May 19 (SeeNews) - The European Commission said on Thursday it has referred Romania and four other member states to the Court of Justice of the EU for failing to transpose the revised audiovisual media services directive.
The referrals include a request to impose financial sanctions, the EU's executive body said in its May package of infringement decisions.
The revised directive provides EU-wide media content standards for all audiovisual media, both traditional TV broadcasts and on-demand services, in addition to video-sharing platforms. The new EU rules aim to create a safer, fairer and more diverse audiovisual landscape, the Commission said.
Member states should have transposed the directive and communicate the national transposition measures by September 19, 2020.
As part of its May infringement package, the Commission sent Romania two reasoned opinions and a letter of formal notice concerning pending issues in those areas that the country needs to tackle.
In the first reasoned opinion, the Commission urged Romania and eight other member states to transpose the renewable energy directive, which provides the legal framework for the development of renewable energy in electricity, heating and cooling, and transport in the EU.
The Commission also asked Romania and Slovenia to communicate information about how EU rules on open data and the reuse of public sector data are transposed in national law.
If Romania does not address these reasoned opinions in two months, the Commission will refer the case to the Court of Justice.
The Commission also sent Romania and Luxembourg a letter of formal notice on the grounds that some provisions of the framework decision on the European arrest warrant have not been transposed correctly.
Romania now has two months to respond to the letter of formal notice. Otherwise, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.
(1 euro=4.9474 euro)