EN Official Journal of the European Union L 343/32

DIRECTIVE 2012/34/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 21 November 2012

establishing a single European railway area

(recast)

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 91 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (2),

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (3),

Whereas:

(1) Council Directive 91/440/EEC of 29 July 1991 on the development of the Community's railways (4), Council Directive 95/18/EC of 19 June 1995 on the licensing of railway undertakings (5) and 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 (6) have been substantially amended. Since further amendments are necessary, those Directives should be recast and merged into a single act in the interest of clarity.

(2) Greater integration of the Union transport sector is an essential element of the completion of the internal market, and the railways are a vital part of the Union transport sector moving towards achieving sustainable mobility.

(3) The efficiency of the railway system should be improved, in order to integrate it into a competitive market, whilst taking account of the special features of the railways.

(4) Member States with an important share of rail traffic with third countries which have the same railway gauge which is different from the main rail network within the Union should be able to have specific operational rules ensuring both coordination between their infrastructure managers and those of the third countries concerned and fair competition between railway undertakings.

(5) In order to render railway transport efficient and competitive with other modes of transport, Member States should ensure that railway undertakings have the status of independent operators behaving in a commercial manner and adapting to market needs.

(6) In order to ensure the future development and efficient operation of the railway system, a distinction should be made between the provision of transport services and the operation of infrastructure. Given that situation, it is necessary for these two activities to be managed separately and to have separate accounts. Provided that those separation requirements are met, that no conflicts of interest arise and that the confidentiality of commercially sensitive information is guaranteed, infrastructure managers should have the possibility to outsource specific administrative tasks, such as the collection of charges, to entities other than those active in railway transport services markets.

(7) The principle of freedom to provide services should be applied to the railway sector, taking into account that sector's specific characteristics.

(8) In order to boost competition in railway service management in terms of improved comfort and the services provided to users, Member States should retain general responsibility for the development of the appropriate railway infrastructure.

(9) In the absence of common rules on allocation of infrastructure costs, Member States should, after consulting the infrastructure manager, lay down rules providing for railway undertakings to pay for the use of railway infrastructure. Such rules should not discriminate between railway undertakings.

(10) Member States should ensure that infrastructure managers and existing publicly owned or controlled railway transport undertakings are given a sound financial structure, having due regard to Union rules on State aid. This is without prejudice to the competence of the Member States regarding infrastructure planning and financing.

(11) Applicants should be given the opportunity to express their views on the content of the business plan as far as the use, provision and development of the infrastructure are concerned. This should not necessarily entail full disclosure of the business plan developed by the infrastructure manager.

(12) Since private branch lines and sidings, such as sidings and lines in private industrial facilities, are not part of the railway infrastructure as defined by this Directive, managers of those infrastructures should not be subject to the obligations imposed on infrastructure managers under this Directive. However, non-discriminatory access to branch lines and sidings should be guaranteed, irrespective of their ownership, where they are needed to get access to services facilities which are essential for the provision of transport services and where serving or potentially serving more than one final customer.

(13) Member States should be able to decide to cover infrastructure expenditure through means other than direct State funding, such as public private partnership and private sector financing.

(14) The profit and loss account of an infrastructure manager should be balanced over a reasonable time period, which, once established, might be exceeded under exceptional circumstances, such as a major and sudden deterioration in the economic situation in a Member State affecting substantially the level of traffic on its infrastructure or the level of available public financing. In accordance with international accounting rules, the amount of loans to finance infrastructure projects does not appear in such profit and loss accounts.

(15) An efficient freight sector, especially across borders, requires action to open up the market.

(16) In order to ensure that access rights to railway infrastructure are applied throughout the Union in a uniform and non-discriminatory manner, it is appropriate to introduce a licence for railway undertakings.

(17) In the case of journeys with intermediate stops, new market entrants should be authorised to pick up and set down passengers along the route in order to ensure that such operations are economically viable and to avoid placing potential competitors at a disadvantage compared to existing operators.

(18) The introduction of new, open-access, international passenger services with intermediate stops should not be used to open up the market for domestic passenger services, but should merely focus on stops that are ancillary to the international route. The principal purpose of the new services should be to carry passengers travelling on an international journey. When assessing whether that is the service's principal purpose, criteria such as the proportion of turnover, and of volume, derived from transport of domestic or international passengers, and the length of the service should be taken into account. The assessment of the service's principal purpose should be carried out by the respective national regulatory body at the request of an interested party.

(19) Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on public passenger transport services by rail and by road (7) authorises Member States and local authorities to award public service contracts which may contain exclusive rights to operate certain services. It is therefore necessary to ensure that the provisions of that Regulation are consistent with the principle of opening up international passenger services to competition.

(20) Opening up international passenger services to competition may have implications for the organisation and financing of rail passenger services provided under a public service contract. Member States should have the option of limiting the right of access to the market where that right would compromise the economic equilibrium of those public service contracts and where approval is given by the relevant regulatory body on the basis of an objective economic analysis, following a request from the competent authorities that awarded the public service contract.

(21) The assessment of whether the economic equilibrium of the public service contract has been compromised should take into account predetermined criteria such as the impact on the profitability of any services which are included in a public service contract, including the resulting impacts on the net cost to the competent public authority that awarded the contract, passenger demand, ticket pricing, ticketing arrangements, location and number of stops on both sides of the border and timing and frequency of the proposed new service. In accordance with such an assessment and the decision of the relevant regulatory body, Member States should be able to authorise, modify or deny the right of access for the international passenger service sought, including the levying of a charge on the operator of a new international passenger service, in line with the economic analysis and in accordance with Union law and the principles of equality and non-discrimination.

(22) In order to contribute to the operation of passenger services on lines fulfilling a public service obligation, Member States should be able to authorise the authorities responsible for those services to impose a levy on passenger services which fall within the jurisdiction of those authorities. That levy should contribute to the financing of public service obligations laid down in public service contracts.

(23) The regulatory body should function in a way which avoids any conflict of interests and any possible involvement in the award of the public service contract under consideration. The powers of the regulatory body should be extended to allow for an assessment of the purpose of an international service and, where appropriate, of the potential economic impact on existing public service contracts.

(24) In order to invest in services using specialised infrastructure, such as high-speed railway lines, applicants need legal certainty given the substantial long-term investment involved.

(25) The regulatory bodies should exchange information and, where relevant in individual cases, should coordinate the principles and practice of assessing whether the economic equilibrium of a public service contract is compromised. They should progressively develop guidelines based on their experience.

(26) In order to ensure fair competition between railway undertakings and to guarantee full transparency and the non-discriminatory access to and supply of services, a distinction should be made between the provision of transport services and the operation of service facilities. Thus, it is necessary for these two types of activity to be managed independently where the operator of the service facility belongs to a body or firm which is also active and holds a dominant position at national level in at least one of the railway transport markets for the carriage of goods or passengers for which the facility is used. Such independence should not entail the establishment of a separate legal entity for service facilities.

(27) Non-discriminatory access to service facilities and the supply of rail-related services in these facilities should allow railway undertakings to offer better services to passengers and freight users.

(28) While Directive 2009/72/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity (8) provides for the opening of the European electricity market, traction current should be supplied to railway undertakings upon request in a non-discriminatory manner. When there is only one supplier available, the charge imposed for such service should be set under uniform charging principles.

(29) In respect of relations with third countries, special consideration should be given to the existence of reciprocal access for Union railway undertakings to the rail market of those third countries and this should be facilitated through the cross-border agreements.

(30) In order to ensure dependable and adequate services, it is necessary to ensure that, at all times, railway undertakings meet certain requirements in relation to good repute, financial fitness and professional competence.

(31) For the protection of customers and the third parties concerned it is essential to ensure that railway undertakings are sufficiently insured against liability. Coverage of that liability in the event of accidents through guarantees provided by banks or other undertakings should also be allowed, provided that such coverage is offered under market conditions, does not result in State aid and does not contain elements of discrimination against other railway undertakings.

(32) A railway undertaking should also be required to comply with national and Union law on the provision of railway services, applied in a non-discriminatory manner, which are intended to ensure that it can carry on its activity in complete safety and with due regard to health, social conditions and the rights of workers and consumers on specific stretches of track.

(33) The procedures for granting, maintaining and amending licences for railway undertakings should be transparent and in accordance with the principle of non-discrimination.

(34) To ensure transparency and non-discriminatory access to rail infrastructure, and to services in service facilities, for all railway undertakings, all the information required to use access rights should be published in a network statement. The network statement should be published in at least two official languages of the Union in line with existing international practices.

