16. 10.  73 Official  Journal  of the  European  Communities No C 86/1 
II 
(Preparatory  Acts) 
COUNCIL 
CONSULTATION  OF  THE  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  COMMITTEE 
on the  proposal  for  a Council  Regulation  supplementing  Council  Regulation  (EEC) 
No 1191/69  of 26 June  1969  on action  by Member  States  concerning  the  obligations 
inherent  in the  concept  of a public  service  in transport  by  rail,  road  and  inland 
waterway  and  the  proposal  for  a Council  Regulation  supplementing  Council  Regula-
tion (EEC)  No  1192/69  of 26 June  1969  on common  rules  for  the  normalization  of 
the accounts  of railway  undertakings 
A. REQUEST  FOR  AN  OPINION 
At its 225th  meeting  held  on 23 January  1973  the  Council  decided  in accordance  with 
the provisions  of Article  75  of the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Economic 
Community  to consult  the  Economic  and  Social  Committee  on the  above  proposals 
for Regulations. 
The request  for  an Opinion  was  sent  by the  President  of the  Council  to the  Chairman 
of the  Economic  and  Social  Committee  on 24 January  1973. 
B. TEXTS  WHICH  WERE  THE  SUBJECT  OF  THE  CONSULTATION 
The texts  which  were  the  subject  of the  consultation  have  not  yet  been  published  in 
the Official  Journal  of the European  Communities. 
C. OPINION  OF  THE  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  COMMITTEE 
At its 111th  Plenary  Session  held  in Brussels  on 23 and  24 May  1973  the  Committee 
adopted  unanimously,  with  2 abstentions  by  members  present  or represented,  its 
Opinion  on the  texts  referred  to under  B. 
The text  of the  Opinion  is as follows  : 
THE  ECONOMIC;  AND  SOCIAL  COMMITTEE, 
Having  regard  to the  letter  of 24 January  ISI73  in 
which  the  President  of the  Council  of the  Euro-
pean  Communities  requested  the'  Economic  and 
Social  Committee  to deliver  an  Opinion  on  the 'proposal  for  a Council  Regulation  supplementing 
Regulation  (EEC])  No  1191/69  of the  Council  of 26 
June  1969  on action  by Member  States  concerning 
the obligations  inherent  in the  concept  of a public 
service  in transport  by rail,  road  and  inland  water-
way",  and  the  'proposal  for  a Council  Regulation 
No C 86/2 Official  Journal  of the  European  Communities 16. 10.  73 
supplementing  Council  Regulation  (EEC)  No 
1192/69  of 26 June  1969  on common  rules  for  the 
normalization  of the  accounts  of railway  underta-
kings'  ; 
Having  regard  to the  Treaty  establishing  the  Euro-
pean  Economic  Community  and  in  particular 
Article  75 thereof  ; 
Having  regard  to Council  Regulation  (EEC)  No 
1191/69  (x) of  26  June  1969  on  action  by  the 
Member  States  concerning  the  obligations  inherent 
in the  concept  of a public  service  in transport  by 
rail, road  and  inland  waterway  ; 
Having  regard  to Council  Regulation  (EEC)  No 
1192/69  (2) of 26  June  1969  on  common  rules  for 
the normalization  of the  accounts  of railway  under-
takings  ; 
Having  regard  to  the  decision  taken  by  the 
Chairman  of the  Committee  on 1 February  1973  in 
accordance  with  Article  22 of the  Rules  of Proce-
dure  to instruct  the  Section  for  Transport  and 
Communications  to  prepare  a report  and  an 
Opinion  on these  subjects  ; 
Having  regard  to the  Opinion  delivered  by  the 
Section  for  Transport  and  Communications  on  11 
April  1973  ; 
Having  regard  to  the  report  presented  by  Mr 
Hennig,  rapporteur,  and  Mr  Constantini  and  Mr 
Delacarte,  co-rapporteur  ; 
Having  regard  to its deliberations  during  the  111th 
Plenary  Session  held  on 23 and  24 May  1973,  sitting 
of 23 May  1973  ; 
Whereas  the  proposed  extension  of the  scope  of 
Regulations  (EEC)  No  1191/69  and  No  1192/69 
aims  at  achieving  further  harmonization  and 
extends  the  scope  of the  said  Regulations  to trans-
port  operations  and  undertakings  whose  situation  is 
comparable  to that  of operations  and  undertakings 
already  covered  by the Regulations  ; 
Whereas  the  draft  regulations  under  consideration 
should  be regarded  as a further  step  towards  the 
achievement  of these  objectives  ; 
Whereas  after  the  entry  into  force  of the  draft  regu-
lations  the  rules  concerning  the  operations 
connected  with  the  concept  of a public  service  will 
still not  be completely  satisfactory  for all cases  ; 
Whereas  it is necessary  therefore  that  the  Commis-
sion  proposes,  as soon  as possible,  a set  of rules 
covering  all  undertakings  of a local  or  regional 
character, 
(1) OJ No  L 156,  28.6.  1969,  p. 1. 
