L 68/50 Official Journal of the European Union 13.3.2015 COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION (EU) 2015/424 of 11 March 2015 on the approval of the exemption decision pursuant to Article 9 of Council Directive 96/67/EC relating to the provision of certain groundhandling services at Zagreb International Airport (notified under document C(2015) 473) (Only the Croatian text is authentic) THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Having regard to Council Directive 96/67/EC of 15 October 1996 on access to the groundhandling market at Community airports (!), and in particular Article 9(5) thereof, Whereas: 1. THE EXEMPTION DECISION NOTIFIED (1) By letter of 13 August 2014, received by the Commission on 1 September 2014, the Croatian authorities notified, pursuant to Article 9(3) of Directive 96/67/EC (hereinafter: ‘the Directive), the exemption decision of the government of the Republic of Croatia, taken on the basis of Article 9(1)(b) and (d) of the Directive, relating to Zagreb International Airport. The Croatian authorities submitted additional information by letter dated 1 December 2014, received by the Commission on 17 December 2014, completing the notification. (2)  The notified decision provides for two exemptions. In the first place, it reserves to a single supplier the ground- handling services categories listed under points 3, 4 and 5, with the exception of point 5.1, of the Annex to the Directive, namely baggage handling, freight and mail handling as regards physical handling of freight and mail, whether incoming, outgoing or being transferred between the air terminal and the aircraft, and ramp handling, except for marshalling of the aircraft on the ground. In the second place, it bans self-handling for those three categories of groundhandling services, except for marshalling of the aircraft on the ground. Both exemptions apply for a period of two years, from 1 January 2015 until 31 December 2016. 2. THE CURRENT SITUATION AT ZAGREB INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (3)  Zagreb International Airport is operated by Zagreb International Airport Jsc. The airport handled 2,3 million passengers in 2013. (4)  Zagreb International Airport currently has one passenger terminal and is in the process of building a new passenger terminal with associated infrastructure (apron, access roads and parking lots). The new terminal will be completed and operational by the end of 2016 at the latest. It will have a capacity of 5 million passengers. The existing terminal will be closed except for use by general aviation and other miscellaneous activities (office rental etc.). (5) According to the Croatian authorities, the limitations of the current terminal, both in infrastructure and operational aspects, would not allow for the economic and effective introduction of additional groundhandling services suppliers in the period of construction of the new terminal. Once the building of the new passenger terminal and the new apron will be achieved and its operations started, the space and capacity problems associated with the existing infrastructure would be solved. (6)  According to the Croatian authorities, access to the market for the provision of baggage handling, ramp handling and freight and mail handling is currently open. However, up to now no third-party suppliers of groundhandling services have submitted an application to be issued an approval and a license for the provision of these ground- handling services at Zagreb International Airport. Those services are currently provided to airport users by the Zagreb International Airport Jsc. through a fully owned subsidiary. (7)  The freedom to self-handle also applies at Zagreb International Airport. However, only one airline currently self- handles one sub-category of ramp handling services (loading and unloading of food and beverages). No other air carrier has expressed an interest in self-handling. () OJL272,25.10.1996, p. 36.