The European Commission has sent Cyprus a letter of formal notice calling on the country to correctly transpose EU rules on the safety of offshore oil and gas operations, as part of its regular package of infringement decisions against Member States for failing to comply with their obligations under EU law.

Cyprus has also received letters of formal notice relating to the protection of marine waters, sustainable water management and the free movement of services.

A letter of formal notice is the first step in an infringement procedure, followed by a reasoned opinion. If the member state in question does not comply, the Commission has the option of referring the case to the Court of Justice of the EU.

The Commission is also closing 93 cases in which the issues with the Member States concerned have been solved without the Commission needing to pursue the procedure further. Six of these cases are related to Cyprus and include issues relating to professional qualifications, labelling of allergenic fragrances in toys, copyright and provisions applicable to credit institutions.

Meanwhile an infringement procedure began by the Commission on October 20th, 2020 with a letter of formal notice and continued on June 6th with a reasoned opinion relating to the Cyprus Investor Citizenship Scheme, remains open.

Safety of offshore oil and gas operations

The European Commission decided to open an infringement procedure by sending a letter of formal notice to Cyprus for failing to correctly transpose into national legislation certain provisions of the EU Offshore Safety Directive (Directive 2013/30/EU).

This directive put in place rules to help prevent accidents at offshore energy installations and to respond promptly and efficiently should such accidents occur. Member States must ensure that companies to which they grant a licence for exploration or production have the necessary technical and financial means, and that they keep resources available to put them into operation when necessary.

An independent authority needs to be in place in order to ensure that safety requirements are respected, as well as an adequate system to handle compensation claims in case of accident.

Companies are fully liable for environmental damages caused to protected species and natural habitats.

The deadline to transpose the directive into national law was 19 July 2015. The Commission has supported Cyprus in transposing and implementing the EU rules, but it found that a number of provisions were not correctly transposed. Cyprus now has two months to address the shortcomings identified by the Commission. Otherwise, the Commission may decide to send a reasoned opinion.

Protection of marine waters

The European Commission decided to open an infringement procedure by sending a letter of formal notice to Cyprus and another eight member states (Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania and Malta) for failing to comply with the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (Directive 2008/56/EC). The directive aims to protect the EU’s seas and oceans and ensure that their resources are managed sustainably.

Under the directive, Member States were required to review and update their ‘monitoring programmes’ by 15 October 2020 and their ‘programmes of measures’ by 31 March 2022.

The Member States concerned failed to submit reports on the review of their programmes of measures to the Commission by the required deadlines. Bulgaria and Malta also failed to send reports on the review of their monitoring programmes.

The member states in question now have two months to respond and address the shortcomings raised. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.

Sustainable water management

The European Commission decided to open an infringement procedure by sending a letter of formal notice to Cyprus and another 15 member states (Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain) for failing to finalise the revision of the river basin management plans as required under the Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC) and/or the flood risk management plans as required under the Floods Directive (Directive 2007/60/EC).

Both directives require Member States to update and report every six years their management plans on river basins and flood risk, respectively. River Basin Management Plans include a programme of measures which are key to ensure good status of all water bodies, as required by the directive. Flood risk management plans are formed on the basis of maps showing the potential adverse consequences associated with flood scenarios.

Cyprus is included in those member states that have failed to review, adopt and report in time all their third river basin management plans and second flood risk management plans.

The Commission is therefore sending a letter of formal notice to these 16 Member States, which now have two months to respond and address the shortcomings raised. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.

Free movement of services

The European Commission has also decided to launch and to pursue 24 cases against several Member States for various breaches of services-related legislation. These decisions are taken to ensure the correct implementation of rules aiming at the good functioning of the single market for services.

The Commission has decided to open and pursue infringement procedures relating to the EU Proportionality Test Directive. In particular, the Commission has decided to send additional letters of formal notice to Cyprus and ten other member states (Bulgaria, Czechia, Greece, France, Croatia, Latvia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Austria and Slovakia) while Estonia will be receiving a letter of formal notice to ensure that the introduction of professional regulations via parliamentary amendments is covered by a prior proportionality assessment.

The Commission has also decided to open an infringement against Cyprus for having in place prohibitions to team up with other professions in real estate agency companies.

All Member States concerned have two months to respond to the arguments raised by the Commission. Otherwise, the Commission may decide to take the next step in the procedure.

Source: CNA