21. 4. 87 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 105/13 
b) set in motion a consultation procedure with the competent national authorities of the Member State in 
question, either on its own initiative or at the request of the competent national authorities of any other 
Member State, with the aim of evaluating whether the restrictions on the use of the information are justified 
and determining, where necessary, the period during which such restrictions shall be maintained. 
Article 5 
1. The Member States shall notify the Commission of the criteria which they apply and intend to apply in 
order to implement Article 1. The Commission shall make an inventory of such criteria. 
2. In the light of this inventory the Commission shall, where necessary, join with the competent national 
authorities in standardizing such criteria. 
The Economic and Social Committee shall be informed of the work undertaken in pursuance of this Article. 
Article 6 
Each Member State shall indicate to the Commission the competent national authorities and points of contact 
designated to forward or receive the information referred to in Articles 1,3 and 4. The Commission shall in turn 
communicate this to the competent authorities of the other Member States. 
Such points of contact and the designated Commission service shall be available on a 24 hour basis. 
Article 7 
Detailed procedures for the transmission of the information referred to in Articles 1,3 and 4 shall be determined 
by the Commission in consultation with the competent authorities of the Member States and tested at regular 
intervals. 
The Economic and Social Committee shall be informed to these detailed procedures. 
Article 8 
If the Commission considers that a Member State has failed to fulfil an obligation under this present Directive, it 
shall immediately enjoin this Member State, given the emergency situation referred to in Article 1, to take by a 
fixed period all the measures necessary to implement the said Decision, without prejudice to the powers which 
the Commission and the Member States possess under the Euratom Treaty, and in particular Articles 38, 141 
and 142 thereof. 
Article 9 
The Member States shall take the measures necessary to comply with this decision within one month of the date 
of notification. 
Article 10 
This Decision is addressed to the Member States. 
Own-initiative Opinion on Stocktaking and Prospects for a Community Rail Policy 
(87/C 105/07) 
On 25 November 1986 the Economic and Social Committe, acting under the fourth paragraph of 
Article 20 of its Rules of Procedure, decided to draw up an Opinion on Stocktaking and Prospects 
for a Community Rail Policy. 
The Section for Transport and Communications, which was responsible for preparing the 
Committee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 11 February 1987 in the light of the 
Report by Mr Campbell, Rapporteur, Mr Bleser and Mr Haas, Co-Rapporteurs. 
At its 244th Plenary Session (meeting of 25 February 1987) the Economic and Social Committee 
adopted the following Opinion with no votes against and twenty abstentions: 
No C 105/14 Official Journal of the European Communities 21. 4. 87 
1. General Comments 
1.1. This Opinion is based upon the Section's Inform­
ation Report which was unanimously accepted at the 
Committee's Plenary Session in September 1986. 
1.2. There are many reasons why the Section for 
Transport and Communications wished to draw up an 
Information Report, and subsequently an Own-initiative 
Opinion, on Community rail transport policy. The most 
important of these are: 
— the lack of a global and coherent transport policy in the 
Community which defines the role the railways are 
expected to play and the goals to be attained, 
— the continued economic importance of railways in the 
transport system of the twelve Community countries, 
— the reduction in recent years of railway undertakings' 
share of the market and aggravation of their economic 
position, 
— the important role which railways will have to play as a 
connecting link in the implementation by 1992 of the 
internal market, together with the changing situation 
emerging from this process in the transport sector now, 
up to and after 1992, 
— the need to ensure that, in the more open transport 
market which is evolving, the terms of competition will, 
as far as possible, be fair to the railway enterprises, 
— the role and usefulness of railways as a means of 
transport which causes minimal damage to the environ­
ment, uses energy rationally and is very safe, 
— the fact that rail technology and important innovations 
in this sector (e. g. high-speed trains, combined 
transport) have not been fully exploited so far from 
either the technical or the economic point of view 
together with the need to support railways' efforts in 
recent years to become more modern and increase their 
productivity, 
— the failure of previous efforts by Community bodies in 
rail policy to produce results in practice. 
1.3. For all these reasons the Committee is confident 
that the moment has come to set up a Common Rail Policy, 
and calls upon the Commission and the Council to take the 
necessary steps. It notes with satisfaction that the Council 
discussed railway policy at its meeting of 15/16 December 
1986 and has given general approval to the progress of 
certain aspects of railway policy. Existing regulations 
should be implemented and Commission proposals already 
submitted to the Council should be adopted without delay. 
