CELEX: 62019CN0796
Language: en
Date: 2019-10-29 00:00:00
Title: Case C-796/19: Action brought on 29 October 2019 — European Commission v Republic of Austria

23.12.2019   
            
            
               EN
            
            
               Official Journal of the European Union
            
            
               C 432/31
            
         
      Action brought on 29 October 2019 — European Commission v Republic of Austria
      (Case C-796/19)
      (2019/C 432/36)
      Language of the case: German
      
         Parties
      
      
         Applicant: European Commission (represented by: Walter Mölls, Cécile Vrignon)
      
         Defendant: Republic of Austria
      
         Form of order sought
      
      The applicant claims that the Court should,
      
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                  declare that the Republic of Austria has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 3(a) of Directive 2007/59/EC, (1) in that it designated as the competent authority for the purposes of that directive a different authority than the safety authority referred to in Article 16 of Directive 2004/49/EC; (2)
                  
               
            
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                  order the Republic of Austria to pay the costs.
               
            
         Pleas in law and main arguments
      
      The Commission submits that Article 3(a) of Directive 2007/59 defines the competent authority for the purposes of that directive as ‘the safety authority referred to in Article 16 of Directive 2004/49/EC’.
      However, the Austrian legislature chose a different authority.
      Instead of designating the competent authority for the purposes of Directive 2004/49 (the Federal Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology), it designated Schieneninfrastruktur-Dienstleistungsgesellschaft mbH as the competent authority for a set of tasks covered by Directive 2007/59. According to the Commission, that is incompatible with the latter directive.
      
         (1)  Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on the certification of train drivers operating locomotives and trains on the railway system in the Community (OJ 2007 L 315, p. 51).
      
         (2)  Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on safety on the Community’s railways and amending Council Directive 95/18/EC on the licensing of railway undertakings and Directive 2001/14/EC on the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and the levying of charges for the use of railway infrastructure and safety certification (OJ 2004 L 164, p. 44).