ARCHIVES HISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEE DES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (82)846
Vol.1982/0258

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(82)846final
Brussels.20December1982
Proposalfora
COUNCILDECISION
onthecommercial independence oftherailwaysinthemanagementoftheir
international passenger andluggagetraffic
(submittedtotheCouncilbytheCommission )
■ ■\
>- . /
V*'■ »-■i.~f\ .ï*"^
V••V,
C0MC82)846final

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
I.GENERAL
1.Europe'srailwaysaremorethaneveressentialtoeconomicandsocial
activityintheCommunity asawhole,bothforfreighttransport andfor
passengertransport.
Wherepassengertransportisconcerned,inordertomakebetteruseof
theadvantages whichtherailwaysoffersocietyingeneral,itis
necessaryfortherailwayenterprises todevelopadynamicandeffective
commercialpolicydesignedtoenablethemtoimprovethelevelofservice,
toattractnewcustomers andtodefendthepositionoftherailways
againstcompetition onthemarketsinquestion.
Toenablesuchacommercialpolicytoattaintheseobjectives,itis
importantthatmeasuresshouldbepromotedwhichseek,ontheonehand,
toremoveobstaclestothecommercial independence oftherailwaysand,
ontheotherhand,toencouragetherailwaystocontinuewiththeir
effortswithaviewtostrengthening international railwaycooperation .
2.Followingitsresolutionof15December1981onrailwaypolicy,the
Counciltooknote,atitsmeetingof10June1982,oftheAction
(1)ProgrammewhichtheCommissionsubmittedtoiton11May1982,and
askedtheCommission tosubmitpracticalproposals.
3.Whereinternational passengertransportisconcerned,inChapterII
ofthisProgrammetheCommission envisagedcertainmeasures(someto
betakenbythegovernments andotherstobetakenbytherailways)in
respectofcommercial management .
TheCommissionproposalattachedconcernsthemeasurestobetaken
bythegovernments withaviewtoremovingobstaclestothepursuitofa
dynamicandeffectivecommercialpolicybytherailways.
(1)COM(82)237final.

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4.ThepurposeoftheattachedproposalfromtheCommissionisthereforeto
granttherailwayscommercial independence inthemanagement oftheir
international passenger andluggagetraffic.
Suchindependence -acorollaryofwhichisthatthegovernments,intheir
capacityasSupervisory Authorities,shouldrefrainfromintervention in
themanagement oftherailways,andthatthereshouldbecommercial freedom
fortherailways,inparticular inmattersconcerning marketing andpricing
policy-isapre-requisite forthestrengthening ofcommercial cooperation
betweentherailwayenterprises intheCommunity and,inconsequence,an
improvement intheirpositiononthepassengertransportmarket.
Inreturnforthisindependence ,therailwayenterprises wouldhavetomanage
theirinternational passengertrafficinsuchawayastoobtainanoptimum
remuneration forservices andtoensurethattheoverallfinancialresults
makeii.possibletocoverthespecificassignable costsandtocontribute
towardsthecoverageofjointcosts.
5.Thisproposalwillmakeitpossibletoextendtointernational passenger
trafficthecommercial independence whichtherailwayenterprises already
(1)enjoyintheirinternational goodstraffic.Inthisway,therailways
wouldenjoymanagerial independence inalltheirinternational activities,
forthepurposeofstrengthening cooperation soastooptimizetheirfinancial
results.
II.PARTICULAR CONSIDERATIONS
Article 1
TheDecisionistobeappliedtotherailwayenterprises ofthetenMember
States.ThisArticleisidenticaltoArticle 1oftheCouncilDecisionof
19July1982.
Article 2
ThisArticlespecifiesthescopeofthecommercial independence granted
v*"'to?th-e'Tattway^nterprises^vM tfo-regardtopricing,the-creationof.,revjenue ,.„>..s..
poolswithintheframeworkofcommunities ofinterests,andall-inpackage ,
services.
•!mmm
1)CouncilDecisionor19July'i982(OJN°L234of9August1982,p.5).

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Article3
Inreturnformanagerialindependence,therailwayswillberequired
tooptimizetheoverallfinancialresultsrelatingtointernational
passengertraffic.
Article4
Withaviewtoimplementing thisDecision,theMemberStateshalleliminate
anylegal,statutoryoradministrative obstaclesintheirnationallaws.
Article5
Paragraph 1
By31December19814atthelatest,therailwayswillstatetheirposition
ontheadvisability ofsettingupajointofficeforcommercialactivities
atinternational level.
Articles6and7
Noparticularobservations .

