G/TBT/N/EU/154  
 
27 September 2013  
(13-5176)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
NOTIFICATION 
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6 
 
1. Notifying Member:  EUROPEAN UNION  
If applicable, name of local government involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):     
2. Agency responsible:  European Commission 
Name and address (including telephon e and fax numbers, email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above :   
European Commission 
EU-TBT Enquiry Point 
Fax: +(32) 2 299 80 43 E-mail: eu-tbt@ec.europa.eu  
Website: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/tbt/  
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [ X ], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [ X ], 5.7.1 [   ], other:   
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff 
heading. ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):  Passenger 
rolling stock and rail infrastructure. 
5. Title, number of pages and langua ge(s) of the notified document:  Draft 
Commission Regulation concerning a technical specification for interoperability relating to 
the accessibility of the European Union's entire rail system for disabled persons and 
persons with reduced mobility (85 pages in English). 
6. Description of content: The draft Commission Regulation establishes in its Annex the 
technical specification for interoperability (TSI) relating to the accessibility of the European Union's entire rail system for disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility. The TSI:  
a) indicates its intended scope (chapter 2);  
b) lays down essential requirements for the concerned domain and for its interfaces vis-
à-vis other subsystems (chapter 3);  
c) establishes the functional and technical specifications to be met by the subsystem and 
its interfaces vis-à-vis other subsystems (chapter 4);  
d) determines the interoperability constituents and interfaces which must be covered by 
European specifications, including European standards, which are necessary to achieve 
interoperability within the rail system (chapter 5);  
e) states, in each case under consideration, which procedures are to be used in order to 
assess the conformity or the suitability for use of the interoperability constituents on the 
one hand, or the 'EC' verification of the subsystems (Article 18, Directive 2008/57/EC) 
on the other hand (chapter 6);  
f) further defines the application of the TSI to new and existing infrastructure and rolling 
stock and indicates country specific cases (chapter 7);  
g) lays down operating and maintenance rules (chapter 4).  G/TBT/N/EU/154 
 
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  7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where 
applicable:  To enhance the accessibility of rail transport to persons with disabilities and 
persons with reduced mobility.  
8. Relevant documents:   Directive 2008/57/EC of the European Parliament and of the 
Council of 17 June 2008 on the interoperability  of the rail system within the Community 
(Recast) (OJ L 191, 18.7.2008, p. 145) 
http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2008:191:0001:0045:EN:PDF    
9. Proposed date of adoption:   
Proposed date of entry into force:    2nd quarter 2014 July 2014 
10. Final date for comments:  60 days from notification 
11. Text available from:  National enquiry point [  ], or address, telephone and fax 
numbers, e-mail and web-site addresse s, if available of the other body:    
European Commission 
EU-TBT Enquiry Point 
Fax:  + (32) 2 299 80 43 
E-mail: eu-tbt@ec.europa.eu  
The text is available on the EU-TBT Website :  http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/tbt/    
http://members.wto.org/crnattach ments/2013/tbt/EEC/13_3821_00_e.pdf