28.4.2012

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 126/7

(Case C-90/12)

2012/C 126/15

Language of the case: Polish

Parties

Applicant: European Commission (represented by: K. Simonsson and M. Owsiany-Hornung, acting as Agents)

Defendant: Republic of Poland

Form of order sought

—declare that, by not adopting appropriate measures needed to comply with Articles 5 and 6 of Regulation (EC) No 847/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the negotiation and implementation of air service agreements between Member States and third countries (1) and in any event by not informing the Commission of such measures, the Republic of Poland has failed to fulfil its obligations under those articles of the directive;

—order the Republic of Poland to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

Article 5 of Regulation No 847/2004 requires Member States to ensure ‘a distribution of traffic rights among eligible [European Union] air carriers on the basis of a non-discriminatory and transparent procedure’. In addition, under Article 6 of the regulation, Member States are obliged to inform the Commission without delay of the procedures applied for the purposes of Article 5. The Commission publishes those procedures in the Official Journal. The carrying out of the procedures referred to in those provisions is dependent upon the adoption of an appropriate implementing regulation by the minister responsible for transport matters. That regulation had still not been adopted when the present action was brought and in any event the Polish authorities have not informed the Commission in that regard. In those circumstances, the Commission assumes that the carrying out of the procedures envisaged in Article 5 of Regulation 847/2004 and the appropriate notification of the Commission on the basis of Article 6 of the regulation are not possible, given the lack of appropriate provisions in Polish law.

(1) OJ 2004 L 157, p. 7.