EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 88/202

(2004/C 88 E/0209)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0674/04

by Proinsias De Rossa (PSE) to the Commission

(9 March 2004)

Subject: Iarnrod Eireann's rail freight operations

As the Commission is aware, Iarnrod Eireann is the only national rail freight operator in the EU not to receive national support for its rail freight operations.

In view of the fact that the expansion of rail freight is a core objective of the Commission's September 2001 White Paper on Transport and also of the Marco Polo programme, and the fact that the Irish Government is currently conducting a strategic rail review, what would be the Commission's position if the Irish Government were to consider granting Iarnrod Eireann state assistance for its rail freight operations?

Which EU provisions would regulate the granting of such assistance?

Joint answer

to Written Questions E-0667/04 and E-0674/04

given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(30 April 2004)

The railway sector is a key element in the Community's common transport policy, which seeks to develop a sustainable transport system by shifting the balance between different modes of transport. This policy was outlined in the White Paper ‘European transport policy for 2010: time to decide’ (1) of 12 September 2001.

In this connection, the Commission set up the Marco Polo programme to help the launch of innovative transport services. The main goal of Marco Polo is to reduce road congestion and improve the environmental performance of the whole transport system by shifting freight from road transport to short sea, rail and inland waterway transport.

As far as infrastructure is concerned, the line Sligo — Cork does not belong to the Trans-European Networks (TEN) Transport so that it may not benefit from the TEN budget or the Cohesion Fund. Although it could benefit from the European Regional Development Fund, the actions identified for Community support in the present programming period (2000-2006) do not include the reopening of disused lines.

In addition to Community funds such as Marco Polo, each Member State has the right to use public resources in order to support national policy goals, e.g. the aim to revitalise freight traffic through rail services. However, any form of State aid has to respect competition rules such as laid down in the EC Treaty. As a general principle, State aid that distorts competition in the Common Market is prohibited by the EC Treaty. The EC Treaty, however, allows exceptions to the ban on State aid where the proposed aid schemes may have a beneficial impact in overall Union terms: Article 87(3)(c) of the EC Treaty allows State aid to facilitate development of certain economic activities or areas. According to Article 73 of the EC Treaty, State aid shall be compatible with the Treaty if the needs of coordination of transport are met. It should also be noted that the Commission has adopted a number of ‘guidelines’ or ‘frameworks’ to clarify its State aid policy in various areas, e.g. the protection of the environment or the rescue and restructuring of firms in difficulty, which have to be taken into account during the Commission's assessment of any State aid measure.

Therefore, each State aid case is examined on its merits having regard to the applicable law and practice. Finally, it should be mentioned that each railway company may receive subsidies from Member States if they represent reimbursement for the discharge of certain obligations inherent in the concept of public services.

As far as the railway market is concerned, mention should be made of the possibility for Ireland to open its domestic market to competition for rail freight services. Such an approach could attract some new entrant interested to offer such services, while the national operator is not necessarily interested to operate them, given its other priorities.

(1) COM(2001) 370 final.