Infringement proceedings: Letters of Formal Notice to Greece in the year 2024

During 2024, the European Commission, in the context of infringement proceedings, sent letters of formal notice to Greece in more than 20 cases, which concerned, inter alia, issues of incorrect implementation of EU rules on the environment, transport, employment, taxation and the internal market.  

1. As mentioned in the “February infringements package,” the European Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Greece for non-compliance with EU rules on the general arrangements for excise duties [INFR(2020)2268], calling on Greece to abolish the exemption from excise duty for duty-free shops at land borders with third countries. 
2. As mentioned in the “April infringements package,” the European Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Greece for failing to implement the necessary measures to ensure performance-based navigation (PBN) procedures at Greek airports and for failing to complete the corrective action plan agreed with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) [INFR(2024)2014].
3. As mentioned in the “May infringements package”, the European Commission decided to send a letter of formal notice to Greece, as it was among the countries that had not designated competent authorities to implement the Data Governance Act or had not demonstrated that these competent authorities are authorised to carry out the tasks required under the Act [INFR(2024)2061].
4. As mentioned in the “July infringements package”, the European Commission decided to send a letter of formal notice to Greece in two cases, due to:

(a) being among the countries that did not meet the EU waste collection and recycling targets [INFR(2024)2132].

(b) failure to correctly transpose Directive 1999/70/EC, which prohibits discrimination against fixed-term contract workers [INFR(2024)4013], as Greek law provides for less favourable employment conditions for fixed-term teachers working in public schools compared to permanent teachers.

• As mentioned in the “October infringements package”, the European Commission decided in three cases (two of them under Article 258 and one under Article 260(2) TFEU) to send a letter of formal notice to Greece for:

(a) being among the countries that have not complied with their obligations under the Environmental Noise Directive 2002/49/EC [INFR(2024)2198].

(b) being among the countries that did not correctly transpose Directive (EU) 2016/343 on strengthening the presumption of innocence and the right to be present at the trial of the accused in criminal proceedings [INFR(2024)2209].

(c) of failing to apply the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (Case C-599/22) on data link services [INFR(2020)2050] swiftly and effectively, as it considered that the measures taken by the country were not sufficient to remedy the infringement in light of the relevant judgment of the CJEU. It should be noted that in this case the Commission had decided to send a letter of formal notice (under Article 258 TFEU) in May 2020, a supplementary letter of formal notice in February 2021, a reasoned opinion in July 2021 and a referral to the CJEU in July 2022.

•  As mentioned in the “November infringements package”, the European Commission decided to send a letter of formal notice to Greece in two cases due to:

(a) non-compliance with the Waste Framework Directive [INFR(2024)2228], as it is the only Member State that has not submitted data on the preparation for reuse and recycling of waste for the years 2020, 2021 and 2022.

(b) of being among the countries that did not submit the final updated national energy and climate plans in accordance with the Regulation on the governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action [INFR(2024)2258].

• As mentioned in the “December infringements package”, the European Commission decided in four cases to send a letter of formal notice to Greece, due to:

(a) non-compliance with EU rules on professional qualifications (Directive 2005/36/EC) [INFR(2024)2105], as it was among the countries considered to require unjustified prior checks for several professions that do not meet the conditions under which such checks are allowed.

(b) non-compliance with the rules on authorisation procedures for the use of public coastal areas [INFR(2024)2243], as it found that Greek legislation appeared to be inconsistent with the Services Directive (Directive 2006/123/EC) and the principle of freedom of establishment (Article 49 TFEU).

(c) failure to implement the required aircraft identification technology, as required by Regulation (EU)2017/373 governing air traffic management and air navigation systems [INFR(2024)2237].

(d) non-compliance with the requirements of EU legislation on railway safety [INFR(2023)2036], indicating in this context that there are long-standing and systemic deficiencies in the country.

Information on all the above procedures and decisions of the European Commission can also be found on the European Commission’s website by entering the case numbers mentioned in the text in the field “Infringement case number” [INFR(….)….].