Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2015:526
Date: 2015-09-03
Language of the case: English
Subject matter: Transport
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: United Kingdom

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber), 12 November 2015 1. Actions for annulment — Purpose — Partial annulment — Condition — Severability of the contested provisions (Art. 263 TFEU; European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1316/2013) 2. Trans-European networks — Area of transport infrastructure — Projects of common interest — Concept — Conditions — Project to extend an existing rail freight corridor — Not included (Arts 170 TFEU, 171(1) TFEU and 172 TFEU; European Parliament and Council Regulations No 913/2010 and No 1315/2013, Recital 8 and Arts 7 and 48(1)) 1. See the text of the decision. (see paras 20-24) 2. The concept of project of common interest within the meaning of Article 171(1) TFEU and the second paragraph of Article 172 TFEU must be interpreted as not applying to a project which merely extends an existing rail freight corridor. The concept does, however, cover projects which are more than a mere traffic coordination facility and which include a qualitative structural improvement of the initial rail freight corridor. The concept of project of common interest referred to in those provisions is not defined by the FEU Treaty. It is apparent from the first and third indents of Article 171(1) TFEU that the European Union is to establish guidelines in order to achieve the objectives referred to in Article 170 TFEU and that those guidelines are to identify projects of common interest and that the European Union may support such projects. In that context, as regards transport infrastructure, Regulation No 1315/2013 on Union guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network identifies projects of common interest as the principal instrument for the implementation of a trans-European transport network. It is apparent from recital 8 of that regulation that that network must be developed through the creation of new transport infrastructure, through the rehabilitation and upgrading of existing infrastructure and through measures promoting its resource-efficient use. In that regard, while it is true that a measure does not have to create a new transport infrastructure in order to be recognised as a project of common interest, such a project must none the less involve investment which, at the very least, is intended to rehabilitate or upgrade an existing infrastructure with a view to making it more efficient and effective, as is apparent in particular from Article 7 of Regulation No 1315/2013. In addition, it is evident from Article 48(1) of Regulation No 1315/2013, which merely refers to adequate coordination between the core network corridors and the rail freight corridors, that, when exercising the power conferred on them by Article 171(1) TFEU and the first paragraph of Article 172 TFEU, the Parliament and the Council took the view that the rail freight corridors do not fall within the projects of common interest identified by the regulation. Furthermore, Regulation No 913/2010 concerning a European rail network for competitive freight does not, even as regards existing freight corridors, provide for them to be developed as infrastructure projects. (see paras 43, 44, 46, 51-53, 55, 58, 60)