(35) Appropriate capacity-allocation schemes for rail infrastructure coupled with competitive operators will result in a better balance of transport between modes.

(36) Infrastructure managers should be given incentives, such as bonuses for managing directors, to reduce the level of access charges and the costs of providing infrastructure.

(37) The obligation of Member States to ensure that the infrastructure manager performance targets and medium to long-term incomes are implemented through a contractual agreement between the competent authority and the infrastructure manager should be without prejudice to the competence of the Member States regarding planning of and financing for railway infrastructure.

(38) Encouraging optimal use of the railway infrastructure will lead to a reduction in the cost of transport to society.

(39) Methods for apportioning costs established by infrastructure managers should be based on the best available understanding of cost causation and should apportion costs to the different services offered to railway undertakings and, where relevant, to types of rail vehicles.

(40) Appropriate charging schemes for rail infrastructure coupled with appropriate charging schemes for other transport infrastructures and competitive operators should result in an optimal balance of different transport modes on a sustainable basis.

(41) When levying mark-ups, distinct market segments should be defined by the infrastructure manager where the costs of providing the transport services, their market prices or their requirements for service quality differ considerably.

(42) The charging and capacity-allocation schemes should permit equal and non-discriminatory access for all undertakings and should attempt, as far as possible, to meet the needs of all users and traffic types in a fair and non-discriminatory manner. Such schemes should allow fair competition in the provision of railway services.

(43) Within the framework set out by Member States, charging and capacity-allocation schemes should encourage railway infrastructure managers to optimise use of their infrastructure.

(44) Railway undertakings should receive clear and consistent economic signals from capacity-allocation schemes and from charging schemes which lead them to make rational decisions.

(45) Rolling noise caused by brake blocks with cast iron technology, used on freight wagons, is one of the causes of noise emissions that could be reduced with appropriate technical solutions. Noise differentiated infrastructure charges should primarily address the freight wagons that do not fulfil the requirements of Commission Decision 2006/66/EC of 23 December 2005 concerning the technical specification for interoperability relating to the subsystem ‧rolling stock — noise‧ of the trans-European conventional rail system (9). When such differentiation results in a loss of revenue for the infrastructure manager, it should be without prejudice to Union rules on State aid.

(46) Noise-differentiated infrastructure charges should complement other measures to reduce noise produced by rail traffic, such as the adoption of technical specifications for interoperability (TSI) setting maximum levels of noise produced by railway vehicles, noise mapping and action plans to reduce noise exposure under Directive 2002/49/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 June 2002 relating to the assessment and management of environmental noise (10) as well as Union and national public funding for the retrofitting of rail vehicles and for noise-reduction infrastructures.

(47) Noise-reduction measures equivalent to those adopted for the rail sector should be considered for other modes of transport.

(48) In order to accelerate the installation of the European Train Control System (ETCS) on board locomotives, infrastructure managers should modify the charging system through a temporary differentiation for trains equipped with ETCS. Such a differentiation should give appropriate incentives to equip trains with ETCS.

(49) In order to take into account the need of users, or potential users, of railway infrastructure capacity to plan their business, and the needs of customers and funders, it is important that infrastructure managers ensure that infrastructure capacity is allocated in a way which reflects the need to maintain and improve service reliability levels.

(50) It is desirable for railway undertakings and the infrastructure manager to be provided with incentives to minimise disruption and improve performance of the network.

(51) Member States should have the option of allowing purchasers of railway services to enter the capacity-allocation process directly.

(52) It is important to have regard to the business requirements of both applicants and the infrastructure manager.

(53) It is important to maximise the flexibility available to infrastructure managers with regard to the allocation of infrastructure capacity, but this should be consistent with satisfying the applicant's reasonable requirements.

(54) The capacity-allocation process should prevent the imposition of undue constraints on the wishes of other undertakings, holding, or intending to hold, rights to use the infrastructure, to develop their business.

(55) Capacity allocation and charging schemes may need to take account of the fact that different components of the rail infrastructure network may have been designed with different principal users in mind.

(56) As different users and types of users will frequently have a different impact on infrastructure capacity, the needs of different services need to be properly balanced.

(57) Services operated under contract to a public authority may require special rules to safeguard their attractiveness to users.

(58) The charging and capacity-allocation schemes should take account of the effects of increasing saturation of infrastructure capacity and, ultimately, the scarcity of capacity.

(59) The different time-frames for planning traffic types should ensure that requests for infrastructure capacity which are made after the completion of the process for establishing the annual working timetable can be satisfied.

(60) To ensure the optimum outcome for railway undertakings, it is desirable to require an examination of the use of infrastructure capacity when the coordination of requests for capacity is required to meet the needs of users.

(61) In view of their monopolistic position, infrastructure managers should be required to examine the available infrastructure capacity, and methods of enhancing it when the capacity-allocation process is unable to meet the requirements of users.

(62) A lack of information about other railway undertakings' requests and about the constraints within the system may make it difficult for railway undertakings to seek to optimise their infrastructure capacity requests.

(63) It is important to ensure better coordination of allocation schemes in order to improve the attractiveness of rail for traffic which uses the network of more than one infrastructure manager, in particular for international traffic.

(64) It is important to minimise the distortions of competition which may arise, either between railway infrastructures or transport modes, from significant differences in charging principles.

(65) It is desirable to define those components of the infrastructure service which are essential to enable an operator to provide a service and which should be provided in return for minimum access charges.

(66) Investment in railway infrastructure is necessary and infrastructure charging schemes should provide incentives for infrastructure managers to make appropriate investments economically attractive.

(67) To enable the establishment of appropriate and fair levels of infrastructure charges, infrastructure managers need to record and establish the value of their assets and develop a clear understanding of the factors which determine the cost of operating the infrastructure.

(68) It is desirable to ensure that account is taken of external costs when making transport decisions and that rail infrastructure charging can contribute to the internalisation of external costs in a coherent and balanced way across all modes of transport.

(69) It is important to ensure that charges for domestic and international traffic are such as to permit rail to meet the needs of the market. Consequently, infrastructure charging should be set at the cost that is directly incurred as a result of operating the train service.

(70) The overall level of cost recovery through infrastructure charges affects the necessary level of government contribution. Member States may require different levels of overall cost recovery. However, any infrastructure charging scheme should allow traffic which can at least pay for the additional cost which it imposes to use the rail network.

(71) Railway infrastructure is a natural monopoly and it is therefore necessary to provide infrastructure managers with incentives to reduce costs and to manage their infrastructure efficiently.

(72) The development of railway transport should be achieved by using, inter alia, the Union instruments available, without prejudice to priorities already established.

(73) Discounts which are granted to railway undertakings should relate to actual administrative cost savings made, in particular transaction costs savings. Discounts may also be granted to promote the efficient use of infrastructure.

(74) It is desirable for railway undertakings and the infrastructure manager to be provided with incentives to minimise disruption of the network.

(75) The allocation of capacity is associated with a cost to the infrastructure manager, payment for which should be required.

(76) The efficient management and fair and non-discriminatory use of rail infrastructure require the establishment of a regulatory body that oversees the application of the rules set out in this Directive and acts as an appeal body, without prejudice to the possibility of judicial review. Such a regulatory body should be able to enforce its information requests and decisions by means of appropriate penalties.

(77) The financing of the regulatory body should guarantee its independence and should come either from the State budget or from contributions of the sector levied in a compulsory way, while respecting the principles of fairness, transparency, non-discrimination and proportionality.

(78) Appropriate procedures for appointing staff should contribute to guaranteeing the independence of the regulatory body, ensuring in particular that the appointment of persons in charge of decisions is made by a public authority which does not directly exert ownership rights over regulated undertakings. Provided that that condition is met, such an authority could be, for example, a parliament, a President or a Prime Minister.

(79) Specific measures are required to take account of the specific geopolitical and geographical situation of certain Member States and the particular organisation of the railway sector in various Member States while ensuring the integrity of the internal market.

(80) In order to take into account the evolution of the rail market, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) should be delegated to the Commission in respect of the technical amendments to the information to be provided by the undertaking applying for a licence, to the list of classes of delay, to the schedule for the allocation process, and to the accounting information to be supplied to the regulatory bodies. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level. The Commission, when preparing and drawing up delegated acts, should ensure a simultaneous, timely and appropriate transmission of relevant documents to the European Parliament and to the Council.

(81) In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Directive, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission's exercise of implementing powers (11).