(2) OJ No  L 156,  28. 6. 1969,  p. 8. HAS  ADOPTED  THE  FOLLOWING  OPINION  : 
The Economic  and  Social  Committee  welcomes  and 
approves  in principle  the  proposals  to supplement 
Regulation  (EEC)  No  1191/69  and  Regulation 
(EEC)  No  1192/69,  subject  to the  following  observa-
tions  : 
1. The  Committee  agrees  with  the  Commission's 
view  that  the  existing  rules  on action  by Member 
States  concerning  the  obligations  inherent  in the 
concept  of a public  service  in transport  by rail,  road 
and inland  waterway  and  the  existing  rules  on the 
normalization  of the  accounts  of railway  undertak-
ings,  which  the  six  original  Member  States  have 
applied  since  1 January  1971,  have  been  proved  to 
serve  a useful  purpose.  The  Committee  hopes  that 
these  rules  will  also  have  positive  results  in the  new 
Member  States  of the  Community. 
The Committee  is pleased  to note  that,  under  the 
Commission's  proposals,  the  scope  of the  Regula-
tions  in question  will  be extended  and  other  under-
takings  which  provide  services  on the  basis  of the 
obligations  inherent  in  the  concept  of a public 
service  will  be able  to benefit  from  the  advantages 
provided  for in the Regulation. 
2. The  Committee  regards  the  proposed  exten-
sion of the  scope  of the  Regulations  as a second 
decisive  step  towards  further  harmonisation  in the 
normalization  of the  accounts  of railway  undertak-
ings and  the  payments  of compensations  for  opera-
tions  which  are  based  on obligations  inherent  in the 
concept  of a public  service  and  which  correspond  to 
the operations  already  provided  by national  railway 
undertakings  under  the  legislation  already  applica-
ble. 
3. Independently  of this  approval  in principle,  the 
Committee  feels  obliged  to  make  the  following 
suggestions. 
3.1. There  are  certain  doubts  as to whether  the 
term  'railway  undertakings'  referred  to in Article  1 
(1) (b)  of the  proposal  to supplement  Regulation 
(EEC)  No  1191/69  and  in Article  1 (2) of the  pro-
posal  to supplement  Regulation  (EEC)  No  1192/69 
covers  all cases  that  should  enjoy  equality  of treat-
ment.  The  difficulty  arises  from  the  fact  that  rail 
transport  undertakings  operating  underground  rail-
ways  (U-Bahn,  Metro,  etc,)  are  in certain  cases  not 
recogni7.ed  as  railway  undertakings  under  the 
national  definitions.  If this  fact  is not  specified, 
these  undertakings  could  in certain  cases  fall  outside 
the scope  of the  draft  proposals  for  formal  reasons, 
although  they  satisfy  the  other  conditions  (inter-
connected  network  and  transport  operations  on an 
exchange  traffic  basis  with  national  railways).  Such 
16. 10.  73 Official  Journal  of the  European  Communities No C 86/3 
undertakings  — including  RATR  in Paris,  Hamburg 
Hochbahn  AG  and  STIB/MIVB  in Brussels  — often 
provide  wider  and  more  important  services  on the 
basis  of obligations  in respect  of public  service  than 
smaller  rail  transport  undertakings  operating  local 
feeder  lines,  but  can  without  doubt  be classified  as 
railway  undertakings. 
