REPORTS
Greece referred to the CJEU for non-compliance with Regulation (EC) 29/2009; infringement: INFR (2020)2050
Each Member State of the European Union must fully apply EU law. The body responsible for identifying possible violations of EU law is the European Commission. Where a Member State does not apply EU law and breaches its obligations under the EU Treaties, the European Commission may open a formal infringement procedure under Articles 258 and 260 TFEU (see details on the infringement procedure here).
In accordance with the provisions of Commission Regulation (EC) No 29/2009 laying down requirements for data link services in the Single European Sky, each Member State is required to take the necessary measures to ensure that air traffic service providers have the capacity to provide and operate data link services. Data link systems are used to send information between aircraft and air traffic controllers and are complementary to the voice communications traditionally used between the flight deck and air traffic control centres. As the Commission states, the development of this interoperable technology in Europe is essential to improve the efficiency of communications between pilots and controllers and thus increase air traffic control capability and safety.
As mentioned in the “July 2022 infringements package: main decisions” and its press release of 15 July 2022, the European Commission has decided to refer 3 countries, including Greece, to the Court of Justice of the European Union. This is because, despite the actions taken by the Commission in the context of infringement proceedings in 2020 and 2021 [see infringement: INFR(2020)2050], the Member States in question continue to infringe Regulation (EC) 29/2009 by not providing and operating data link services for all aircraft operators operating flights within the airspace under their responsibility. As stated in its application of 16-9-2022 (European Commission v Hellenic Republic; Case C-599/22), the Commission asks the Court of Justice ‘to declare that the Hellenic Republic, by failing to take the necessary measures to ensure that the ATS provider it has designated complies with Article 3(1) of Regulation (EC) No 29/2009, has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 4(3) TEU in conjunction with Article 3(1) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 29/2009…’.
The application of EU law is an obligation of the Member States of the European Union. If infringements of EU law are identified, the European Commission may take a series of actions against the Member State concerned to ensure the correct and full application of EU law by opening infringement proceedings under Articles 258 and 260 TFEU.
In July 2022, the European Commission decided to refer Greece (among others) to the Court of Justice of the European Union for non-compliance with EU rules on the provision of data link services. As stated in the European Commission’s 16-9-2022 complaint, “The Hellenic Republic is more than 3 years late in complying with Regulation 29/2009 regarding the provision of data link services in the Single European Sky”.
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