(82) Implementing acts related to the principal purpose of rail services, the assessment of impact of new international services on the economic equilibrium of public service contracts, the levies on railway undertakings providing passenger services, access to the services to be supplied in essential service facilities, the details on the procedure to be followed to obtain a licence, the modalities for the calculation of direct cost for the application of the charging for the cost of noise effects and for the application of the differentiation of the infrastructure charge to give incentives to equip trains with ETCS and the common principles and practices for the regulatory bodies decision-making should not be adopted by the Commission where the committee established pursuant to this Directive delivers no opinion on the draft implementing act presented by the Commission.

(83) Since the objectives of this Directive, namely to foster the development of the Union railways, to set out broad principles for granting licences to railway undertakings and to coordinate arrangements in the Member States governing the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and the charges made for the use thereof, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States on account of the manifestly international dimension of issuing such licences and operating significant elements of the railway networks, and of the need to ensure fair and non-discriminatory terms for access to the infrastructure, and can therefore, by reason of their trans-national implications, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Directive does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve those objectives.

(84) The obligation to transpose this Directive into national law should be confined to those provisions which represent a substantive change as compared with the earlier Directives. The obligation to transpose the provisions of this Directive, which are substantively unchanged as compared with the earlier Directives, arises under those Directives.

(85) The Member States which have no railway system, and no immediate prospect of having one, would be subject to a disproportionate and pointless obligation if they had to transpose and implement Chapters II and IV of this Directive. Therefore, such Member States should be exempted from that obligation.

(86) In accordance with the Joint Political Declaration of Member States and the Commission of 28 September 2011 on explanatory documents (12), Member States have undertaken to accompany, in justified cases, the notification of their transposition measures with one or more documents explaining the relationship between the components of a Directive and the corresponding parts of national transposition instruments. With regard to this Directive, the legislator considers the transmission of such documents to be justified.

(87) This Directive should be without prejudice to the time limits set out in Part B of Annex IX, within which Member States are to comply with the earlier Directives,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

CHAPTER I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

Subject-matter and scope

1. This Directive lays down:

(a) the rules applicable to the management of railway infrastructure and to rail transport activities of the railway undertakings established or to be established in a Member State as set out in Chapter II;

(b) the criteria applicable to the issuing, renewal or amendment of licences by a Member State intended for railway undertakings which are or will be established in the Union as set out in Chapter III;

(c) the principles and procedures applicable to the setting and collecting of railway infrastructure charges and the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity as set out in Chapter IV.

2. This Directive applies to the use of railway infrastructure for domestic and international rail services.

Article 2

Exclusions from the scope

1. Chapter II shall not apply to railway undertakings which only operate urban, suburban or regional services on local and regional stand-alone networks for transport services on railway infrastructure or on networks intended only for the operation of urban or suburban rail services.

Notwithstanding the first subparagraph, when such a railway undertaking is under the direct or indirect control of an undertaking or another entity performing or integrating rail transport services other than urban, suburban or regional services, Articles 4 and 5 shall apply. Article 6 shall also apply to such a railway undertaking with regard to the relationship between the railway undertaking and the undertaking or entity which controls it directly or indirectly.

2. Member States may exclude the following from the application of Chapter III:

(a) undertakings which only operate rail passenger services on local and regional stand-alone railway infrastructure;

(b) undertakings which only operate urban or suburban rail passenger services;

(c) undertakings which only operate regional rail freight services;

(d) undertakings which only operate freight services on privately owned railway infrastructure that exists solely for use by the infrastructure owner for its own freight operations.

3. Member States may exclude the following from the application of Articles 7, 8 and 13 and Chapter IV:

(a) local and regional stand-alone networks for passenger services on railway infrastructure;

(b) networks intended only for the operation of urban or suburban rail passenger services;

(c) regional networks which are used for regional freight services solely by a railway undertaking that is not covered under paragraph 1 until capacity on that network is requested by another applicant;

(d) privately owned railway infrastructure that exists solely for use by the infrastructure owner for its own freight operations.

4. Without prejudice to paragraph 3, Member States may exclude local and regional railway infrastructures which do not have any strategic importance for the functioning of the rail market from the application of Article 8(3) and local railway infrastructures which do not have any strategic importance for the functioning of the rail market from the application of Chapter IV. Member States shall notify the Commission of their intention to exclude such railway infrastructures. In accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 62(2), the Commission shall decide whether such railway infrastructure may be considered to be without any strategic importance taking into account the length of railway lines concerned, their level of use and the traffic volume potentially impacted.

5. Member States may exclude from the application of Article 31(5) vehicles operated or intended to be operated from and to third countries, running on a network whose track gauge is different from the main rail network within the Union.

6. Member States may decide time periods and deadlines for the schedule for capacity allocation which are different from those referred to in Article 43(2), point 2(b) of Annex VI and points 3, 4 and 5 of Annex VII if the establishment of international train paths in cooperation with infrastructure managers of third countries on a network whose track gauge is different from the main rail network within the Union has a significant impact on the schedule for capacity allocation in general.

7. Member States may decide to publish the charging framework and charging rules applicable specifically to international freight services from and to third countries operated on a network whose track gauge is different from the main rail network within the Union with different instruments and deadlines than those provided under Article 29(1) where this is required to ensure fair competition.

8. Member States may exclude from the application of Chapter IV railway infrastructure, whose track gauge is different from the main rail network within the Union, and which connects cross-border stations of a Member State to the territory of a third country.

9. This Directive shall not apply to undertakings the business of which is limited to providing solely shuttle services for road vehicles through undersea tunnels or to transport operations in the form of shuttle services for road vehicles through such tunnels except Article 6(1) and (4) and Articles 10, 11, 12 and 28.

10. Member States may exclude from the application of Chapter II, with the exception of Article 14, and Chapter IV, any railway service carried out in transit through the Union.

11. Member States may exclude from the application of Article 32(4) trains not equipped with the European Train Control System (ETCS) and used for regional passenger services which have been placed into service for the first time before 1985.

Article 3

Definitions

For the purpose of this Directive, the following definitions apply:

(1) ‧railway undertaking‧ means any public or private undertaking licensed according to this Directive, the principal business of which is to provide services for the transport of goods and/or passengers by rail with a requirement that the undertaking ensure traction; this also includes undertakings which provide traction only;

(2) ‧infrastructure manager‧ means any body or firm responsible in particular for establishing, managing and maintaining railway infrastructure, including traffic management and control-command and signalling; the functions of the infrastructure manager on a network or part of a network may be allocated to different bodies or firms;

(3) ‧railway infrastructure‧ means the items listed in Annex I;

(4) ‧international freight service‧ means a transport service where the train crosses at least one border of a Member State; the train may be joined and/or split and the different sections may have different origins and destinations, provided that all wagons cross at least one border;

(5) ‧international passenger service‧ means a passenger service where the train crosses at least one border of a Member State and where the principal purpose of the service is to carry passengers between stations located in different Member States; the train may be joined and/or split, and the different sections may have different origins and destinations, provided that all carriages cross at least one border;

(6) ‧urban and suburban services‧ means transport services whose principal purpose is to meet the transport needs of an urban centre or conurbation, including a cross-border conurbation, together with transport needs between such a centre or conurbation and surrounding areas;

(7) ‧regional services‧ means transport services whose principal purpose is to meet the transport needs of a region, including a cross-border region;

(8) ‧transit‧ means crossing territory of the Union without loading or unloading goods, and/or without picking up passengers or setting them down in territory of the Union;

(9) ‧alternative route‧ means another route between the same origin and destination where there is substitutability between the two routes for the operation of the freight or passenger service concerned by the railway undertaking;

(10) ‧viable alternative‧ means access to another service facility which is economically acceptable to the railway undertaking, and allows it to operate the freight or passenger service concerned;

(11) ‧service facility‧ means the installation, including ground area, building and equipment, which has been specially arranged, as a whole or in part, to allow the supply of one or more services referred to in points 2 to 4 of Annex II;

(12) ‧operator of service facility‧ means any public or private entity responsible for managing one or more service facilities or supplying one or more services to railway undertakings referred to in points 2 to 4 of Annex II;

(13) ‧cross-border agreement‧ means any agreement between two or more Member States or between Member States and third countries intended to facilitate the provision of cross-border rail services;

(14) ‧licence‧ means an authorisation issued by a licensing authority to an undertaking, by which its capacity to provide rail transport services as a railway undertaking is recognised; that capacity may be limited to the provision of specific types of services;

(15) ‧licensing authority‧ means the body responsible for granting licences within a Member State;

