EU sues Greece for ‘crimes on Greek railways’

Fourteen days before the worst railway tragedy to hit Greece, the EC took Greece to the European Court of Justice because it failed to fulfill its obligations based on the directive establishing a single European railway area (2012/34/EU).

The Greek filing took place on February 15, 2023

The EU sent the case to the European Court of Justice because it does not comply with the European framework for the provision of services and safety in relation to rail transport. The Directive specifies that Member States should ensure that a contractual agreement between the national competent authority and the railway infrastructure manager is concluded no later than 16 June 2015 and published within one month. The conclusion and publication of such an agreement is especially important for the transparency of upcoming projects on the railway infrastructure network.

What the Mitsotakis Government DID NOT DO

This agreement should contain significant provisions, such as the amount of funds allocated for infrastructure services, as well as user-oriented performance targets (for example, line speed, customer satisfaction or environmental protection).

Despite the exchange of letters between the commission and Greece, the national authorities have not yet signed and published a contractual agreement with the Greek company osemanaging the railway infrastructure.

The Commission opened infringement proceedings against Greece in December 2020 and sent a reasoned opinion in December 2021. Since Greece continues to violate the directive, the commission decided to take the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

The obligation to conclude and publish contractual agreements between competent national authorities and railway infrastructure managers is an important element of the Directive on the single European railway area. These agreements include the rights and obligations of the Member State and the infrastructure manager(s). They cover all aspects of infrastructure management, the financial obligations of the Member State, the performance requirements of the infrastructure manager, reporting obligations and rules for dealing with emergencies and major outages.

They should also include corrective measures to be taken if one of the parties violates its contractual obligations or, in exceptional circumstances, if the availability of public funding is impaired. The agreements include a five-year financial framework for the construction, modernization and maintenance of railway infrastructure, making public funding predictable.

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