While advocating this process the Committee stresses, 
however, that the success of railways in the Community lies also in the hands of the undertakings. They must be 
prepared to face competition from other modes of 
transport in both passenger and freight. 
1.4. The Community's main task will be to secure, as far 
as possible, fair and equal terms of competition between 
the different means of transport, since, at present, there are 
a number of distortions of competition. It must also draw 
up a coherent lasting programme of infrastructure 
investment, particularly in linking the centres of population 
and commerce across the national boundaries of the 
Community. This will make up for a backlog in 
modernization which is particularly marked in certain 
regions of the EEC. 
1.5. The ESC has always been in favour of a Community 
rail policy. It has generally endorsed the Commission's 
endeavours in this area, while, however, stressing their 
fragmentary nature and calling for a more coherent and 
comprehensive investigation of the conditions for the 
establishment of 'equality of opportunities' between 
railways and other means of land transport, particularly in 
the scope of the deregulation of the transport sector in the 
immediate future. The ESC's views to date on rail policy 
are laid out in the Information Report of the Section and its 
Appendix. 
1.6. The Committee endorses the Information Report 
unanimously adopted by the Section for Transport and 
Communications on 16 July 1986 and wishes to stress 
particularly the following key points of a Common Rail 
Policy. 
2. Specific Comments 
2.1. Infrastructure 
2.1.1. Railways provide and maintain the whole of their 
infrastructure regardless of the intensity of use. All other 
transport infrastructure is owned by the State; the payment 
for infrastructure is based on different systems of charging 
for the right of use according to size and distance run. 
2.1.2. The proposals already made by the Commission 
(Doc. COM(83) 764 final of January 1984) (]) should be 
implemented despite the fundamental changes involved. 
These require the transfer of financial responsibility for rail 
infrastructure (land, track, structures, stations, signalling 
and control systems) to the State. Income on capital and 
revenue for maintenance would be paid to the State by 
different systems of charging for the right of use covering 
size and distance run similar to the other modes of 
transport. This would not necessarily imply a greater 
financial cost to each State. The cost of infrastructure to the 
(!) OJ No C36, 10.2. 1984, p. 5. 
21. 4. 87 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 105/15 
railways would depend on the use made of it and would be 
a powerful incentive to the railway to maximize productive 
use of traction and rolling stock. It would also encourage 
the railway undertakings to vary their fleet of vehicles to 
meet the changes in demand and the level of business 
available, much as the road haulier does. The operational 
use of the infastructure must be closely allied to general 
management and traffic operation. It is not therefore 
suggested that there should be a separate infrastructure 
management. 
2.1.3. In addition to equal treatment between different 
modes of transport regarding the use of infrastructure, a 
Community rail infrastructure policy should also aim 
towards the modernization of existing Community rail 
infrastructure. Priority should be given to the reduction of 
certain obvious regional disparities and shortcomings as 
well as to the harmonization of technical operating 
conditions along the main international lines which already 
exist or are in the process of being built. In addition plans 
for a high-speed rail network are moving ahead. In this 
respect the Committee welcomes the Commission's 
Communication of 27 June 1986, on a Medium-Term 
Transport Infrastructure programme 0) and the Com­
mission's Report of 30 June 1986 'Towards a European 
High-Speed Rail Network'. 
2.2. External costs and social regulations 
2.2.1. In general the railways are a carefully regulated 
industry with consequent benefits to the public in an 
excellent safety record, and a low level of public intrusion 
in pollution, noise, land use etc. 
2.2.2. Certain of these benefits, such as less noise, less 
pollution and better land use, are difficult to quantify in 
seeking to equate conditions of competition. 
2.2.3. Some, such as the cost to railways of ensuring the 
required levels of safety, should be quantified and 
compared with the costs of road accidents which are borne 
by public funds. 
2.2.4. It is considered that, in the calculation of 
infrastructure charging and Public Service Obligations, payments should be included for the costs of the complex 
arrangements which railway undertakings have to employ. 
2.2.5. It is also urged that where national or Community 
laws are enacted for transport, these should be firmly 
enforced to ensure that irresponsible operators are not 
allowed. 
2.2.6. It is further considered that social regulations 
relating to hours and conditions of work should be 
rigorously applied. In addition a harmonization of certain 
social provisions between the railways and other modes of 
transport is necessary from the point of view of both safety 
and social progress. 