(16) ‧contractual agreement‧ means an agreement or, mutatis mutandis, an arrangement within the framework of administrative measures;

(17) ‧reasonable profit‧ means a rate of return on own capital that takes account of the risk, including that to revenue, or the absence of such risk, incurred by the operator of the service facility and is in line with the average rate for the sector concerned in recent years;

(18) ‧allocation‧ means the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity by an infrastructure manager;

(19) ‧applicant‧ means a railway undertaking or an international grouping of railway undertakings or other persons or legal entities, such as competent authorities under Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007 and shippers, freight forwarders and combined transport operators, with a public-service or commercial interest in procuring infrastructure capacity;

(20) ‧congested infrastructure‧ means an element of infrastructure for which demand for infrastructure capacity cannot be fully satisfied during certain periods even after coordination of the different requests for capacity;

(21) ‧capacity-enhancement plan‧ means a measure or series of measures with a calendar for their implementation which aim to alleviate the capacity constraints which led to the declaration of an element of infrastructure as ‧congested infrastructure‧;

(22) ‧coordination‧ means the process through which the infrastructure manager and applicants will attempt to resolve situations in which there are conflicting applications for infrastructure capacity;

(23) ‧framework agreement‧ means a legally binding general agreement under public or private law, setting out the rights and obligations of an applicant and the infrastructure manager in relation to the infrastructure capacity to be allocated and the charges to be levied over a period longer than one working timetable period;

(24) ‧infrastructure capacity‧ means the potential to schedule train paths requested for an element of infrastructure for a certain period;

(25) ‧network‧ means the entire railway infrastructure managed by an infrastructure manager;

(26) ‧network statement‧ means the statement which sets out in detail the general rules, deadlines, procedures and criteria for charging and capacity-allocation schemes, including such other information as is required to enable applications for infrastructure capacity;

(27) ‧train path‧ means the infrastructure capacity needed to run a train between two places over a given period;

(28) ‧working timetable‧ means the data defining all planned train and rolling-stock movements which will take place on the relevant infrastructure during the period for which it is in force;

(29) ‧storage siding‧ means sidings specifically dedicated to temporary parking of railway vehicles between two assignments;

(30) ‧heavy maintenance‧ means work that is not carried out routinely as part of day-to-day operations and requires the vehicle to be removed from service.

CHAPTER II

DEVELOPMENT OF THE UNION RAILWAYS

SECTION 1

Management independence

Article 4

Independence of railway undertakings and infrastructure managers

1. Member States shall ensure that, as regards management, administration and internal control over administrative, economic and accounting matters, railway undertakings directly or indirectly owned or controlled by Member States have independent status in accordance with which they will hold, in particular, assets, budgets and accounts which are separate from those of the State.

2. While respecting the charging and allocation framework and the specific rules established by the Member States, the infrastructure manager shall be responsible for its own management, administration and internal control.

Article 5

Management of the railway undertakings according to commercial principles

1. Member States shall enable railway undertakings to adjust their activities to the market and to manage those activities under the responsibility of their management bodies, in the interests of providing efficient and appropriate services at the lowest possible cost for the quality of service required.

Railway undertakings shall be managed according to the principles which apply to commercial companies, irrespective of their ownership. This shall also apply to the public service obligations imposed on them by Member States and to public service contracts which they conclude with the competent authorities of the State.

2. Railway undertakings shall determine their business plans, including their investment and financing programmes. Such plans shall be designed to achieve the undertakings' financial equilibrium and other technical, commercial and financial management objectives; they shall also indicate the means of attaining those objectives.

3. With reference to the general policy guidelines issued by each Member State and taking into account national plans and contracts (which may be multiannual) including investment and financing plans, railway undertakings shall, in particular, be free to:

(a) establish their internal organisation, without prejudice to the provisions of Articles 7, 29 and 39;

(b) control the supply and marketing of services and fix the pricing thereof;

(c) take decisions on staff, assets and own procurement;

(d) expand their market share, develop new technologies and new services and adopt any innovative management techniques;

(e) establish new activities in fields associated with the railway business.

This paragraph is without prejudice to Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007.

4. Notwithstanding paragraph 3, shareholders of publicly owned or controlled railway undertakings shall be able to require their own prior approval for major business management decisions in the same way as shareholders of private joint-stock companies under the rules of the company law of Member States. The provisions of this Article shall be without prejudice to the powers of supervisory bodies under the company law of Member States relating to the appointment of board members.

SECTION 2

Separation of infrastructure management and transport operations and of different types of transport operations

Article 6

Separation of accounts

1. Member States shall ensure that separate profit and loss accounts and balance sheets are kept and published, on the one hand, for business relating to the provision of transport services by railway undertakings and, on the other, for business relating to the management of railway infrastructure. Public funds paid to one of these two areas of activity shall not be transferred to the other.

2. Member States may also provide that this separation shall require the organisation of distinct divisions within a single undertaking or that the infrastructure and transport services shall be managed by separate entities.

3. Member States shall ensure that separate profit and loss accounts and balance sheets are kept and published, on the one hand, for business relating to the provision of rail freight transport services and, on the other, for activities relating to the provision of passenger transport services. Public funds paid for activities relating to the provision of transport services as public-service remits shall be shown separately in accordance with Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007 in the relevant accounts and shall not be transferred to activities relating to the provision of other transport services or any other business.

4. The accounts for the different areas of activity referred to in paragraphs 1 and 3 shall be kept in a way that allows for monitoring of the prohibition on transferring public funds paid to one area of activity to another and the monitoring of the use of income from infrastructure charges and surpluses from other commercial activities.

Article 7

Independence of essential functions of an infrastructure manager

1. Member States shall ensure that the essential functions determining equitable and non-discriminatory access to infrastructure, are entrusted to bodies or firms that do not themselves provide any rail transport services. Regardless of organisational structures, this objective shall be shown to have been achieved.

The essential functions shall be:

(a) decision-making on train path allocation, including both the definition and the assessment of availability and the allocation of individual train paths; and

(b) decision-making on infrastructure charging, including determination and collection of the charges, without prejudice to Article 29(1).

Member States may, however, assign to railway undertakings or any other body the responsibility for contributing to the development of the railway infrastructure, for example through investment, maintenance and funding.

2. Where the infrastructure manager, in its legal form, organisation or decision-making functions, is not independent of any railway undertaking, the functions referred to in Sections 2 and 3 of Chapter IV shall be performed respectively by a charging body and by an allocation body that are independent in their legal form, organisation and decision-making from any railway undertaking.

3. When the provisions of Sections 2 and 3 of Chapter IV refer to the essential functions of an infrastructure manager, they shall be understood as applying to the charging body or the allocation body for their respective powers.

SECTION 3

Improvement of the financial situation

Article 8

Financing of the infrastructure manager

1. Member States shall develop their national railway infrastructure by taking into account, where necessary, the general needs of the Union, including the need to cooperate with neighbouring third countries. For that purpose, they shall publish by 16 December 2014, after consultation with the interested parties, an indicative rail infrastructure development strategy with a view to meeting future mobility needs in terms of maintenance, renewal and development of the infrastructure based on sustainable financing of the railway system. That strategy shall cover a period of at least five years and be renewable.

2. Having due regard to Articles 93, 107 and 108 TFEU, Member States may also provide the infrastructure manager with financing consistent with its functions as referred to in point (2) of Article 3, the size of the infrastructure and financial requirements, in particular in order to cover new investments. Member States may decide to finance those investments through means other than direct State funding. In any case, Member States shall comply with the requirements referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article.

3. Within the framework of general policy determined by the Member State concerned and taking into account the strategy referred to in paragraph 1 and the financing provided by the Member States referred to in paragraph 2, the infrastructure manager shall adopt a business plan including investment and financial programmes. The plan shall be designed to ensure optimal and efficient use, provision and development of the infrastructure while ensuring financial balance and providing means for these objectives to be achieved. The infrastructure manager shall ensure that known applicants and, upon their request, potential applicants have access to the relevant information and are given the opportunity to express their views on the content of the business plan regarding the conditions for access and use and the nature, provision and development of the infrastructure before its approval by the infrastructure manager.

4. Member States shall ensure that, under normal business conditions and over a reasonable period which shall not exceed a period of five years, the profit and loss account of an infrastructure manager shall at least balance income from infrastructure charges, surpluses from other commercial activities, non-refundable incomes from private sources and State funding, on the one hand, including advance payments from the State, where appropriate, and infrastructure expenditure, on the other hand.