The Committee  therefore  urges  the  Commission  to 
lay down  an  unambiguous  definition  of 'railway 
undertakings'  in the sense  set out  above. 
3.2. The  Committee  draws  attention  to the  case 
of a railway  undertaking  which,  under  national 
legislation,  is considered  as  an  undertaking  of 
general  interest  but  which  provides  transport 
services  on an island  (in  this  case  Corsica)  and  can 
therefore  not  materially  satisfy  the  abovementioned 
conditions  of connection  to a network  as laid  down 
in the  proposed  Regulation.  This  case  of 'a railway 
undertaking  of general  interest  in an island  region' 
should  therefore  be explicitly  provided  for  in the 
texts  of the  regulations  so that  they  can  be effec-
tively  implemented. 
3.3. In  Regulation  (EEC)  No  1191/69  (Article  3 
(1), Article  6 (3),  (4) and  (5)  and  Article  15)  and  in 
Regulation  (EEC)  No  1192/69  (Article  8 (1),  (3) and 
(4) and  Article  11)  certain  responsibilities  and  obli-
gations  are  transferred  to the  'competent  authori-
ties'.  In view  of the  extension  of the  scope  of the 
two regulations,  it seems  appropriate  to urge  the 
Member  States  to  designate  unambiguously  the 
authorities  competent  for  each  case.  Article  9 of 
Regulation  (EEC)  No  1192/69  should  also  be 
extended.  As this  Regulation  has  so far only  applied 
to national  railway  undertakings,  only  the  Member 
States  themselves  have  had  to  make  compulsory 
payments  ; if the  proposed  supplementary  provi-
sions  are  applied,  however,  situations  may  arise  in which  also  regional  and  local  authorities  would 
have  such  obligations. 
3.4. In  view  of the  partly  very  tense  financial  situ-
ation  of the  undertakings  covered  by the  proposals, 
which  have  already  had  to wait  a long  time  for 
corresponding  financial  arrangements,  the 
Committee  would  welcome  it if the  Council  could 
rapidly  deal  with  the  proposals  and  fix  the  date  for 
entitlement  to compensation  much  earlier,  and  at 
the same  time  review  the  transitional  periods 
referred  to in Article  19 (a) of the  proposal  supple-
menting  Regulation  (EEC)  No  1191/69  and  Article 
14 (a)  of the  proposal  supplementing  Regulation 
(EEC)  No  1192/69. 
3.5. The  Committee  expects  that,  in the  future 
application  of the  rules  proposed  for  the  payment 
for road  transport  services  replacing  railway 
services  (Article  1 (2) (a))  of the  proposal  to supple-
ment  Regulation  (EEC)  No  1191/69,  Article  3 (1) of 
Regulation  (EEC)  No  1191/69  will  be respected  and 
that the  solution  which  involves  minimum  costs  for 
the general  public  will  be  chosen  for  alternative 
services. 
4. The  Committee  is aware  of the  fact  that  the 
present  drafts  constituting  the  second  stage  in the 
Commission's  efforts  at  harmonization,  do  not 
provide  completely  satisfactory  arrangements  for  all 
aspects  of  the  operations  connected  with  the 
concept  of public  service.  A considerable  gap  still 
remains  for  all  transport  undertakings  of a local 
and regional  character  which  do not  satisfy  the con-
ditions  laid  down  in the supplementary  proposals. 
The Committee  therefore  urges  the  Commission  to 
consider  remaining  questions  without  delay  and  to 
work  out  a proposal  for  these  undertakings  as soon 
as possible,  in order  to achieve  optimum  harmoniza-
tion of the  conditions  of competition. 
Done  at Brussels,  23 May  1973. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic  and  Social  Committee 
Alfons  LAPPAS