EN Official Journal of the European Union C 360/2

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 9(3) OF DIRECTIVE 96/67/EC

Notification by the Republic of Croatia of application of Article 9(1)(b) and (d) of Directive 96/67/EC to Zagreb International Airport

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2014/C 360/02)

Pursuant to Article 9(3) of Council Directive 96/67/EC of 15 October 1996 on access to the ground-handling market at Community airports, on 1 September 2014 the Commission received notification of a decision by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure of the Government of the Republic of Croatia to grant Zagreb International Airport (Zagreb International Airport Jsc.) an exemption as follows:

— to ban self-handling at Zagreb International Airport for the following service categories referred to in points 3, 4 and 5 of the Annex to the Directive: baggage handling; ramp handling; and freight and mail handling as regards the physical handling of freight and mail, whether incoming, outgoing or being transferred, between the air terminal and the aircraft, and

— to reserve for the airport managing body (Zagreb International Airport Jsc.) via its 100 %-owned subsidiary MZLZ-Zemaljske Usluge d.o.o. the monopoly for provision to third parties at Zagreb International Airport of the following service categories referred to in points 3, 4 and 5 of the Annex to the Directive: baggage handling; ramp handling; and freight and mail handling as regards the physical handling of freight and mail, whether incoming, outgoing or being transferred, between the air terminal and the aircraft.

This exemption, based on Article 9(1)(b) and 9(1)(d) of the Directive, is to be granted for two years, starting on 1 January 2015 and ending on 31 December 2016.

This exemption is granted by the Republic of Croatia principally for the following reason. The limitations of the current terminal, in terms of infrastructure and operations, do not allow for the economic and effective introduction of additional groundhandling service providers for the service categories referred to above during the period of construction of a new passenger terminal. In particular:

— The location and size of the current baggage sorting facility do not make it possible to allocate space to additional baggage handling providers. The location of the current facility rules out the possibility of this situation changing prior to the opening of the new passenger terminal.

— There is a lack of space available for the storage of new equipment units which would be necessary for additional service providers of ramp handling.

— The current cargo and mail handling facility is not adequately sized or configured to allow for the operation of additional service providers and this will not change prior to the opening of the new passenger terminal.

The Croatian authorities have also submitted measures to overcome the abovementioned constraints — the expiry of the exemption coincides with the planned completion of the new airport passenger terminal.

Pursuant to Article 9(3) of the Directive, the Commission invites interested parties to submit their comments within 15 days of publication of this communication, to: