European omission will take Portugal before the Court of Justice of the European Union for failures to transpose the rules relating to the posting of drivers in the road transport sector
The European Commission has warned Portugal that it must complete the transposition of a directive to reduce air pollution from combustion plants and the Government now has two months to respond.
In a statement, the community executive announced that it had sent a reasoned opinion to the Portuguese Government for failing to transpose a directive on reducing emissions produced by combustion plants, “which are an important source of air pollutants, namely sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and dust”.
The directive was required of all Member States to “protect the health” of populations, but Portugal failed to implement it into national legislation, so in December 2024 the European Commission sent a letter to Luís Montenegro’s executive.
In the response to the letter, “Portugal agreed to amend the legislation to resolve the problems raised”.
But “other problems prevail, namely those relating to exceptions, information that must be made available by operators [das centrais de combustão]monitoring emissions, obligations imposed on operators and information that must be made available to competent authorities”, criticized the European Commission.
The Government has two months to respond to Brussels and adopt the necessary measures to comply with other European Union countries.
“Otherwise, the Commission may decide to take the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union”, warned the community executive.
Portugal goes to court over failures in deployment in the transport sector
The European Commission will take Portugal before the Court of Justice of the European Union (EU) for failures to transpose the rules relating to the posting of drivers in the road transport sector.
According to a statement, the deadline for Member States to transpose Directive (EU) 2020/1057 into national legislation was February 2, 2022, with Portugal and Bulgaria remaining the only ones that violate the full transposition of the directive.
The community executive considers that the efforts made by the competent authorities have, to date, been insufficient, and has therefore decided to take action at the Court of Justice, requesting the application of financial sanctions.
The directive (EU law) in question introduces specific rules for the posting of drivers in the road transport sector and its late transposition creates difficulties for drivers in terms of fair remuneration, the correct application of the rules and, for operators, in terms of carrying out their activity within a clear legal framework.
