WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3043/97 by Amedeo AMADEO to the Commission. White Paper on railways
Date: 1997-10-01
Institutions: AMADEO, European Parliament
Subjects: EC Directive, EU law - national law, common transport policy, modernisation aid, national implementing measure, rail transport

16. 4. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 117/135

›  adoption of a change to restricted invitations to tender for PHARE (and TACIS) service contracts: the rules
governing invitations to tender have been improved, with better information for tenderers and, in particular,
disclosure  of  the  composition  of  evaluation  committees,  and  the  promotion  of  greater  diversity  of
contractors;

› 

the  new  guidelines  for  PHARE  prepared  by  the  Commission  in  March,  continuing  with  the  improved
integration of implementation structures for this programme into the partner countries’ (cid:145)normal(cid:146) structures,
more unbundling and decentralisation towards those countries and Commission delegations, whose staffing
would be increased, the tapping of new sources of expertise alongside consultancies, such as twinnings of
institutions and administrations;

›  updating of the DIS Manual and its planned introduction before the end of this year, so as to combine the new
provisions on transparency of contracts in a single document which also lays down in detail the procedures
for (decreasing) aid for the operating costs of PMUs and provides a model for the transfer of know-how in
programme management, with the aim of an effective reduction in dependence on technical assistance in this
area.

The Commission expects that as a whole these steps will remedy the chief shortcomings identified in the section
of the report by the Court of Auditors to which the Honourable Member refers.

(1)  OJ L 356, 31.12.1977.

(98/C 117/182)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3043/97

by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission

(1 October 1997)

Subject: White Paper on railways

The Economic and Social Committee has issued an opinion on the White Paper: a strategy for revitalizing the
Community(cid:146)s railways (COM(96) 421 final) (1). It is essential to sift through the directives and regulations and
study their transposition into national laws. The actual implementation and achievements of these provisions
used in the railways sector could thus be analysed so that Member States can learn from each other(cid:146)s experience
and future fields of application can be examined.

Will  the  Commission  examine  in  particular  whether  implementation  in  the  individual  Member  States  is
converging or drawing further apart?

(1)  OJ C 206, 7.7.1997, p. 23.

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(3 November 1997)

The principal piece of Community legislation on the development of the railways is Directive 91/440/EEC on the
development of the Community(cid:146)s railways (1), which has had a considerable impact on the reorganisation of the
railways  in  recent  years  and  is  the  foundation  of  the  Commission(cid:146)s  strategy  to  revitalise  the  Community(cid:146)s
railways set out in its white paper of 1996. However, the Commission fully accepts the importance of studying in
each  Member  State  exactly  how  the  Directive  has  been  implemented  and  what  results  it  has  given.  It  has
therefore  launched  a  wide-ranging  study  on  the  implementation  and  results  of  the  Directive  and  intends  to
present a report to the Council and the Parliament early next year. As for the implementation of the Directive in
national law, the Commission has found that three Member States have not yet implemented the article on access
rights and has opened proceedings under Article 169 of the EC Treaty against them.

(1)  OJ L 237, 24.8.1991.