Request for a preliminary ruling from the Administratīvā rajona tiesa (Latvia) lodged on 27 March 2020 — AS LatRailNet, VAS Latvijas dzelzceļš v Valsts dzelzceļa administrācija

(Case C-144/20)

Language of the case: Latvian

Referring court

Administratīvā rajona tiesa

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicants: AS LatRailNet, VAS Latvijas dzelzceļš

Defendant: Valsts dzelzceļa administrācija

Questions referred

Must Article 56(2) of Directive [2012/34] ¹ be interpreted as meaning that it confers on the regulatory body the power to adopt on its own initiative a decision ordering the undertaking performing the essential functions of a railway infrastructure manager, as mentioned in Article 7(1) of that directive, to make to provisions relating to the calculation of infrastructure charges (the charging scheme) certain amendments that are unrelated to discrimination against applicants?

If the first question is answered in the affirmative, is the regulatory body empowered to set out, in that decision, the conditions that must be laid down by such amendments, for example by laying down an obligation to exclude from the criteria for determining infrastructure charges pre-scheduled costs covered by the State budget or by local authority budgets which passenger transport operators cannot meet out of transport revenue?

Must Article 32(1) of Directive [2012/34] be interpreted as meaning that the obligation imposed on Member States in that paragraph to guarantee optimal competitiveness of rail market segments, by establishing mark-ups on infrastructure charges, also applies to the determination of infrastructure charges in market segments where there is no competition, because, for example, in the market segment concerned, transport is delivered exclusively by a single rail operator which has been given the exclusive right under Article 2(f) of Regulation No 1370/2007 ² to provide transport in that market segment?

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¹     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).

²     Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on public passenger transport services by rail and by road and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) Nos 1191/69 and 1107/70 (OJ 2007 L 315, p. 1).