COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 653/2007
of 13 June 2007
on the use of a common European format for safety certificates and application documents in accordance with Article 10 of Directive 2004/49/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and on the validity of safety certificates delivered under Directive 2001/14/EC
(Text with EEA relevance)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Directive 2004/49/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on safety on the Community’s railways and amending Council Directive 95/18/EC on the licensing of railway undertakings and Directive 2001/14/EC on the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and the levying of charges for the use of railway infrastructure and safety certification (Railway Safety Directive) (1) and in particular Article 15 thereof,
Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 881/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 establishing a European Railway Agency (Agency Regulation) (2) and in particular Article 7 thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Directive 2004/49/EC on safety on the Community’s railways elaborates the provisions for the safety certificates of railway undertakings. Article 10 of this Directive states that in order to be granted access to a railway infrastructure, a railway undertaking must hold a safety certificate. The purpose of the safety certificate is to provide evidence that the railway undertaking has established its safety management system and can meet requirements laid down in Technical Specifications for Interoperability, established under Council Directive 96/48/EC of 23 July 1996 on the interoperability of the trans-European high-speed rail system (3), Directive 2001/16/EC of 19 March 2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the interoperability of the trans-European conventional rail system (4), and other Community legislation, and in national rules in order to control risks and operate safely on the network.
(2)
Member States should make efforts to assist applicants wishing to enter the market as railway undertakings, and in particular they should provide information and act promptly for requests for safety certification. For railway undertakings operating international services it is important that the procedures for safety certification are similar in different Member States; therefore common parts of the safety certificate shall be harmonised in order to provide for a common template. To this end Article 15 of Directive 2004/49/EC provides for the harmonisation of safety certificates. Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 881/2004 states that the Agency shall draft and recommend a harmonised format for safety certificates, including an electronic version, and a harmonised format for applications for safety certificates including a list of the essential details to be provided.
(3)
In accordance with Article 33 of Directive 2004/49/EC, Member States shall bring into force its provisions by 30 April 2006. Hence from this date safety certificates shall be awarded in accordance with the provisions of Directive 2004/49/EC. This makes it necessary to take early action to harmonise the approach to safety certificates such that Member States may apply a harmonised approach as soon as possible.
(4)
Article 10 of Directive 2004/49/EC makes provisions for the safety certificate to comprise of two parts: one part confirming acceptance of the railway undertaking’s safety management system which shall be accepted throughout the Community (Part A), and the second part confirming the provisions adopted to meet the specific national requirements necessary to operate on the relevant network (Part B). The harmonised safety certificate application and guidelines contained within this Regulation provide guidance for railway undertakings and national safety authorities on what should be contained within an application for each part of the safety certificate.
(5)
In accordance with Article 10(6) of Directive 2004/49/EC national safety authorities shall inform the Agency of the safety certificates issued in accordance with the provisions of Article 10(2)(a) of the same Directive (Part A Certificates). However the Agency, in accordance with Article 11(1)(b) of its Regulation (EC) No 881/2004, shall keep a public database of all safety certificates issued in accordance with Article 10 of Directive 2004/49/EC. This obligation requires the Agency to publish both Part A and Part B Certificates. Therefore in support of Article 11(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 881/2004 Member States shall inform the Agency of Part B safety certificates granted under Article 10(2)(b) of Directive 2004/49/EC, as well as Part A certificates.
(6)
National safety authorities may inform the Agency of the issue, renewal, amendment or revocation of safety certificates by three main methods: through the use of the Agency’s web based tool, by submitting an electronic file of the safety certificate, or by providing a facsimile of the safety certificate. To facilitate the use of the standard format and to guarantee the use of the latest version of the forms it is recommended that national safety authorities use the web based electronic format on the website of the Agency or download either the electronic file or the master documents provided on the same website. The use of the web based electronic version is highly recommended as it allows for saving the document directly into the Agency’s database. Submitting an electronic file is also recommended, as it enables the Agency to save the document as a codified file, which can be sent directly to the Agency’s safety database.
(7)
Each safety certificate granted by the Member States shall be given a unique number; this number shall also facilitate the method by which the safety certificate is recorded in the public database to be established by the Agency.
(8)
In order to avoid unnecessary financial and administrative burdens, it is necessary to clarify that railway undertakings having obtained a safety certificate in accordance with Directive 2001/14/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2001 on the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and the levying of charges for the use of railway infrastructure and safety certification (5) are not obliged to apply for a new safety certificate until 1st of January 2011. Existing safety certificates are valid as long as the conditions for their validity are met; as soon as one of the conditions is not met (such as, for example, expiry or change of geographical scope), a new safety certificate shall be requested. This should not preclude the case where a railway undertaking, which already holds a certificate granted under Directive 2001/14/EC, can request a certificate in the new harmonised format. This question has been brought to the attention of the Commission in the context of Article 28(1) of Directive 2004/49/EC.
(9)
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee as set up under Article 21 of Directive 96/48/EC,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Safety certificates issued in accordance with Article 10(2)(a) of Directive 2004/49/EC (Part A Certificate) shall use the standard format set out in Annex I to this Regulation.
This format shall be used whenever a Part A Certificate is issued, renewed, updated, amended or revoked.
Article 2
Safety certificates issued in accordance with Article 10(2)(b) of Directive 2004/49/EC (Part B Certificate) shall use the standard format set out in Annex II to this Regulation.
This format shall be used whenever a Part B Certificate is issued, renewed, updated, amended or revoked.
Article 3
Applications for Part A and/or Part B Certificates submitted in accordance with Articles 10 and 12 of Directive 2004/49/EC shall be in the standard format set out in Annex III to this Regulation.
The application form shall be filled out according to the guidelines described in Annex III to this Regulation.
Article 4
Each Safety Certificate shall be given a unique number, in accordance with the protocol described in Annex IV of this Regulation.
Article 5
The safety authority shall inform the Agency of the issue, renewal, amendment or revocation of all Part A and Part B safety certificates issued in accordance with Article 10(2) of Directive 2004/49/EC.
Article 6
All safety certificates issued in accordance with Directive 2001/14/EC shall be replaced with safety certificates to be delivered in accordance with Directive 2004/49/EC and this Regulation, at the latest by 1st January 2011.
The amendment, updating or renewal of a safety certificate issued under Directive 2001/14/EC shall be done in accordance with the present Regulation and Directive 2004/49/EC.
Any railway undertaking which already holds a safety certificate granted under Directive 2001/14/EC has the right to request a new safety certificate issued in accordance with this Regulation and Directive 2004/49/EC from the national safety authority.
Article 7
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 13 June 2007.