Opinion on the proposal for a Council Directive on the approximation of the laws of the Member States with regard to the transport of dangerous goods by rail () (95/C 236/09)

On 4 April 1995 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Article 75 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the abovementioned proposal.

The Section for Transport and Communications, which was responsible for the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 10 May 1995. The Rapporteur was Mr Giesecke.

At its 326th Plenary Session (meeting of 31 May), the Economic and Social Committee adopted the following Opinion by a large majority with two abstentions.

1. Background

1.1. The coalescence of the markets in Europe is bringing with it a rapid growth in intraEuropean traffic. Additional growth is generated by the opening of frontiers with the central and eastern European countries.

1.2. People in Europe have become environmentally-minded, and a number of serious accidents have considerably raised their awareness of the risks. This makes consistent policy measures essential.

1.3. The Transport Ministers of the European Communities have taken important decisions of principle on transport safety in recent years (). Safety standards in the Member States are to be set at a high level - that of the standards applying to cross-frontier traffic. These uniform standards then also obviate trade distortions.

1.4. Such safety standards were adopted first for the transport of dangerous goods by sea and by road, since spectacular accidents had occurred with these modes of transport.

1.5. There is also a potential risk attached to the transport of dangerous goods by rail, for which as a rule consignments are larger than in road transport and are carried through urban areas. Rail marshalling yards are often located in urban centres; accidents can occur during shunting operations. In addition, particularly dangerous goods are increasingly being switched from road to rail.

1.6. Moreover, the railways in some Member States are at present undergoing restructuring, involving a separation of track and operating responsibilities.

1.6.1. In addition, new rights of access to railway infrastructure are being created. Thus in future new railway companies may be set up and offer their services, which could include the carriage of dangerous goods.

1.6.2. Because of this gradual restructuring and opening-up of the rail transport market, there must be a framework of safety provisions to cover the transport of dangerous goods by rail in this new context ().

1.6.3. Hence it should be taken into account that the operators of wagons and the track operators have different responsibilities.

1.7. As long as transport of dangerous goods by rail was carried out only by the state railways of the Member States, monitoring by other authorities was unnecessary. Because of the aforementioned restructuring, this is no longer the case.

1.8. Cross-frontier transport of dangerous goods by rail is covered at present by the Regulations concerning the international carriage of dangerous goods by rail (RID), annexed to the Convention concerning international carriage by rail (COTIF) as Annex 1 to Appendix B. The RID annexes are updated every two years in accordance with the UN recommendations on the transport of dangerous goods by rail. They include all relevant safety provisions and should be regularly appended to this Directive in full, thereby becoming also nationally applicable. All the Member States of the European Community are already parties to this Convention for cross-frontier transport.

1.9. The Commission feels that at the national level regulations have developed in a diverse manner. There are no Community legal provisions on the carriage of dangerous goods by rail; and there are considerable variations from one Member State to another in the safety standards they require for intra-State traffic. A consistently high Community-wide protection and safety standard is therefore not guaranteed at present.

1.10. Apart from the differing safety provisions, in the Commission's view the free movement of these goods in the Community is hindered by multifarious legal provisions on intra-State transport of dangerous goods. In the Commission's view, these are incompatible with the requirements of the internal market.

1.11. In the safety field, the Commission believes that the risk of serious distortions of competition is further increased by the existence of bilateral and multilateral agreements between the Member States or between those states and non-member states. On the basis of these agreements, which contain provisions diverging from the RID's safety rules, two Member States of the Community could for example agree bilaterally to allow the carriage of certain dangerous goods between their territories although the carriage of these goods is forbidden in the rest of the Community.

1.12. This makes all the more urgent the need for uniform safety rules, valid throughout the Community, on the transport of dangerous goods by rail.

2. The Commission proposal

2.1. Uniform safety rules for the transport of dangerous goods by rail would best be guaranteed by making the provisions of the RID applicable to the transport of dangerous goods not only between, but also within the Member States.

2.1.1. Use of the RID as a basis for harmonization has the clear advantage that there would be no need to draw up any new provisions or standards at Community level. Thus the Member States would only have slight additional legislative and administrative costs to bear.

2.2. The Directive provides that from 1 January 1997 the RID should apply not only, as before, to cross-frontier transport, but also to transport within the individual Member States.

2.3. As already applies to the harmonization Directives on the transport of dangerous goods by road, the Member States would have the right to apply stricter rules or standards consistent with the United Nations Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, to the extent that the RID has not yet incorporated these rules.

2.4. Other provisions lay down rules on temporary exemptions, in the interests of the individual railway undertakings.

3. Comments by the ESC

3.1. The Committee has welcomed both the decisions of principle on safety in the transport of dangerous goods, and the practical decisions taken so far.

3.1.1. In its Opinions, it has tended to advocate stricter measures on individual aspects.

3.2. In this case, too, the Committee welcomes the proposal to adapt national provisions to the international provisions in force for cross-frontier traffic, which under the RID rules already apply to 34 states which are parties to the Convention.

3.3. The Committee welcomes the fact that the Draft Directive under review is largely in keeping with the Directive on the transport of dangerous goods by road. Intermodal transport will thus be facilitated.

3.4. On Article 1(1) of the Draft Directive, the Committee recommends that it be left to the Member States to decide whether the transport of dangerous goods belonging to national armed forces, or for which the latter are responsible, is subject to this Directive or not.

3.4.1. At all events it should be ensured that such transport does not lag behind the safety standards applying to civilian goods.

3.5. The Committee points out that the restructuring referred to by the Commission (Directive 91/440/EEC) also gives rise to differing responsibilities for the enterprises responsible for operation and those responsible for the track. These different responsibilities should be addressed and defined in the Directive.

3.6. Article 6(9) mentions 'small quantities'. To avoid problems of interpretation, the Committee suggests a reference to the definition given in the RID and the quantities that document specifies for the various classes against margin numbers X Ola.

3.7. In view of the restructuring mentioned in point 1.7 above, the Committee expects in the near future to see a Draft Directive on the monitoring of the transport of dangerous goods by rail, to correspond to the Draft Directive on the monitoring of the transport of dangerous goods by road ().

3.8. The Committee urges the Commission to produce as soon as possible a Draft Directive on transport of dangerous goods by inland waterway. Such a Directive would greatly facilitate the transport of dangerous goods using more than one mode (intermodal transport).

3.9. The Committee would also point out that the Commission's references in its Explanatory Memorandum to the 'diversity of the various national laws applicable to the transport of dangerous goods at national level' and to the development of national rules 'in a diverse manner' have not yet been substantiated, and would welcome the inclusion of a summary of national provisions in comparison with the RID.

Done at Brussels, 31 May 1995.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Carlos FERRER

() OJ No C 389, 31. 12. 1994, p. 15.

() Directive on the transport of dangerous goods by road; Directive on the monitoring of transport of dangerous goods; Draft Directive on the engagement and training of those in charge of dangerous goods.

() In Germany there are already 130 privately owned railway undertakings operating rail goods services, as well as many undertakings for which the provision of rail services is only an ancillary activity. Under German law they all have an equal right of access to the railway network of Deutsche Bahn A.G., provided that they open their networks on a reciprocal basis. Other undertakings will seek access to the market.

() COM(93) 665 final - SYN 487/OJ No C 238, 26. 8. 1994, p. 4.