Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2014:198
Date: 2014-03-27

Request for a preliminary ruling from the College van Beroep voor het Bedrijfsleven (Netherlands) lodged on 18 April 2013 - Wagenborg Passagiersdiensten BV and Others v Minister van Infrastructuur en Milieu; other parties: Wagenborg Passagiersdiensten BV, Terschellinger Stoombootmaatschappij BV (Case C-207/13) Language of the case: Dutch Referring court College van Beroep voor het Bedrijfsleven Parties to the main proceedings Claimants: Wagenborg Passagiersdiensten BV, Eigen Veerdienst Terschelling BV, MPS Stortemelk BV, MPS Willem Barentsz BV, MS Spathoek NV, G.A.F. Lakeman, trading as Rederij Waddentransport Defendant: Minister van Infrastructuur en Milieu Other parties: Wagenborg Passagiersdiensten BV, Terschellinger Stoombootmaatschappij BV Questions referred Does the designation of the Netherlands portion of the Waddenzee as an inland waterway (Zone 2 waterway) in Annex I to Directive 2006/87 2 preclude the application of the Cabotage Regulation to public passenger transport services over the Waddenzee between the Netherlands mainland and the Wadden islands of Terschelling, Vlieland, Ameland and Schiermonnikoog? Does the applicability of the Cabotage Regulation preclude application of the PSO Regulation,  having regard to Article 1(2) of the PSO Regulation? Are Member States free, under Article 1(2) of the PSO Regulation, to declare just one or more specific parts of that regulation, in this case Article 5(3) and, related thereto, Article 5(4), to be applicable to services of public passenger transport by water? Can the exception provided for in Article 5(4) of the PSO Regulation, more particularly the distance criterion of 300 000 kilometres laid down in that provision, (simply) be declared to be applicable to services of public passenger transport by water? If the answer to Question 4 is in the affirmative, what consequences should then be attached to the fact that in the case in question operating licences for services of public passenger transport by water were granted in the absence of compliance with the requirements of Article 7(2) of the PSO Regulation? ____________ 1 - Directive 2006/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 laying down technical requirements for inland waterway vessels and repealing Council Directive 82/714/EEC (OJ 2006 L 389, p. 1). 2 - Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on public passenger transport services by rail and by road and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) Nos 1191/69 and 1107/70 (OJ 2007 L 315, p. 1).