Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the debate this evening brings us to the end of numerous discussions and meetings regarding the future of the railways in Europe. A package has been completed, but it is also true that we have not yet completed the necessary revitalisation of the railways. At the end of this long and educational road, I would like to thank all my fellow rapporteurs who, despite differences of opinion, even seeing things in an entirely different way, have allowed us to work in a way that respected everyone’s points of view. As this discussion follows many others and closes the package, I would like to give an overall view of the proposals. In my opinion, this package is in line with the twofold reality of European integration today. It is also proof of the positive contribution that Europe can make to its people in order to tighten links and develop solidarity. The same applies to the reports on interoperability and the creation of the Rail Safety Agency. The aim of the ‘interoperability’ directive, for which I am rapporteur, was to bring the national networks forged by history into harmony with each other in order to achieve faster, more efficient and more harmonious transport. This is essential in order to revitalise rail transport and help international trade to flow more easily. It means that techniques need to be made coherent and that we need to ensure that the diversity of networks does not hinder traffic or cause delays. Considerable progress has been made in this respect and also on how we can achieve it. To give just one example, the black box proposal, which everyone welcomes today, was suggested to me right at the start of the debates by actual railwaymen, which shows that we have everything to gain from the participation of the main people involved. This is why, as rapporteur, I would particularly like to thank my colleagues in the Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism for helping me to complete this task, and also everyone within Parliament and outside, professionals and associations, who have helped me to look in detail into these questions and gain a better grasp of the issues at stake. This is also one of the main reasons why I welcome the report on the creation of the Rail Agency. Representatives of the profession, and in particular of employee organisations, will be on the board of directors of the agency. They will also have the opportunity to take part in working groups on the TSIs that affect them. Even though I wanted other improvements, in my view these two points demonstrate what Europe can gain by trusting and giving a voice to those who keep it going day by day. They deserve strong support from Parliament at the vote tomorrow. I now come to the other aspect of the twofold reality that I mentioned earlier. In my opinion, this package also reveals an ideological bias towards opening up markets and liberalisation. The unbridled race towards ever more liberalisation is one of the sources of discontent with Europe. The directive on opening up the networks proposes total liberalisation of freight, even though the first package has just been transposed and no serious, transparent and balanced evaluation has been conducted on its effects. Moreover, a date for the total liberalisation of passenger rail transport has been announced, prejudging the debate, which has not yet started, on the third package. I think we need to stop being deaf to the opposition expressed by all the rail workers’ unions in Europe. Even on a subject as important and decisive as safety, it is being proposed to us that the first Article be amended to place opening up to competition on the same level as safety. In my view, this is sending a bad signal. I do not wish to repeat what, as my colleagues know, I have already said several times on this matter. I will simply say that, on issues of such importance, with the experiences that we have had in Europe, it is worth adhering to the precautionary principle.

Political group: GUE-NGL