Case C-718/18: Action brought on 16 November 2018 — European Commission v Federal Republic of Germany
Date: 2018-11-16
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: electricity supply, energy distribution, energy grid, energy industry, energy market, gas supply, infringement procedure (EU), market access, national implementing measure








C_2019054EN.01000601.xml










11.2.2019   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 54/6






Action brought on 16 November 2018 — European Commission v Federal Republic of Germany
(Case C-718/18)
(2019/C 54/09)
Language of the case: German

Parties


Applicant: European Commission (represented by: M. Noll-Ehlers and O. Beynet, acting as Agents)

Defendant: Federal Republic of Germany

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the Court should:






1.


declare that the Federal Republic of Germany has failed to fulfil its obligations under Directive 2009/72/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity and repealing Directive 2003/54/EC (1) and under Directive 2009/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common rules for the internal market in natural gas and repealing Directive 2003/55/EC (2) by transposing incorrectly:






—


Point 21 of Article 2 of Directive 2009/72/EC and point 20 of Article 2 of Directive 2009/73/EC;










—


Article 19(3), in combination with Article 19(8), of Directives 2009/72/EC and 2009/73/EC;










—


Article 19(5) of Directives 2009/72/EC and 2009/73/EC; and










—


Article 37(1)(a) and 37(6)(a) and (b) of Directive 2009/72/EC and Article 41(1)(a) and 41(6)(a) and (b) of Directive 2009/73/EC;














2.


order the Federal Republic of Germany to pay the costs.





Pleas in law and main arguments

The application concerns the deficient transposition of Directives 2009/72 and 2009/73 in respect of the German internal markets in electricity and natural gas by the Energiewirtschaftgesetz (Law on the Energy Industry; ‘EnWG’). The Commission claims that the transposition by the EnWG is inadequate in four respects. First, the definition of a vertically integrated undertaking, which specifies which undertakings fall under those directives’ unbundling provisions, has been transposed only in part into German law. Second, the cooling-off provisions relating to role switching within a vertically integrated undertaking have not been transposed in full. Third, provisions prohibiting the holding of certain interests in or receipt of financial benefits from vertically integrated organisations have been transposed only in part. Finally, the allocation of responsibilities in the EnWG encroaches on the responsibilities reserved exclusively for national authorities, as provided for in the directives.
The Commission claims that this constitutes an infringement of point 21 of Article 2 of Directive 2009/72/EC and of point 20 of Article 2 of Directive 2009/73/EC, Article 19(3), in combination with Article 19(8), of Directives 2009/72/EC and 2009/73/EC, Article 19(5) of Directives 2009/72/EC and 2009/73/EC, Article 37(1)(a) and 37(6)(a) and (b) of Directive 2009/72/EC, and of Article 41(1)(a) and 41(6)(a) and (b) of Directive 2009/73/EC.


(1)  OJ 2009 L 211, p. 55.

(2)  OJ 2009 L 211, p. 94.