Case C-12/20: Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 24 June 2021 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Oberverwaltungsgericht für das Land Nordrhein-Westfalen — Germany) — DB Netz AG v Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Reference for a preliminary ruling — Rail transport — International rail freight corridors — Regulation (EU) No 913/2010 — Article 13(1) — Establishment of a one-stop shop for each freight corridor — Article 14 — Nature of the framework for the allocation of the infrastructure capacity on the freight corridor laid down by the executive board — Article 20 — Regulatory bodies — Directive 2012/34/EU — Article 27 — Procedure for submitting applications for infrastructure capacity — Role of infrastructure managers — Articles 56 and 57 — Functions of the regulatory bodies and cooperation between regulatory bodies)
Date: 2021-06-24
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: carriage of goods, international transport, rail transport, trans-European network, transport infrastructure, transport regulations








C_2021320EN.01000801.xml










9.8.2021   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 320/8






Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 24 June 2021 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Oberverwaltungsgericht für das Land Nordrhein-Westfalen — Germany) — DB Netz AG v Bundesrepublik Deutschland
(Case C-12/20) (1)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Rail transport - International rail freight corridors - Regulation (EU) No 913/2010 - Article 13(1) - Establishment of a one-stop shop for each freight corridor - Article 14 - Nature of the framework for the allocation of the infrastructure capacity on the freight corridor laid down by the executive board - Article 20 - Regulatory bodies - Directive 2012/34/EU - Article 27 - Procedure for submitting applications for infrastructure capacity - Role of infrastructure managers - Articles 56 and 57 - Functions of the regulatory bodies and cooperation between regulatory bodies)
(2021/C 320/08)
Language of the case: German

Referring court

Oberverwaltungsgericht für das Land Nordrhein-Westfalen

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicant: DB Netz AG

Defendant: Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Operative part of the judgment







1.


Article 13(1), Article 14(9) and Article 18 (c) of Regulation (EU) No 913/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2010 concerning a European rail network for competitive freight, and Article 27(1) and (2) of Directive 2012/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 establishing a single European rail area, read in conjunction with point 3(a) of Annex IV to that directive, must be interpreted as meaning that the infrastructure manager, defined in Article 3(2) of that directive, is the competent authority for adopting, in the context of the national network statement, the applicable rules for submitting applications for infrastructure capacity, including those regarding the exclusive use of a particular electronic booking system, to the one-stop shop provided for in Article 13(1);










2.


The review by a national regulatory body of the rules relating to the procedure for submitting applications for infrastructure capacity to the one-stop shop laid down in the network statement is governed by the provisions of Article 20 of Regulation No 913/2010 and those provisions must be interpreted as meaning that the regulatory body of a Member State cannot object to those rules without complying with the cooperation obligations arising from Article 20 and, in particular, without consulting the regulatory bodies of the other Member States involved in the freight corridor in order to achieve, as far as possible, a uniform approach;










3.


Article 14(1) of Regulation No 913/2010, must be interpreted as meaning that the framework for the allocation of the infrastructure capacity on the freight corridor laid down by the executive board pursuant to that provision does not constitute an act of EU law.






(1)  OJ C 137, 27.4.2020.