Opinion of the Commission pursuant to Article 251(2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty on the European Parliament's amendments to the Council's common position regarding the second railway package with a view to the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a European Railway Agency - amending the proposal of the Commission pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC Treaty
Date: 2003-11-26
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU office or agency, harmonisation of standards, rail transport, transport safety

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 26.11.2003
COM(2003) 719 final

2002/0022 (COD)
2002/0023 (COD)
2002/0024 (COD)
2002/0025 (COD)

OPINION OF THE COMMISSION

pursuant to Article 251(2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty
on the European Parliament's amendments
to the Council's common position regarding the

SECOND RAILWAY PACKAGE

with a view to the adoption

of a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on safety on the
Community's railways and amending Council Directive 95/18/EC on the licensing of
railway undertakings and Directive 2001/14/EC on the allocation of railway
infrastructure capacity and the levying of charges for the use of railway infrastructure
and safety certification

of a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council
Directive 96/48/EC and Directive 2001/16/EC on the interoperability of the
trans-European rail system

of a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a European
Railway Agency

of a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council
Directive 91/440/EEC on the development of the Community's railways

AMENDING THE PROPOSALS OF THE COMMISSION
pursuant to Article 250(2) of the EC Treaty

2002/0022 (COD)
2002/0023 (COD)
2002/0024 (COD)
2002/0025 (COD)

OPINION OF THE COMMISSION

pursuant to Article 251(2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty
on the European Parliament's amendments
to the Council's common position regarding the

SECOND RAILWAY PACKAGE

Article 251(2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty provides that the Commission is
to  deliver  an  opinion  on  the  amendments  proposed  by  the  European  Parliament  at  second
reading.

The Commission sets out its opinion below on the amendments proposed by Parliament.

1.

BACKGROUND

Date of transmission of the proposal to Parliament and the Council:
[documents
COM(2002) 21 final – 2002/0022 (COD)
COM(2002) 22 final – 2002/0023 (COD)
COM(2002) 23 final – 2002/0024 (COD)
COM(2002) 25 final – 2002/0025 COD)] :

Date  of  the  opinion  of  the  European  Economic  and  Social
Committee:

24.1.2002

19.9.2002

Date of the opinion of the European Parliament at first reading:

14.1.2003

Date of transmission of the amended proposal:

Date of adoption of the common position:

Not applicable

26.6.2003

On  23  October  2003,  Parliament  adopted  at  second  reading  a  resolution  containing  the
following amendments to the common position for the individual texts:

–  28  amendments  to  the  proposal  for  a  directive  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the
Council on safety on the Community's railways and amending Council Directive 95/18/EC
on  the  licensing  of  railway  undertakings  and  Directive  2001/14/EC  on  the  allocation  of
railway  infrastructure  capacity  and  the  levying  of  charges  for  the  use  of  railway
infrastructure and safety certification;

2

–  4  amendments  to  the  proposal  for  a  directive  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the
Council  amending  Council  Directive  96/48/EC  and  Directive  2001/16/EC  on  the
interoperability of the trans-European rail system;

–  32  amendments  to  the  proposal  for  a  regulation  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the

Council establishing a European Railway Agency;

–  9  amendments  to  the  proposal  for  a  directive  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the
Council amending Council Directive 91/440/EEC on the development of the Community's
railways.

2.

PURPOSE OF THE PROPOSALS

There are four related legislative proposals:

–  A  proposal  for  a  directive  on  safety  of  the  railways  which  defines  the  basic
characteristics  of  the  safety  systems  for  the  infrastructure  manager  and  for  the  railway
undertakings. The aim is to develop a common approach to safety and establish a common
system for the issue, content and validity of the safety certificates. The proposal also aims
to  introduce  the  principle  of  independent  technical  inquiries  in  the  event  of  accidents,  in
line with the situation in other sectors.

–  An  amendment  to  the  interoperability  Directives  96/48/EC  and  2001/16/EC.  In
addition to the adaptations required by previous proposals concerning the interoperability
directives,  this  primarily  concerns  ensuring  the  consistency  of  the  scope  as  regards  the
network on which access will be open and the network on which the interoperability rules
will have to apply.

–  A proposal for a regulation setting up a European Railway Agency to provide technical
support for the work on interoperability and safety. The Agency's areas of  activity would
be,  firstly,  the  development  of  common  safety  standards  and  the  development  and
management  of  a  system  to  monitor  safety  performance  and,  secondly,  the  long-term
management  of  the  system  of  establishing,  registering  and  monitoring  the  technical
specifications of interoperability.

