5.

Article 6 shall be replaced by the following: ‘Article 6 1. Draft TSIs and subsequent amendments to TSIs shall be drafted under a mandate from the Commission in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 21(2). They shall be drafted under the responsibility of the Agency in accordance with Articles 3 and 12 of Regulation (EC) No 2004/881/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 establishing a European Railway Agency (Agency Regulation) (14) and in cooperation with the Working Parties mentioned in those Articles. TSIs shall be adopted and reviewed in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 21(2). They shall be published by the Commission in the Official Journal of the European Union. 2. The Agency shall be responsible for preparing the review and updating of TSIs and making any recommendations to the Committee referred to in Article 21 in order to take account of developments in technology or social requirements. 3. Each draft TSI shall be drawn up in two stages. First of all, the Agency shall identify the basic parameters for the TSI as well as the interfaces with the other subsystems and any other specific cases that may be necessary. The most viable alternative solutions accompanied by technical and economic justification shall be put forward for each of these parameters and interfaces. A decision shall be taken in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 21(2); if necessary, specific cases shall be cited. The Agency shall then draw up the draft TSI on the basis of these basic parameters. Where appropriate, the Agency shall take account of technical progress, of standardisation work already carried out, of working parties already in place and of acknowledged research work. An overall assessment of the estimated costs and benefits of the implementation of the TSIs shall be attached to the draft TSI; this assessment shall indicate the likely impact for all the operators and economic agents involved. 4. The drafting, adoption and review of each TSI (including the basic parameters) shall take account of the estimated costs and benefits of all the technical solutions considered, together with the interfaces between them, so as to establish and implement the most viable solutions. The Member States shall participate in this assessment by providing the requisite data. 5. The Committee referred to in Article 21 shall be kept regularly informed of the preparatory work on the TSIs. During this work the Committee may formulate any terms of reference or useful recommendations concerning the design of the TSIs and the cost-benefit analysis. In particular, the Committee may, at the request of a Member State, require that alternative solutions be examined and that the assessment of the cost and benefits of these alternative solutions be set out in the report annexed to the draft TSI. 6. On the adoption of each TSI, the date of entry into force of that TSI shall be established in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 21(2). Where different subsystems have to be placed in service simultaneously for reasons of technical compatibility, the dates of entry into force of the corresponding TSIs shall be the same. 7. The drafting, adoption and review of the TSIs shall take account of the opinion of users, as regards the characteristics which have a direct impact on the conditions in which they use the subsystems. To that end the Agency shall consult associations and bodies representing users during the drafting and review phases of the TSIs. They shall enclose with the draft TSI a report on the results of this consultation. The list of associations and bodies to be consulted shall be finalised by the Committee referred to in Article 21 before it adopts the mandate to review the TSIs and may be re-examined and updated at the request of a Member State or the Commission. 8. The drafting, adoption and review of the TSIs shall take account of the opinion of the social partners as regards the conditions referred to in Article 5(3)(g). To this end, the social partners shall be consulted before the draft TSI is submitted, for adoption or review, to the Committee referred to in Article 21. The social partners shall be consulted in the context of the sectoral dialogue committee set up in accordance with Commission Decision 98/500/EC (15) The social partners shall issue their opinion within three months.