Without prejudice to the possible long-term aim of user cover of infrastructure costs for all modes of transport on the basis of fair, non-discriminatory competition between the various modes, where rail transport is able to compete with other modes of transport, within the charging framework of Articles 31 and 32, a Member State may require the infrastructure manager to balance his accounts without State funding.

Article 9

Transparent debt relief

1. Without prejudice to Union rules on State aid and in accordance with Articles 93, 107 and 108 TFEU, Member States shall set up appropriate mechanisms to help reduce the indebtedness of publicly owned or controlled railway undertakings to a level which does not impede sound financial management and which improves their financial situation.

2. For the purposes referred to in paragraph 1, Member States may require a separate debt amortisation unit to be set up within the accounting departments of such railway undertakings.

The balance sheet of the unit may be charged with all the loans raised by the railway undertaking, both to finance investment and to cover excess operating expenditure resulting from the business of rail transport or from railway infrastructure management, until such time as these loans are extinguished. Debts arising from subsidiaries' operations shall not be taken into account.

3. Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall apply only to debts or interest due on such debts incurred by publicly owned or controlled railway undertakings by the date of market opening for all or part of rail transport services in the Member State concerned and in any case by 15 March 2001 or the date of accession to the Union for the Member States which joined the Union after that date.

SECTION 4

Access to railway infrastructure and services

Article 10

Conditions of access to railway infrastructure

1. Railway undertakings shall be granted, under equitable, non-discriminatory and transparent conditions, the right to access to the railway infrastructure in all Member States for the purpose of operating all types of rail freight services. That right shall include access to infrastructure connecting maritime and inland ports and other service facilities referred to in point 2 of Annex II, and to infrastructure serving or potentially serving more than one final customer.

2. Railway undertakings shall be granted the right of access to railway infrastructure in all Member States for the purpose of operating an international passenger service. Railway undertakings shall, in the course of an international passenger service, have the right to pick up passengers at any station located along the international route and set them down at another, including stations located in the same Member State. That right shall include access to infrastructure connecting service facilities referred to in point 2 of Annex II.

3. Following the request from the relevant competent authorities or interested railway undertakings, the relevant regulatory body or bodies referred to in Article 55 shall determine whether the principal purpose of the service is to carry passengers between stations located in different Member States.

4. Based on the experience of regulatory bodies, competent authorities and railway undertakings and based on the activities of the network referred to in Article 57(1), the Commission shall adopt by 16 December 2016 measures setting out the details of the procedure and criteria to be followed for the application of paragraph 3 of this Article. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 62(3).

Article 11

Limitation of the right of access and of the right to pick up and set down passengers

1. Member States may limit the right of access provided for in Article 10 on services between a place of departure and a destination which are covered by one or more public service contracts which are in accordance with Union law. Such limitation shall not have the effect of restricting the right to pick up passengers at any station located along the route of an international service and to set them down at another, including stations located in the same Member State, except where the exercise of that right would compromise the economic equilibrium of a public service contract.

2. Whether the economic equilibrium of a public service contract would be compromised shall be determined by the relevant regulatory body or bodies referred to in Article 55 on the basis of an objective economic analysis and based on pre-determined criteria, after a request from any of the following:

(a) the competent authority or competent authorities that awarded the public service contract;

(b) any other interested competent authority with the right to limit access under this Article;

(c) the infrastructure manager;

(d) the railway undertaking performing the public service contract.

The competent authorities and the railway undertakings providing the public services shall provide the relevant regulatory body or bodies with the information reasonably required to reach a decision. The regulatory body shall consider the information provided by these parties, and, as appropriate, shall ask for relevant information from, and initiate consultation with, all relevant parties, within one month of receipt of the request. The regulatory body shall consult all the relevant parties as appropriate, and shall inform the relevant parties of its reasoned decision within a pre-determined, reasonable time, and, in any case, within six weeks of receipt of all relevant information.

3. The regulatory body shall give the grounds for its decision and specify the time period within which, and the conditions under which, any of the following may request a reconsideration of the decision:

(a) the relevant competent authority or competent authorities;

(b) the infrastructure manager;

(c) the railway undertaking performing the public service contract;

(d) the railway undertaking seeking access.

4. Based on the experience of regulatory bodies, competent authorities and railway undertakings and based on the activities of the network referred to in Article 57(1), the Commission shall adopt by 16 December 2016 measures setting out the details of the procedure and criteria to be followed for the application of paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Article. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 62(3).

5. Member States may also limit the right to pick up and set down passengers at stations within the same Member State along the route of an international passenger service where an exclusive right to convey passengers between those stations has been granted under a concession contract awarded before 4 December 2007 on the basis of a fair competitive tendering procedure and in accordance with the relevant principles of Union law. Such a limitation may continue for the original duration of the contract, or 15 years, whichever is shorter.

6. Member States shall ensure that the decisions referred to in paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 5 are subject to judicial review.

Article 12

Levy on railway undertakings providing passenger services

1. Without prejudice to Article 11(2), Member States may, under the conditions laid down in this Article, authorise the authority responsible for rail passenger transport to impose a levy on railway undertakings providing passenger services for the operation of routes which fall within the jurisdiction of that authority and which are operated between two stations in that Member State.

In that case, railway undertakings providing domestic or international rail passenger transport services shall be subject to the same levy on the operation of routes which fall within the jurisdiction of that authority.

2. The levy is intended to compensate the authority for public service obligations laid down in public service contracts awarded in accordance with Union law. The revenue raised from such a levy and paid as compensation shall not exceed what is necessary to cover all or part of the cost incurred in the relevant public service obligations taking into account the relevant receipts and a reasonable profit for discharging those obligations.

3. The levy shall be imposed in accordance with Union law, and shall respect in particular the principles of fairness, transparency, non-discrimination and proportionality, in particular between the average price of the service to the passenger and the level of the levy. The total levies imposed pursuant to this paragraph shall not endanger the economic viability of the rail passenger transport service on which they are imposed.

4. The relevant authorities shall keep the information necessary to ensure that the origin of the levies and their use can be traced. Member States shall provide the Commission with this information.

5. Based on the experience of regulatory bodies, competent authorities and railway undertakings and based on the activities of the network referred to in Article 57(1), the Commission shall adopt measures setting out the details of the procedure and criteria to be followed for the application of this Article. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 62(3).

Article 13

Conditions of access to services

1. Infrastructure managers shall supply to all railway undertakings, in a non-discriminatory manner, the minimum access package laid down in point 1 of Annex II.

2. Operators of service facilities shall supply in a non-discriminatory manner to all railway undertakings access, including track access, to the facilities referred to in point 2 of Annex II, and to the services supplied in these facilities.

3. To guarantee full transparency and non-discrimination of access to the service facilities referred to in points 2(a), (b), (c), (d), (g) and (i) of Annex II, and the supply of services in these facilities where the operator of such a service facility is under direct or indirect control of a body or firm which is also active and holds a dominant position in national railway transport services markets for which the facility is used, the operators of these service facilities shall be organised in such a way that they are independent of this body or firm in organisational and decision-making terms. Such independence shall not imply the requirement of the establishment of a separate legal entity for service facilities and may be fulfilled with the organisation of distinct divisions within a single legal entity.

For all service facilities referred to in point 2 of Annex II, the operator and the body or firm shall have separate accounts, including separate balance sheets and profit and loss accounts.

Where operation of the service facility is ensured by an infrastructure manager or the operator of the service facility is under the direct or indirect control of an infrastructure manager compliance with the requirements set out in this paragraph shall be deemed to be demonstrated by the fulfilment of the requirements set out in Article 7.

4. Requests by railway undertakings for access to, and supply of services in the service facility referred to in point 2 of Annex II shall be answered within a reasonable time limit set by the regulatory body referred to in Article 55. Such requests may only be refused if there are viable alternatives allowing them to operate the freight or passenger service concerned on the same or alternative routes under economically acceptable conditions. This shall not oblige the operator of the service facility to make investments in resources or facilities in order to accommodate all requests by railway undertakings.

Where requests by railway undertakings concern access to, and supply of services in a service facility managed by an operator of the service facility referred to in paragraph 3, the operator of the service facility shall justify in writing any decision of refusal and indicate viable alternatives in other facilities.

5. Where an operator of the service facility referred to in point 2 of Annex II encounters conflicts between different requests, it shall attempt to meet all requests in so far as possible. If no viable alternative is available, and it is not possible to accommodate all requests for capacity for the relevant facility on the basis of demonstrated needs, the applicant may complain to the regulatory body referred to in Article 55 which shall examine the case and take action, where appropriate, to ensure that an appropriate part of the capacity is granted to that applicant.