–  A proposal to amend Directive 91/440 to extend infrastructure access rights to rail freight

services within a Member State and to speed up market opening.

3.

OPINION  OF  THE  COMMISSION  ON  THE  AMENDMENTS  BY  THE  EUROPEAN
PARLIAMENT

(cid:1)  Proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on safety on
the Community's railways and amending Council Directive 95/18/EC on the licensing
of  railway  undertakings  and  Directive 2001/14/EC  on  the  allocation  of  railway
infrastructure  capacity  and  the  levying  of  charges  for  the  use  of  railway
infrastructure and safety certification

Parliament has adopted a number of amendments designed to clarify certain provisions of the
text (amendments 1, 12 and 24) or of its objectives (amendments 41, 42 and 7), and of its
scope  in  relation  to  other  Community  texts  that  already  exist  or  are  in  preparation
(amendments 2, 5 and 50).

3

Parliament also wishes to clarify certain provisions concerning national safety rules and their
examination  at  Community  level  in  order  to  verify,  firstly,  whether  they  comply  with  the
common  safety  targets  and,  secondly,  to  ensure  that  they  do  not  constitute  a  disguised
restriction of market access (amendments 3, 46, 47, 21).

Amendments 44, 18 and 25 are designed to improve the transparency of procedures and the
accessibility of the rules.

The  proposed  solution  regarding  the  price  to  be  paid  for  access  to  the  training  facilities  is
satisfactory (amendment 48).

Amendment 49 is acceptable as it ensures greater clarity regarding statistics on accidents.

The Commission supports all these amendments.

However,  the  Commission  is  unable  to  accept  amendment 43,  since  it  is  a  text  of  an
explanatory nature on the scope of the directive, which would be better suited to the recitals,
where it already figures (see amendment 2).

Nor is it possible to incorporate amendments concerning items covered in other parts of the
text  or  in  existing  Community  texts,  or  items  which  will  be  taken  into  account  in  the  draft
directive on licences for train drivers (amendments 31 and 37).

The  Commission  cannot  accept  amendments  14,  15,  16,  23  and  32  designed  to  reduce
systematically the deadlines for drafting texts. These deadlines had already been considerably
shortened  by  the  Council  and  it  is  important  to  set  a  realistic  calendar,  adapted  to  the
budgetary  possibilities  that  will  be  decided  for  the  Agency,  which  does  not  overload  the
Agency to the point of dooming it to failure from the outset.

It is not possible either to include amendment 8, as the directive is not intended to harmonise
rules but to define common standards that must be met, leaving Member States the possibility
of  retaining  or  setting  a  higher  standard,  subject  to  compliance  with  the  principles  of
transparency and non-discrimination.

Amendment  27  creates  confusion,  as  the  purpose  of  the  Article  is  to  ensure  access  to  the
training facilities for staff accompanying trains.

(cid:1)  Proposal  for  a  directive  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  amending
Council  Directive 96/48/EC  and  Directive 2001/16/EC  on  the  interoperability  of  the
trans-European rail system

The Commission supports all of Parliament's amendments to this text.

Parliament's  amendments  are  primarily  designed  to  reaffirm  the  interoperability  objective
(amendments  1  and  4)  and  to  improve  the  consistency  of  the  wording  of  Directives
96/48/EC and 2001/16/EC (amendment 3).

In addition, they seek to include an obligation to fit a recording device in new trains among
the essential requirements laid down in the directives (amendments 2 and 5).

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(cid:1)  Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing

a European Railway Agency

Firstly,  Parliament  wishes  to  defend  the  Commission's  initial  proposal  designed  to  ensure
balanced  representation  of  the  Council  and  the  Commission  as  well  as  of  the  various
interested parties on the Agency's administrative board (amendments 1, 10 and 33).

With  a  view  to  improving  the  transparency  and  openness  of  the  Agency's  activities,
Parliament wants representatives of workers' organisations from the industry to participate in
the Agency's working parties on subjects directly related to the working conditions, health and
safety of staff (amendment 4). It also wants wider consultation of the social partners on the
proposals made by the Agency (amendment 5).

Parliament  also  includes  the  standard  financial  and  budgetary  provisions  (amendments  11,
16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 and 32) resulting from the entry
into force of the new Financial Regulation on 1 January 2003, which it had not been possible
to  take  into  account  during  the  work  on  the  common  position1.  It  also  incorporates  the
standard provisions on transparency (amendments 13, 14 and 15).

