The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that that Portugal yet again has managed not to comply with legislation, this time on the opening up to competition of the groundhandling services at Lisbon, Faro and Oporto airports.
The judgment reads that "the Portuguese Republic, by not taking the necessary steps to organise a process of selection for operators authorised to provide groundhandling services for baggage, ramp handling, cargo and mail at these airports has not complied with its obligations under this Article" and a stiff fine will be issued in due course.
The judgment also reads that the sale of the Groundfource "can not be considered equivalent to the selection of other providers of groundhandling services."
"Groundforce was acquired by Globalia which retained the license to provide groundhandling services, so it was not possible for an alternative supplier of groundhandling services to compete without first buying Groundforce."
Yet again Portugal has been found guilty of one of the easiest to understand aspects of Union membership, in this case “the opening to competition of the market for groundhandling services."
The European Commission made the complaint against Portugal in March 2013 at the EU Court of Justice for breaching competition rules at Portugal’s airports.
