BRUSSELS, Oct 29 (Reuters) - The European Commission started
a wave of legal action against European Union countries on
Thursday, ranging from a demand that Hungary change its
legislation on car registration tax to warnings on pollution.
Below are details on some of the steps taken:
HOW IT WORKS
The Commission, executive arm of the 27-country European
Union, starts an infringement procedure by sending a "letter of
formal notice" to an EU state.
If the Commission is unhappy with the reply, it can send a
"reasoned opinion", or a final warning, setting out why it
thinks EU law has been broken.
Unless the country complies by a deadline, typically two
months, the Commission can take the case to the European Court
of Justice (ECJ), the EU's top court. This can take two years.
For more details about the current legal actions, follow
this link: http://europa.eu/index_en.htm.
TAX
* Hungary has a final warning to modify legislation on car
registration tax which the Commission says discriminates against
the purchases of second-hand cars from other EU countries.
* The Commission has formally requested the Netherlands
amends legislation on a value added tax exemption for certain
fundraising activities because it is being applied too widely.
* Estonia is being taken to court over its higher tax rate
for low-income, non-resident pensioners compared to residents.
* Austria is being taken to court over tax provisions which
allow donations to universities, art colleges and the academy of
science in the country to be deducted as operating expenses but
not for similar donations to comparable institutions abroad.
* The Commission has sent a reasoned opinion to France
asking it to amend the optional derogation for declaring and
paying valued added tax for non-established vendors and their
clients, and bring it in line with the EU directive.
* Portugal has been asked via a reasoned opinion to amend
provisions which impose an exit tax on individuals because they
are incompatible with EU laws on the free movement of persons.
* The Commission has sent a reasoned opinion to Poland
asking it to change its administrative practice concerning the
refund of value added tax to taxable people in another EU state.
FINANCIAL SERVICES
* The Commission is taking Spain to court over its failure
to lay down proportionate and effective penalties in line with
an EU regulation on anti-money laundering.
* Estonia is being taken to court because it did not
implement the Statutory Audit Directive.
* The Commission will send a reasoned opinion to Luxembourg
for not correctly transposing the EU market abuse directive into
national law.
TELECOMS
* The Commission takes legal action against Romania for not
respecting EU rules that require telecoms regulators to be
separated from telecoms services companies.
* The Commission calls on the Italian telecoms regulator to
ensure that regulatory obligations imposed on Telecom Italia
<TLIT.MI> promote effective competition.
* The Commission has formally asked Poland to comply with
European Court of Justice ruling on telecoms subscribers'
rights.
* The Commission is taking legal action against Germany for
not implementing the Commission Decision on the harmonisation of
the 2500-2690 MHz frequency band in the EU.
ENVIRONMENT
* Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and
Spain are being taken to court for failing to issue new or
updated permits for over 1,500 industrial installations.
Austria, France and Sweden received written warnings over an
additional 1,700 installations operating without permits.
* Estonia, Slovenia and Sweden have received written
warnings over fine particles pollution.
* Ireland is being taken to court for failing to implement
an earlier court ruling on quality standards for shellfish
waters on the Irish coast.
The Commission has also sent a written warning to Ireland
for allowing changes to development plans without a strategic
environmental assessment.
STATE AID
* The Commission approves a Danish proposal to grant certain
reductions from a new tax on nitrogen emissions for heavy
polluters. It also opens an in-depth probe into the necessity
and proportionality of an existing waste tax measure.
ENERGY
* The Commission urges Spain to apply a ruling to amend the
functions of the Spanish electricity and gas regulator.
FREE MOVEMENT OF CAPITAL AND SERVICES
* The Commission takes Poland to court over special rights
granted to the State allowing it to veto management decisions
and appoint observers in certain companies.
* The Commission has sent a reasoned opinion to Bulgaria
over its rules that restrict the free circulation of EU lawyers.
* The Commission takes Luxembourg to court over its failure
to reimburse the cost of medical tests in another EU country.
* The Commission has formally asked Austria to comply with a
ruling which said Austria breached EU law with its legislation
obliging doctors to open an account at a specific bank.
* The Commission closes an infringement case against Austria
after it removed a restriction on people from other EU countries
from setting up companies in Austria.
It also closes an infringement case against Germany after
German authorities changed rules allowing patent agents to
provide their services without unjustified restrictions.
TRANSPORT
* Portugal is being taken to court for infringing EU
legislation on charging heavy goods vehicles.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