Amendment 7 is of a linguistic nature.

The Commission supports all these amendments.

However,  the  Commission  cannot  support  amendment  3,  as  it  presents  legal  difficulties  in
respect  of  the  division  of  responsibilities  between  the  Agency  and  the  various  national
authorities. Nor can the Commission accept amendment 6, as it would introduce rigidity and
bureaucracy in relations between the Agency, the national safety authorities and the enquiry
bodies,  while  the  Regulation  already  provides  that  one  of  the  Agency's  tasks  is  to  facilitate
networking and cooperation between these bodies.

Amendments  8  and  9  concern  driver  qualifications.  It  is  not  possible  to  incorporate  these
amendments, as the Commission is preparing a specific proposal on this subject for the end of
the year.

Finally,  the  Commission  is  unable  to  include  amendment  12  on  the  Agency's  working
languages, since it believes that the Agency should simply use the working languages that are
already current among professionals in the industry.

(cid:1)  Proposal  for  a  directive  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  amending

Council Directive 91/440/EEC on the development of the Community's railways

The Commission's initial proposal concerned the transport of goods by rail. Parliament wishes
to  go  in  the  direction  of  the  Commission's  proposals  in  this  area  in  order  to  bring  about  a
speedy, complete opening of the market for rail freight services (amendment 1). It wants the
deadline  of  2005  for  presenting  the  report  on  the  situation  of  market  opening  to  be
maintained, as provided for under the current Directives, and not to be postponed until 2007.
It also wants the report to take account of passenger traffic (amendments 3, 4, 9 and 10 ).

1

The amendment to the acts setting up the Community agencies was published in Official Journal L245
of 29.09.2003.

5

                                                
The  Commission  can  accept  these  amendments  (amendment  6  is  no  longer  relevant  as
amendment 11 has not been adopted).

Parliament also wishes to address the issue of opening up the market for passenger services in
the  framework  of  this  second  railway  package.  The  Commission  maintains  the  stance  it
already expressed at first reading on this issue and is unable to accept amendments 2, 7 and
8.

Firstly,  the  Commission  recalls  that  its  amended  proposal  for  a  regulation  on  action  by
Member  States  concerning  public  service  requirements  and  the  award  of  public  service
contracts in passenger transport by rail, road and inland waterway2 applies in full to the rail
sector  and  provides  for  the  introduction  of  competition  regulated  by  the  award  of  public
service contracts or of exclusive rights.

With  regard  to  the  other  services  that  are  not  concerned  by  public  service  contracts  or  by
exclusive rights, the Commission is in the process of examining the arrangements for opening
them to competition with a view to presenting proposals in 2003. Opening the market simply
on  the  basis  of  free  access  presents  numerous  problems  concerning  the  protection  of
passengers, e.g. in respect of integrated reservation services or the funding of public services.
In  this  context,  balanced,  solidly  based  solutions  must  be  found  and  the  solutions  proposed
must be the subject of a detailed impact analysis.

Nevertheless, the Commission welcomes the European Parliament's amendments concerning
the opening of passenger traffic to competition,  as they send a  strong political  signal which
will provide essential support in the preparation of its future proposals.

Finally,  it  should  be  noted  that  the  current  legislation3  enables  international  groupings  of
railway  undertakings  to  obtain  access  and  transit  rights  in  order  to  operate  international
passenger services. This provision, which has scarcely been used up to now owing to the lack
of  a  proper  framework,  might  attract  renewed  interest  with  the  transposal  since  15  March
2003  of  Directives  2001/12/EC4,  2001/13/EC5  and  2001/14/EC6  which  now  provide  a
specific, 
transparent  and  non-discriminatory  framework  for  capacity  allocation  and
infrastructure charging and which provide for the establishment of a regulatory body in each
Member State.

4.

CONCLUSION

Pursuant to Article 250(2) of the EC Treaty, the Commission amends its proposals in keeping
with the results of Parliament's second reading as set out above.

2

3

4

5

6

COM(2002) 107 final, OJ C 151E, 25.6.2002, p. 146.
Directive 91/440/EEC, OJ L 237, 24.8.1991, p. 25.
OJ L 75, 15.3.2001, p. 1.
OJ L 75, 15.3.2001, p. 26.
OJ L 75, 15.3.2001, p. 29.

6