Rail transport: Commission takes Austria to Court for not ensuring financial transparency

The European Commission has decided to take Austria to the Court of Justice for failing to comply with EU rules on financial transparency in the rail sector. Austria does not ensure that public funds paid as public service obligations dedicated to passenger transport services are correctly shown in relevant accounts. For this reason, it cannot be excluded that public funds are used to cross subsidise other transport services. This could distort competition, potentially giving an unfair competitive advantage to those receiving the public subsidies. Such a situation would be contrary to existing EU rules, which aim at establishing an efficient, non-distorted and competitive EU internal market for rail.

Background

The Commission considers that Austria has failed to comply with key provisions of the Directive 2012/34/EU and Regulation (EC) N. 1370/2007 on financial transparency. Austria fails to ensure that public funds paid for the provision of passenger transport services, under PSO (public service obligations) are correctly shown in the relevant accounts. For this reason, it is not possible to identify how public money is spent and whether it is used for other purposes than the ones foreseen.