Proposalfora
CouncilDecisiononthecommercial independence ofthe
railwaysinthemanagement oftheirinternational
passenger andluggagetraffic
THECOUNCILOFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,
HavingregardtotheTreatyestablishing theEuropeanEconomicCommunity/
andinparticularArticle75thereof.
Havingregardtoth«proposalfromtheCommission,
HavingregardtotheopinionoftheEuropeanParliament,
HavingregardtotheopinionoftheEconomicandSocialCommittee,
Whereasinitsresolution of15December1981theCouncilsetoutthe
broadlinesofrailwaypolicywithintheframeworkofthecommontransport
policyandinparticularexpresseditsinterestingreatercooperation
betweenrailwaysundertakings whereinternational trafficisconcerned;
Whereastherailwayshaveanimportantroletoplaywhereinternational
passengertrafficisconcerned,andinparticularshouldmakebetteruse
oftheircapacity;
Whereastheattainmentofthisobjectivepresupposes thattheMember
Statesremoveallobstaclestosufficientmanagerial independence of
railwayundertakings,soastoenablethemtofocustheirjointefforts
onimprovinginternational passengerserviceswithaviewtooptimizing
theirfinancialresults;
•/•••

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Whereas such cooperation inthe commercial management ofsuch
traffic ,taking into account joint interests ,entails inparticular
aflexible ,dynamic andattractive pricing policy reflecting thespecific
structure oftheinternational markets inquestion ,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION :
Article 1
1.Member States shall take thenecessary steps toensure that this
Decision isapplied tothefollowing railway undertakings :
-Société nationale des chemins deferbeiges (SNCB) /Nationale Maatschappij
derBelgische Spoorwegen (NMBS ),
-Danske Statsbaner (DSB),
-Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB),
-"Οργανισμός Σιδηροδρόμον "Ελλάδος Α.Ε.(ΟΣΕ ),
-Société nationale des chemins deferfrançais (SNCF ),
-Coras Iompair Eireann (CIE),
-Azienda autonoma delle ferrovie dello Stato (FS),
--Société nationale des chemins defer luxembourgeois (CFL),
-Naamloze Vennootschap Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS),
-British Railways Board (BRB),
-Northern Ireland Railways Company Ltd (NIR).
2.Asregards theSociete nationale des chemins defer luxembourgeoi s(CFL),
Belgium and France shall ,inconjunction with Luxembourg ,make anyamend­
ments tothebasic texts which mayprove necessary topermit theapplication
ofthis Decision .This Decision shall beapplied without prejudice to
Article 5oftheBelgo -Franco -Luxemburg Convention of17April 1946 .

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Article 2
1.Therailwayundertakings shallenjoycommercial independence inthe
management oftheirinternational passenger andluggagetraffic.
2.Independence withinthemeaningofparagraph 1shallincludeinparticular
thefreedomfortherailwayundertakings todeterminetransportratesand
conditionsinaccordance withthemarketsituation andtheirowninterests,
includingthechoiceofinstruments,theestablishment ofinternational
transportratesindependent ofdomestictransportratesandthecreation
ofrevenuepoolswithintheframeworkofcommunities ofinterest.
3.Therailwayundertakings shallbeallowedtooffer,ontheirownor
incooperation withothertransportundertakings orthetourist
industry,all-inpackageservices.
Article3
Therailwaysshallmanagethecommercialinternational passenger and
luggagetrafficinsuchawayastoobtainanoptimumremuneration forser­
vicesandtoensurethattheoverallfinancialresultsensurethecoverage
ofspecificassignablecostsandacontribution tothecoverageofjoint
costs.
Article4
MemberStatesshallremove,withintheframeworkoftheirrailwaylegislation,
anylegaI,regulatoryoradministrative obstaclestothestrengthening of
commercialcooperation betweentherailwayundertakings asregardsinter­
nationalpassenger andluggagetraffic.

-A-
Article 5
1.By31December1984atthelatest,therailwayundertakings shallsubmit
totheCommission andtotheCouncilareportontheadvisability of
establishing ,forinternational passengertraffic,ajointofficewith
sufficientstaffandequipmenttoimplementcommercial measures.
2.FiveyearsaftertheentryintoforceofthisDecision,theCommission
shallreporttotheCouncilontheresultsofitsimplementation .The
Councilshallreviewthesituationinthelightofthisreportand,
onaproposalfromtheCommission,shalltaketheappropriate decision
actingbyaqualifiedmajority.
Article 6
Before1January1984,andafterconsultation withtheCommission,
MemberStatesshalladopttheprovisions necessaryfortheimplementation
ofthisDecision.AttherequestofaMemberStateoriftheCommission
considersitadvisable,thelattershallconsulttheMemberStateson
thedraftprovisions inquestion.
Article7
ThisDecisionisaddressedtotheMemberStatesandtherailway
undertakings referredtoinArticle 1.