EUROPE: The European Commission is undertaking infringement procedures against Lithuania and Poland regarding compliance with two directives affecting railway matters.
On February 18 the Commission sent Lithuania a letter of formal notice regarding the incorrect transposition and implementation of the single European railway area rules in Directive 2012/34/EU, covering the allocation of train paths when the infrastructure is congested.
The Commission said the contested priority rules had been found to go beyond what is allowed under the directive, and to be discriminatory in that they favoured the incumbent.
Lithuania now two months to reply to the concerns raised, otherwise the Commission may decide to send a reasoned opinion.
The Commission has also decided to refer Poland to the Court of Justice of the EU over its failure to comply with its obligations under the Noise Directive (2002/49/EC). It said Polish law does not guarantee the establishment of the required noise action plans, which are missing for 20 major sections of railway as well as for 290 major roads.
