8.

the following Article shall be inserted: ‘Article 14a Maintenance of vehicles 1. Each vehicle, before it is placed in service or used on the network, shall have an entity in charge of maintenance assigned to it and this entity shall be registered in the NVR in accordance with Article 33 of the Railway Interoperability Directive. 2. A railway undertaking, an infrastructure manager or a keeper may be an entity in charge of maintenance. 3. Without prejudice to the responsibility of the railway undertakings and infrastructure managers for the safe operation of a train as provided for in Article 4, the entity shall ensure that the vehicles for which it is in charge of maintenance are in a safe state of running by means of a system of maintenance. To this end, the entity in charge of maintenance shall ensure that vehicles are maintained in accordance with: (a) the maintenance file of each vehicle; (b) the requirements in force including maintenance rules and TSI provisions. The entity in charge of maintenance shall carry out the maintenance itself or make use of contracted maintenance workshops. 4. In the case of freight wagons, each entity in charge of maintenance shall be certified by a body accredited or recognised in accordance with paragraph 5, or by a national safety authority. The accreditation process shall be based on criteria of independence, competence and impartiality, such as the relevant EN 45 000 series European standards. The recognition process shall also be based on criteria of independence, competence and impartiality. Where the entity in charge of maintenance is a railway undertaking or an infrastructure manager, compliance with the requirements to be adopted under paragraph 5 shall be checked by the relevant national safety authority pursuant to the procedures referred to in Articles 10 or 11 and shall be confirmed on the certificates specified in those procedures. 5. Based on a recommendation by the Agency, the Commission shall, by 24 December 2010, adopt a measure establishing a system of certification of the entity in charge of maintenance for freight wagons. Certificates granted in accordance with this system shall confirm compliance with the requirements referred to in paragraph 3. The measure shall include the requirements concerning: (a) the maintenance system established by the entity; (b) the format and validity of the certificate granted to the entity; (c) the criteria for accreditation or recognition of body or bodies responsible for issuing certificates and ensuring controls necessary for the functioning of the certification system; (d) the date of application of the certification system, including a transition period of one year for existing entities in charge of maintenance. This measure, designed to amend non-essential elements of this Directive, by supplementing it, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 27(2a). Based on a recommendation by the Agency, the Commission shall, by 24 December 2018 review this measure in order to include all vehicles and to update, if necessary, the certification system applicable to freight wagons. 6. The certificates granted in accordance with paragraph 5 shall be valid throughout the Community. 7. The Agency shall evaluate the certification process implemented in accordance with paragraph 5 by submitting a report to the Commission, no later than three years after the entry into force of the relevant measure. 8. Member States may decide to fulfil the obligations to identify the entity in charge of maintenance and to certify it through alternative measures, in the following cases: (a) vehicles registered in a third country and maintained according to the law of that country; (b) vehicles which are used on networks or lines the track gauge of which is different from that of the main rail network within the Community and for which fulfilment of the requirements referred to in paragraph 3 are ensured by international agreements with third countries; (c) vehicles identified in Article 2(2), and military equipment and special transport requiring an ad hoc national safety authority permit to be delivered prior to the service. In this case derogations shall be granted for periods not longer than five years. Such alternative measures shall be implemented through derogations to be granted by the relevant national safety authority: (a) when registering vehicles pursuant to Article 33 of the Railway Interoperability Directive, as far as the identification of the entity in charge of maintenance is concerned; (b) when delivering safety certificates and authorisations to railway undertakings and infrastructure managers pursuant to Articles 10 and 11 of this Directive, as far as the identification or certification of the entity in charge of maintenance is concerned. Such derogations shall be identified and justified in the annual safety report referred to in Article 18 of this Directive. Where it appears that undue safety risks are being taken on the Community rail system, the Agency shall immediately inform the Commission thereof. The Commission shall make contact with the parties involved and, where appropriate, request the Member State to withdraw its derogation decision.’;