EC sends Romania to court for breach of EU directives

The European Commission decided on Thursday to refer Romania to the Court of Justice of the EU for not having correctly implemented and applied the Oil Stocks Directive. According to this directive, member states must ensure maintenance and availability of minimum stocks of crude oil or petroleum products in order to ensure security of supply of petroleum resources to the EU. The Member States must have in place appropriate emergency procedures and contingency plans in order to deal with a major supply disruption, should it occur. The Oil Stocks Directive was to be transposed by December 31, 2012. The EC also decided on Thursday to send Romania and Malta to the Court of Justice of the EU for failing to notify their national policy frameworks for the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure. The national policy frameworks are the main instrument to ensure the coordinated build-up of sufficient alternative fuels infrastructure, including recharging points for electric vehicles and refueling points for natural gas and hydrogen. Member states were required to notify their national policy frameworks to the Commission by November 18, 2016, but Romania and Malta have failed to do so. The EC also asked Romania to transpose European directives on markets and financial instruments (MiFID II), vehicle testing and road safety. Romania is among the EU countries that are late in implementing these directives. editor@romania-insider.com