6. Where a service facility referred to in point 2 of Annex II has not been in use for at least two consecutive years and interest by railway undertakings for access to this facility has been expressed to the operator of that service facility on the basis of demonstrated needs, its owner shall publicise the operation of the facility as being for lease or rent as a rail service facility, as a whole or in part, unless the operator of that service facility demonstrates that an ongoing process of reconversion prevents its use by any railway undertaking.

7. Where the operator of the service facility provides any of the services referred to in point 3 of Annex II as additional services, it shall supply them upon request to railway undertakings in a non-discriminatory manner.

8. Railway undertakings may request, as ancillary services, further services referred to in point 4 of Annex II from the infrastructure manager or from other operators of the service facility. The operator of the service facility is not obliged to supply these services. Where the operator of the service facility decides to offer to others any of these services, it shall supply them upon request to railway undertakings in a non-discriminatory manner.

9. Based on the experience of regulatory bodies and operators of service facilities and based on the activities of the network referred to in Article 57(1), the Commission may adopt measures setting out the details of the procedure and criteria to be followed for access to the services to be supplied in the service facilities referred to in points 2 to 4 of Annex II. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 62(3).

SECTION 5

Cross-border agreements

Article 14

General principles for cross-border agreements

1. Member States shall ensure that the provisions contained in cross-border agreements do not discriminate between railway undertakings, or restrict the freedom of railway undertakings to operate cross-border services.

2. Member States shall notify the Commission of any cross-border agreement by 16 June 2013, for the agreements concluded before that date, and before their conclusion for new or revised agreements between Member States. The Commission shall decide whether such agreements are in compliance with Union law within nine months of notification for agreements concluded before 15 December 2012 and within four months of notification for new or revised agreements between Member States. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 62(2).

3. Without prejudice to the division of competence between the Union and the Member States, in accordance with Union law, Member States shall notify the Commission of their intention to enter into negotiations on, and to conclude, new or revised cross-border agreements between Member States and third countries.

4. If, within two months of the receipt of the notification of a Member State's intention to enter into the negotiations referred to in paragraph 2, the Commission concludes that the negotiations are likely to undermine the objectives of Union negotiations underway with the third countries concerned and/or to lead to an agreement which is incompatible with Union law, it shall inform the Member State accordingly.

Member States shall keep the Commission regularly informed of any such negotiations and, where appropriate, invite the Commission to participate as an observer.

5. Member States shall be authorised to provisionally apply and/or to conclude new or revised cross-border agreements with third countries, provided that they are compatible with Union law and do not harm the object and purpose of the transport policy of the Union. The Commission shall adopt such authorisation decisions. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 62(2).

SECTION 6

Monitoring tasks of the Commission

Article 15

Scope of market monitoring

1. The Commission shall make the necessary arrangements to monitor technical and economic conditions and market developments in Union rail transport.

2. In this context, the Commission shall closely involve representatives of the Member States, including representatives of the regulatory bodies referred to in Article 55, and representatives of the sectors concerned in its work, including, where appropriate, the railway sector's social partners, users and representatives of local and regional authorities, so that they are better able to monitor the development of the railway sector and the evolution of the market, to assess the effect of the measures adopted and to analyse the impact of the measures planned by the Commission. Where appropriate, the Commission shall also involve the European Railway Agency, in accordance with its functions as provided for in Regulation (EC) No 881/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 establishing a European Railway Agency (Agency Regulation) (13).

3. The Commission shall monitor the use of the networks and the evolution of framework conditions in the rail sector, in particular infrastructure charging, capacity allocation, investments made in railway infrastructure, developments as regards prices and the quality of rail transport services, rail transport services covered by public service contracts, licensing and the degree of market opening and harmonisation between Member States, development of employment and the related social conditions in the rail sector. These monitoring activities are without prejudice to similar activities in Member States and to the role of social partners.

4. The Commission shall report every two years to the European Parliament and the Council on:

(a) the evolution of the internal market in rail services and services to be supplied to railway undertakings, as referred to in Annex II;

(b) the framework conditions referred to in paragraph 3, including for public passenger transport services by rail;

(c) the state of the Union railway network;

(d) the utilisation of access rights;

(e) barriers to more effective rail services;

(f) infrastructure limitations;

(g) the need for legislation.

5. For the purposes of market monitoring by the Commission, Member States shall, while respecting the role of the social partners, supply to the Commission on an annual basis the necessary information on the use of the networks and the evolution of framework conditions in the rail sector.

6. The Commission may adopt measures to ensure consistency in the reporting obligations of Member States. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 62(3).

CHAPTER III

LICENSING OF RAILWAY UNDERTAKINGS

SECTION 1

Licensing authority

Article 16

Licensing authority

Each Member State shall designate a licensing authority that shall be responsible for issuing licences and for carrying out the obligations imposed by this Chapter.

The licensing authority shall not provide rail transport services itself and shall be independent of firms or entities that do so.

SECTION 2

Conditions for obtaining a licence

Article 17

General requirements

1. An undertaking shall be entitled to apply for a licence in the Member State in which it is established.

2. Member States shall not issue licences or extend their validity where the requirements of this Chapter are not complied with.

3. An undertaking which fulfils the requirements set out in this Chapter shall be authorised to receive a licence.

4. No undertaking shall be permitted to provide the rail transport services covered by this Chapter unless it has been granted the appropriate licence for the services to be provided.

However, such a licence shall not, in itself, entitle the holder to access the railway infrastructure.

5. The Commission shall adopt measures setting out the details for the use of a common template for the licence and, if needed to ensure fair and efficient competition in rail transport markets, details on the procedure to be followed for the application of this Article. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 62(3).

Article 18

Conditions for obtaining a licence

An undertaking applying for a licence shall be required to be able to demonstrate to the licensing authorities of the Member State concerned before the start of its activities that it will at any time be able to meet the requirements relating to good repute, financial fitness, professional competence and cover for its civil liability as listed in Articles 19 to 22.

For those purposes, each undertaking applying for a licence shall provide all relevant information.

Article 19

Requirements relating to good repute

Member States shall define the conditions under which the requirement of good repute is met to ensure that an undertaking applying for a licence or the persons in charge of its management:

(a) have not been convicted of serious criminal offences, including offences of a commercial nature;

(b) have not been declared bankrupt;

(c) have not been convicted of serious offences set out in specific legislation applicable to transport;

(d) have not been convicted of serious or repeated failure to fulfil social or labour law obligations, including obligations under occupational safety and health legislation, and customs law obligations in the case of a company seeking to operate cross-border freight transport subject to customs procedures.

Article 20

Requirements relating to financial fitness

1. The requirements relating to financial fitness shall be met when an undertaking applying for a licence can demonstrate that it will be able to meet its actual and potential obligations, established under realistic assumptions, for a period of 12 months.

2. The licensing authority shall verify financial fitness especially by means of a railway undertaking's annual accounts or, in the case of undertakings applying for a licence which are unable to present annual accounts, a balance sheet. Each undertaking applying for a licence shall provide at least the information listed in Annex III.

3. The licensing authority shall not consider an undertaking applying for a licence to be financially fit if considerable or recurrent arrears of taxes or social security are owed as a result of that undertaking's activity.

4. The licensing authority may require the submission of an audit report and suitable documents from a bank, public savings bank, accountant or auditor. Those documents shall include the information listed in Annex III.

5. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 60 concerning certain amendments to Annex III. Thus, Annex III may be amended to specify the information to be provided by undertakings applying for a licence or supplemented in the light of the experience gained by licensing authorities or the evolution of the rail transport market.

Article 21

Requirements relating to professional competence

The requirements relating to professional competence shall be met when an undertaking applying for a licence can demonstrate that it has or will have a management organisation which possesses the knowledge or experience necessary to exercise safe and reliable operational control and supervision of the type of operations specified in the licence.

Article 22

Requirements relating to cover for civil liability

Without prejudice to Union rules on State aid and in accordance with Articles 93, 107 and 108 TFEU, a railway undertaking shall be adequately insured or have adequate guarantees under market conditions for cover, in accordance with national and international law, of its liabilities in the event of accidents, in particular in respect of passengers, luggage, freight, mail and third parties. Notwithstanding this obligation, the specificities and the risk-profile of different types of services, in particular of railway operations for cultural or heritage purposes, may be taken into account.

