24 January 2024 and subsequently reasoned opinions on 25 July 2024. The Commission considers that efforts by the national authorities in Finland have been insufficient and is therefore referring these cases to the Court of Justice of the EU, with a request for financial penalty payments.
More on the case in: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_405