2.3. Finances 
2.3.1. The method of financing the railways of the 
Community varies in each State. In certain countries some 
capital debts have been written off. In others there is a very 
large historic debt which has to be serviced or repaid and 
which unreasonably distorts current financial profit and 
loss. These disabilities should be diminished. In this respect 
document COM(83) 764 final of January 1984 (2) of the 
Commission has the great merit of asserting the principle of 
a debt settlement. However, the terms in which it does so 
are unfortunately much too vague. Therefore the Commis­
sion should make concrete proposals on effective debt 
settlement. One answer to the problem could be the 
creation of a completely separate body responsible for 
handling of railway undertakings' old debts. 
2.3.2. In some Community States the payment of Public 
Service Obligations is not clearly related to services 
provided by the railways as a public service obligation. The 
payment is frequently used as a general financial regulator. 
A clearer financial system of contract should be applied 
relating Government requirement to Government pay­
ment. 
2.4. Kail transport and European Technological Com­
munity 
The advance in railway technology is rapid and complex. 
Whilst there is cooperation through the Union Inter­
nationale des Chemins de Fer and its so called Group of 
Twelve EEC railways, benefit could be obtained by 
encouraging greater cooperation in research and develop­
ment on a Community basis. This would concentrate the 
(i) OJ No C 288, 11. 11. 1986, p. 6. (2) OJ No C 36, 10. 2. 1984, p. 5. 
No C 105/16 Official Journal of the European Communities 21. 4. 87 
resources available, avoid unnecessary duplication, speed 
development and give financial benefits to the railways of 
the Community and potential for world wide sales. 
2.5. Passenger Transport 
2.5.1. On existing routes there is a need for the 
extension of higher speed links between the main centres of 
population and industry of the Community. These 
improvements should enable the railways to compete with 
other modes of transports, where there is a market 
justification. 
2.5.2. The construction and operation of new very high­
speed inter-city passenger links, has been shown to be 
technically viable and is justified whenever the market 
potential exists. 
2.5.3. The potential also exists for improvements to 
commuter transport both in populated urban areas and in 
certain rural areas where costs could be reduced. 
2.5.4. The pursuit of these objectives is urgent but must 
be governed by market and normal investment constraints 
in the context of a global Community railway policy. 
2.6. Freight Transport 
2.6.1. Railway undertakings should be encouraged to 
develop combined road/rail freight transport, thus offering 
economic benefits and reducing the degree of environ­
mental damage supported by customers and communities. 
2.6.2. Greater financial assistance should be given to the 
connection of industrial concerns to the railway network in 
a similar way to roads. 
2.6.3. Improvement in existing services must be urged 
particularly across the frontiers of the Community by 
improvements in marketing, pricing and operating policies. 
3. Inter-State Coordination and Cooperation 
Coordination between Member States and cooperation 
between undertakings in the Community is essential for the 
Done at Brussels, 25 February 1987. proper working of the railway transport services in the 
internal market of the 1990's. Much is already being 
achieved, more is required. However, the different 
Government policies of the Community States and the 
different financial objectives of the railway undertakings 
are frequently a serious barrier to desirable improvements. 
For certain services and products, where the barriers are 
real and serious, encouragement and financial backing 
should be given for the setting up of European management 
companies to overcome the problems for the benefit of the 
Community. 
4. Conclusions 
The Committee considers that the principal responsibility 
for successful railway transport in the Community lies with 
the undertakings themselves, and depends in particular on 
their managerial expertise and technical and commercial 
cooperation. This said the Committee is nonetheless 
convinced that the time has come to formulate an overall 
Community rail policy based on: 
— a coherent multi-annual infrastructure investment plan, 
— existing regulations, as long as they are applied in their 
entirety and not in a fragmentary way, 
— adoption of Commission proposals which already exist, 
particularly concerning the financial relationship 
between railway undertakings and the State and the 
treatment of infrastructure costs; however, these 
proposals have to be supplemented by some aspects 
such as calculation of external social costs; 
— the harmonization of certain social provisions 
governing working conditions between the different 
modes of transport, 
— as regards the extent of liberalization and harmoniz­
ation the establishment of an outline programme setting 
out a well-coordinated timetable for the introduction of 
the relevant rules and regulations (economic, technical 
and social) for the different modes of transport. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Alfons MARGOT