Request for a preliminary ruling from the Oberverwaltungsgericht für das Land Nordrhein-Westfalen (Germany) lodged on 13 January 2020 — DB Netz AG v Federal Republic of Germany
(Case C-12/20)
Language of the case: German
Referring court
Oberverwaltungsgericht für das Land Nordrhein-Westfalen
Parties to the main proceedings
Applicant: DB Netz AG
Defendant: Federal Republic of Germany
Questions referred
Is Regulation (EU) No 913/2010, 1 in particular with regard to the tasks assigned to the management board of a freight corridor in Article 13(1), Article 14(9) and Article 18(c) of that Regulation, to be interpreted as meaning that the management board for a freight corridor is authorised to define the procedure for submitting applications for allocation of infrastructure capacity to the one-stop shop referred to in Article 13(1) of the Regulation itself, for example by requiring, as in the present circumstances, the exclusive use of an electronic booking tool, or is that procedure subject to the general provisions of Article 27(1) and (2) read in conjunction with point 3(a) of Annex IV to Directive 2012/34/EU, 2 which means that it may be regulated solely by the infrastructure managers involved in a freight corridor in their respective network statements?
If the first question is to be answered to the effect that the procedure referred to in point 1 has to be regulated solely in the network statement of the infrastructure managers involved in a freight corridor, is the review of the network statement by a national regulatory body governed in this respect by Article 20 of Regulation (EU) No 913/2010 or likewise exclusively by the provisions of Directive 2012/34/EU and the national legislation adopted for its transposition?
If the review is governed by Article 20 of Regulation (EU) No 913/2010, is it compatible with the provisions of that article for a national regulatory body to object to a regulation in the network statement such as that referred to in point 1, without acting jointly and in a substantively uniform manner with the regulatory bodies of the other States involved in the freight corridor or at least consulting them beforehand in order to ensure a uniform approach?
In so far as the review is governed by the provisions of Directive 2012/34/EU and the national legislation adopted for its transposition, is it compatible with those provisions, in particular with the general duty of coordination laid down in the second sentence of Article 57(1) of that directive, for a national regulatory body to object to such a regulation, without acting jointly and in a substantively uniform manner with the regulatory bodies of the other States involved in the freight corridor or at least having consulted them beforehand in order to ensure a uniform approach?
If the first question is to be answered to the effect that the procedure referred to in point 1 has to be regulated solely in the network statement of the infrastructure managers involved in a freight corridor, is the review of the network statement by a national regulatory body governed in this respect by Article 20 of Regulation (EU) No 913/2010 or likewise exclusively by the provisions of Directive 2012/34/EU and the national legislation adopted for its transposition?
In so far as the national regulatory bodies, on the basis of the questions above, are authorised to review the procedure referred to in point 1, is Article 14(1) of Regulation (EU) No 913/2010 to be interpreted as meaning that the framework defined by the executive board under that provision is EU law which binds the national regulatory bodies and the national courts, has priority of application over national law and is subject to the ultimately binding interpretation of the Court of Justice?
If the fourth question is to be answered in the affirmative, does the designation made under Article 14(1) of Regulation (EU) No 913/2010 by the executive boards of all the freight corridors under Article 8(2) of the respective framework, according to which the corridor capacity is to be published and allocated via an international application system, which shall as far as possible be harmonised with the other freight corridors, preclude a decision of a national regulatory body by which an infrastructure manager involved in a freight corridor is provided, for its network statement, with stipulations for structuring that application system which are not agreed with the national regulatory bodies of the other States involved in the freight corridors?
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1 Regulation (EU) No 913/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2010 concerning a European rail network for competitive freight (OJ 2010 L 276, p. 22).
2 Directive 2012/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 establishing a single European railway area (OJ 2012 L 343, p. 32).