Romania’s Government will transfer a railway sector supervision body to the Competition Council from the Transport Ministry to avoid an infringement procedure from the European Union.

"Considering we have already exceeded the undertaken calendar by four months, the European Commission expects Romanian authorities to inform it of the measures it has taken to organize this supervision body, otherwise it may continue infringement procedures and refer the matter to the European Court of Justice," according to a draft emergency decree drawn up by the Transport Ministry.

The European Commission evaluated in 2008 Romania's transposition of two European directives in the railway sector and found a potential conflict of interests regarding the activity of the railway sector's supervision body. The supervision body is currently under the authority of the Transports Ministry, which is also the majority owner of the country's freight and passenger railway companies.

Romania was supposed to ensure the supervision body's independence by the end of September 2010. The supervision council analyzes and settles claims against decision taken by the administrator of railway infrastructure, monitors competition on the railway transport market and monitors prices set by infrastructure administrators to ensure they are in line with legislation.

Mediafax