SECTION 3

Validity of the licence

Article 23

Spatial and temporal validity

1. A licence shall be valid throughout the territory of the Union.

2. A licence shall be valid as long as the railway undertaking fulfils the obligations laid down in this Chapter. A licensing authority may, however, make provision for a regular review. If so, the review shall be carried out at least every five years.

3. Specific provisions governing the suspension or revocation of a licence may be incorporated in the licence itself.

Article 24

Temporary licence, approval, suspension and revocation

1. If there is serious doubt that a railway undertaking which it has licensed complies with the requirements of this Chapter, and in particular those of Article 18, the licensing authority may, at any time, check whether that railway undertaking does in fact comply with those requirements.

Where a licensing authority is satisfied that a railway undertaking can no longer meet the requirements, it shall suspend or revoke the licence.

2. Where the licensing authority of a Member State is satisfied that there is serious doubt regarding compliance with the requirements laid down in this Chapter on the part of a railway undertaking to which a licence has been issued by the licensing authority of another Member State, it shall inform the latter authority without delay.

3. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, where a licence is suspended or revoked on grounds of non-compliance with the requirement for financial fitness, the licensing authority may grant a temporary licence pending the reorganisation of the railway undertaking, provided that safety is not jeopardised. A temporary licence shall not, however, be valid for more than six months after its date of issue.

4. Where a railway undertaking has ceased operations for six months or has not started operations within six months of the grant of a licence, the licensing authority may decide that the licence shall be required to be resubmitted for approval or be suspended.

As regards the start of activities, the railway undertaking may ask for a longer period to be fixed, taking account of the specific nature of the services to be provided.

5. In the event of a change affecting the legal situation of an undertaking and, in particular, in the event of a merger or takeover, the licensing authority may decide that the licence shall be resubmitted for approval. The railway undertaking in question may continue operations, unless the licensing authority decides that safety is jeopardised. In that event, the grounds for such a decision shall be given.

6. Where a railway undertaking intends to significantly change or extend its activities, its licence shall be resubmitted to the licensing authority for review.

7. A licensing authority shall not permit a railway undertaking against which bankruptcy or similar proceedings have commenced to retain its licence if that authority is convinced that there is no realistic prospect of satisfactory financial restructuring within a reasonable period of time.

8. Where a licensing authority issues, suspends, revokes or amends a licence, it shall immediately inform the European Railway Agency accordingly. The European Railway Agency shall inform the licensing authorities of other Member States forthwith.

Article 25

Procedure for granting licences

1. The procedures for granting licences shall be made public by the Member State concerned, which shall inform the Commission thereof.

2. The licensing authority shall take a decision on an application as soon as possible, but not more than three months after all relevant information, notably the particulars referred to in Annex III, has been submitted. The licensing authority shall take into account all the available information. The decision shall be communicated to the undertaking applying for a licence without delay. A refusal shall state the grounds on which it is based.

3. Member States shall ensure that the licensing authority's decisions are subject to judicial review.

CHAPTER IV

LEVYING OF CHARGES FOR THE USE OF RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE AND ALLOCATION OF RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE CAPACITY

SECTION 1

General principles

Article 26

Effective use of infrastructure capacity

Member States shall ensure that charging and capacity-allocation schemes for railway infrastructure follow the principles set down in this Directive and thus allow the infrastructure manager to market and make optimum effective use of the available infrastructure capacity.

Article 27

Network statement

1. The infrastructure manager shall, after consultation with the interested parties, develop and publish a network statement which shall be obtainable against payment of a fee which shall not exceed the cost of publication of that statement. The network statement shall be published in at least two official languages of the Union. The content of the network statement shall be made available free of charge in electronic format on the web portal of the infrastructure manager and accessible through a common web portal. That web portal shall be set up by the infrastructure managers in the framework of their cooperation in accordance with Articles 37 and 40.

2. The network statement shall set out the nature of the infrastructure which is available to railway undertakings, and contain information setting out the conditions for access to the relevant railway infrastructure. The network statement shall also contain information setting out the conditions for access to service facilities connected to the network of the infrastructure manager and for supply of services in these facilities or indicate a website where such information is made available free of charge in electronic format. The content of the network statement is laid down in Annex IV.

3. The network statement shall be kept up to date and amended as necessary.

4. The network statement shall be published no less than four months in advance of the deadline for requests for infrastructure capacity.

Article 28

Agreements between railway undertakings and infrastructure managers

Any railway undertaking engaged in rail transport services shall conclude the necessary agreements under public or private law with the infrastructure managers of the railway infrastructure used. The conditions governing such agreements shall be non-discriminatory and transparent, in accordance with this Directive.

SECTION 2

Infrastructure and services charges

Article 29

Establishing, determining and collecting charges

1. Member States shall establish a charging framework while respecting the management independence laid down in Article 4.

Subject to that condition, Member States shall also establish specific charging rules or delegate such powers to the infrastructure manager.

Member States shall ensure that the network statement contains the charging framework and charging rules or indicates a website where the charging framework and charging rules are published.

The infrastructure manager shall determine and collect the charge for the use of infrastructure in accordance with the established charging framework and charging rules.

Without prejudice to the management independence laid down in Article 4 and provided that the right has been directly conferred by constitutional law before 15 December 2010, the national parliament may have the right to scrutinise and, where appropriate, review the level of charges determined by the infrastructure manager. Any such review shall ensure that charges comply with this Directive, the established charging framework and charging rules.

2. Except where specific arrangements are made under Article 32(3), infrastructure managers shall ensure that the charging scheme in use is based on the same principles over the whole of their network.

3. Infrastructure managers shall ensure that the application of the charging scheme results in equivalent and non-discriminatory charges for different railway undertakings that perform services of an equivalent nature in a similar part of the market and that the charges actually applied comply with the rules laid down in the network statement.

4. An infrastructure manager shall respect the commercial confidentiality of information provided to it by applicants.

Article 30

Infrastructure cost and accounts

1. Infrastructure managers shall, with due regard to safety and to maintaining and improving the quality of the infrastructure service, be given incentives to reduce the costs of providing infrastructure and the level of access charges.

2. Without prejudice to their competence regarding railway infrastructure planning and financing, and to the budgetary principle of annuality, where applicable, Member States shall ensure that a contractual agreement, fulfilling the basic principles and parameters set out in Annex V, is concluded between the competent authority and the infrastructure manager covering a period of not less than five years.

Member States shall ensure that contractual agreements in force on 15 December 2012 are modified, if necessary, to align them with this Directive upon their renewal, or at the latest by 16 June 2015.

3. Member States shall implement the incentives referred to in paragraph 1 through the contractual agreement referred to in paragraph 2 or through regulatory measures or through a combination of incentives to reduce costs in the contractual agreement and the level of charges through regulatory measures.

4. If a Member State decides to implement the incentives referred to in paragraph 1 through regulatory measures, this shall be based on an analysis of the achievable cost reductions. This shall be without prejudice to the powers of the regulatory body to review the charges referred to in Article 56.

5. The terms of the contractual agreement referred to in paragraph 2 and the structure of the payments agreed to provide funding to the infrastructure manager shall be agreed in advance to cover the whole of the contractual period.

6. Member States shall ensure that applicants and, upon their request, potential applicants are informed by the competent authority and the infrastructure manager and are given the opportunity to express their views on the content of the contractual agreement before it is signed. The contractual agreement shall be published within one month of concluding it.

The infrastructure manager shall ensure consistency between the provisions of the contractual agreement and the business plan.

7. Infrastructure managers shall develop and maintain a register of their assets and the assets they are responsible for managing which would be used to assess the financing needed to repair or replace them. This shall be accompanied by details of expenditure on renewal and upgrading of the infrastructure.

8. Infrastructure managers shall establish a method for apportioning costs to the different categories of services offered to railway undertakings. Member States may require prior approval. That method shall be updated from time to time on the basis of the best international practice.

Article 31

Principles of charging

1. Charges for the use of railway infrastructure and of service facilities shall be paid to the infrastructure manager and to the operator of service facility respectively and used to fund their business.

2. Member States shall require the infrastructure manager and the operator of service facility to provide the regulatory body with all necessary information on the charges imposed in order to allow the regulatory body to perform its functions as referred to in Article 56. The infrastructure manager and the operator of service facility shall, in this regard, be able to demonstrate to railway undertakings that infrastructure and service charges actually invoiced to the railway undertaking pursuant to Articles 30 to 37 comply with the methodology, rules and, where applicable, scales laid down in the network statement.

3. Without prejudice to paragraph 4 or 5 of this Article or to Article 32, the charges for the minimum access package and for access to infrastructure connecting service facilities shall be set at the cost that is directly incurred as a result of operating the train service.

