Source: European Parliament
The Commission has contacted the Slovenian authorities about the Hospitality Act to seek clarifications on whether the draft law includes obligations for online service providers which would constitute technical regulations subject to the notification procedure established by the Single Market Transparency Directive[1] (EU) 2015/1535 (SMTD).
In its communication, the Commission reminded the Slovenian authorities that should the above-mentioned draft provide for any technical regulations as defined in Article 1 of SMTD, these technical regulations have to be notified to the Commission according to Article 5(1) of that directive.
According to the case-law of the Court of Justice of the EU (Case C-194/94, ‘CIA Security International’), the failure to fulfil the notification obligation under Directive (EU) 2015/1535 constitutes a substantial procedural defect in the adoption of the technical regulation concerned, which implies that any interested individual could challenge the legality of the technical regulation before a national court and ask for its inapplicability.
Article 15 of the Services Directive[2] lists several requirements, like quantitative or territorial restrictions, that Member States must notify to the Commission before or after their adoption.
At the time of issuing this reply, no notification under the Services Directive has been received. The Commission will examine the compliance of the Slovenian measures at issue with the Services Directive, notably when they are notified by the Slovenian authorities, and take the appropriate measures.