13.2.2010

Official Journal of the European Union

C 37/22

(Case C-500/09)

2010/C 37/27

Language of the case: Greek

Parties

Applicant: European Commission (represented by: L. Lozano Palacios and D. Triantafillou, acting as Agents)

Defendant: Hellenic Republic

Form of order sought

The Court is asked to:

—declare that, by continuing to apply Ministerial Decision A1/44351/3608 of 12 October 2005, the Hellenic Republic is in breach of its obligations under Directive 97/67/EC (as amended), as they result in particular from Article 9(1) and (2);

—order the Hellenic Republic to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The Hellenic Republic is hindering the liberalisation of postal services, the objective of Directive 97/67, which provides in that connection for the grant of general authorisations and individual licences in an open manner and without discrimination.

The Greek legislation requires of authorised carriers, when licences are issued for postal transport vehicles, that they should themselves be postal undertakings entered in the appropriate register as holders of a general authorisation. That necessitates radical restructuring of postal networks and makes it impossible for the principal undertakings to employ franchisees, unless they opt to convert themselves into undertakings leasing vehicles with the costs that that implies.

Moreover, the Greek legislation allows the transport of heavy loads only by certain commercial vehicles, reserved to a regulated profession, which prevents other undertakings from providing the same service.

The Hellenic Republic has not submitted sufficient justification for those restrictions.

(1) OJ L 15 of 21.1.1998, p. 14.