Before 16 June 2015, the Commission shall adopt measures setting out the modalities for the calculation of the cost that is directly incurred as a result of operating the train. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 62(3).

The infrastructure manager may decide to gradually adapt to those modalities during a period of no more than four years after the entry into force of those implementing acts.

4. The infrastructure charges referred to in paragraph 3 may include a charge which reflects the scarcity of capacity of the identifiable section of the infrastructure during periods of congestion.

5. The infrastructure charges referred to in paragraph 3 may be modified to take account of the cost of environmental effects caused by the operation of the train. Any such modification shall be differentiated according to the magnitude of the effect caused.

Based on the experience gained by infrastructure managers, railway undertakings, regulatory bodies and competent authorities, and recognising existing schemes on noise differentiation, the Commission shall adopt implementing measures setting out the modalities to be followed for the application of the charging for the cost of noise effects including its duration of application and enabling the differentiation of infrastructure charges to take into account, where appropriate, the sensitivity of the area affected, in particular in terms of the size of population affected and the train composition with an impact on the level of noise emissions. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 62(3). They shall not result in the undue distortion of competition between railway undertakings or affect the overall competitiveness of the rail sector.

Any such modification of infrastructure charges to take account of the cost of noise effects shall support the retrofitting of wagons with the most economically viable low-noise braking technology available.

Charging of environmental costs which results in an increase in the overall revenue accruing to the infrastructure manager shall however be allowed only if such charging is applied to road freight transport in accordance with Union law.

If charging for environmental costs generates additional revenue, it shall be for Member States to decide how the revenue is to be used.

Member States shall ensure that the necessary information is kept and that the origin of the charging of environmental costs and its application can be traced. Member States shall provide the Commission with this information upon request.

6. To avoid undesirable disproportionate fluctuations, the charges referred to in paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 may be averaged over a reasonable spread of train services and times. Nevertheless, the relative magnitude of the infrastructure charge shall be related to the costs attributable to the services.

7. The charge imposed for track access within service facilities referred to in point 2 of Annex II, and the supply of services in such facilities, shall not exceed the cost of providing it, plus a reasonable profit.

8. Where services listed in points 3 and 4 of Annex II, as additional and ancillary services are offered by only one supplier, the charge imposed for such a service shall not exceed the cost of providing it, plus a reasonable profit.

9. Charges may be levied for capacity used for the purpose of infrastructure maintenance. Such charges shall not exceed the net revenue loss to the infrastructure manager caused by the maintenance.

10. The operator of the facility for supply of the services referred to in points 2, 3 and 4 of Annex II shall provide the infrastructure manager with the information on charges to be included in the network statement or shall indicate a website where such information is made available free of charge in electronic format in accordance with Article 27.

Article 32

Exceptions to charging principles

1. In order to obtain full recovery of the costs incurred by the infrastructure manager a Member State may, if the market can bear this, levy mark-ups on the basis of efficient, transparent and non-discriminatory principles, while guaranteeing optimal competitiveness of rail market segments. The charging system shall respect the productivity increases achieved by railway undertakings.

The level of charges shall not, however, exclude the use of infrastructure by market segments which can pay at least the cost that is directly incurred as a result of operating the railway service, plus a rate of return which the market can bear.

Before approving the levy of such mark-ups, Member States shall ensure that the infrastructure managers evaluate their relevance for specific market segments, considering at least the pairs listed in point 1 of Annex VI and retaining the relevant ones. The list of market segments defined by infrastructure managers shall contain at least the three following segments: freight services, passenger services within the framework of a public service contract and other passenger services.

Infrastructure managers may further distinguish market segments according to commodity or passengers transported.

Market segments in which railway undertakings are not currently operating but may provide services during the period of validity of the charging system shall also be defined. The infrastructure manager shall not include a mark-up in the charging system for those market segments.

The list of market segments shall be published in the network statement and shall be reviewed at least every five years. The regulatory body referred to in Article 55 shall control that list in accordance with Article 56.

2. For the carriage of goods from and to third countries operated on a network whose track gauge is different from the main rail network within the Union, infrastructure managers may set higher charges in order to obtain full costs recovery of the costs incurred.

3. For specific future investment projects, or specific investment projects that have been completed after 1988, the infrastructure manager may set or continue to set higher charges on the basis of the long-term costs of such projects if they increase efficiency or cost-effectiveness or both and could not otherwise be or have been undertaken. Such a charging arrangement may also incorporate agreements on the sharing of the risk associated with new investments.

4. The infrastructure charges for the use of railway corridors which are specified in Commission Decision 2009/561/EC (14) shall be differentiated to give incentives to equip trains with the ETCS compliant with the version adopted by the Commission Decision 2008/386/EC (15) and successive versions. Such differentiation shall not result in any overall change in revenue for the infrastructure manager.

Notwithstanding this obligation, Member States may decide that this differentiation of infrastructure charges does not apply to railway lines specified in Decision 2009/561/EC on which only ETCS equipped trains may run.

Member States may decide to extend this differentiation to railway lines not specified in Decision 2009/561/EC.

Before 16 June 2015 and following an impact assessment, the Commission shall adopt measures setting out modalities to be followed in applying the differentiation of the infrastructure charge according to a time-frame consistent with the ERTMS European Deployment Plan established under Decision 2009/561/EC and ensuring that it does not result in any overall change in revenue for the infrastructure manager. Those implementing measures shall adapt the modalities of the differentiation applicable to trains operating local and regional services using a limited section of the railway corridors specified in Decision 2009/561/EC. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 62(3). They shall not result in the undue distortion of competition between railway undertakings or affect the overall competitiveness of the rail sector.

5. To prevent discrimination, Member States shall ensure that any given infrastructure manager's average and marginal charges for equivalent use of its infrastructure are comparable and that comparable services in the same market segment are subject to the same charges. The infrastructure manager shall show in the network statement that the charging system meets these requirements in so far as this can be done without disclosing confidential business information.

6. If an infrastructure manager intends to modify the essential elements of the charging system referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, it shall make them public at least three months in advance of the deadline for the publication of the network statement according to Article 27(4).

Article 33

Discounts

1. Without prejudice to Articles 101, 102, 106 and 107 TFEU and notwithstanding the direct cost principle laid down in Article 31(3) of this Directive, any discount on the charges levied on a railway undertaking by the infrastructure manager, for any service, shall comply with the criteria set out in this Article.

2. With the exception of paragraph 3, discounts shall be limited to the actual saving of the administrative cost to the infrastructure manager. In determining the level of discount, no account may be taken of cost savings already internalised in the charge levied.

3. Infrastructure managers may introduce schemes available to all users of the infrastructure, for specified traffic flows, granting time-limited discounts to encourage the development of new rail services, or discounts encouraging the use of considerably underutilised lines.

4. Discounts may relate only to charges levied for a specified infrastructure section.

5. Similar discount schemes shall apply for similar services. Discount schemes shall be applied in a non-discriminatory manner to any railway undertaking.

Article 34

Compensation schemes for unpaid environmental, accident and infrastructure costs

1. Member States may put in place a time-limited compensation scheme for the use of railway infrastructure for the demonstrably unpaid environmental, accident and infrastructure costs of competing transport modes in so far as these costs exceed the equivalent costs of rail.

2. Where a railway undertaking receiving compensation enjoys an exclusive right, the compensation shall be accompanied by comparable benefits to users.

3. The methodology used and calculations performed shall be publicly available. It shall in particular be possible to demonstrate the specific uncharged costs of the competing transport infrastructure that are avoided and to ensure that the scheme is granted on non-discriminatory terms to undertakings.

4. Member States shall ensure that the scheme is compatible with Articles 93, 107 and 108 TFEU.

Article 35

Performance scheme

1. Infrastructure charging schemes shall encourage railway undertakings and the infrastructure manager to minimise disruption and improve the performance of the railway network through a performance scheme. This scheme may include penalties for actions which disrupt the operation of the network, compensation for undertakings which suffer from disruption and bonuses that reward better-than-planned performance.

2. The basic principles of the performance scheme as listed in point 2 of Annex VI shall apply throughout the network.

3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 60 concerning amendments to point 2(c) of Annex VI. Thus point 2(c) of Annex VI, may be amended in the light of the evolution of the rail market and experience gained by regulatory bodies referred to in Article 55, infrastructure managers and railway undertakings. Such amendments shall adapt the classes of delay to the best practices developed by industry.

Article 36

Reservation charges

Infrastructure managers may levy an app