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 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 and Directive 2001/14/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and the levying of charges for the use of railway infrastructure amending the proposal of the Commission pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC Treaty
Date: 2007-02-22
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: carriage of passengers, common transport policy, international transport, liberalisation of the market, market access, rail transport, single market

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 22.2.2007 
COM(2007)78 final 

2004/0047(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 
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 and Directive 2001/14/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on 
the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and the levying of charges for the use of 
railway infrastructure 

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

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2004/0047(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 
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 and Directive 2001/14/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on 
the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and the levying of charges for the use of 
railway infrastructure 

1. 

Introduction 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

Article  251(2),  third  subparagraph,  point  (c)  of  the  EC  Treaty  requires  the  Commission  to 
deliver an opinion on amendments proposed by the European Parliament at second reading. 
The Commission sets out its opinion below on the amendments proposed by Parliament. 

2. 

Background 

Date  of  transmission  of  the  proposal  to  the  EP  and  the  Council 
(document COM(2004) 139 final – C6-0309/2006 - 2004/0047(COD): 

4 March 2004 

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

9 February 2005 

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

28 September 2005 

Date of adoption of the common position by qualified majority: 

24 July 2006 

Date of the opinion of the European Parliament, second reading  

18 January 2007 

3. 

Objective of the Commission Proposal 

With this proposal and in line with the White Paper 'European transport policy for 2010: time 
to  decide’,  the  Commission  intends  continuing  the  reform  of  the  rail  sector  by opening  the 
international transport of passengers within the European Union to competition.  

This is one of the four measures the Commission proposed in the context of the third railway 
package  (the  other  measures  are  intended  to  improve  the  rights  of  passengers  using 
international services, to establish a certification system for train drivers and to improve the 
quality of rail freight services). 

This  particular  proposal  provides  that  as  from  1  January  2010,  railway  undertakings,  which 
have a licence and the required safety certificates, should have access to the infrastructure to 
operate international passenger services in the Community.  

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In  order  to  create  realistic  economic  conditions  to  develop  the  services,  it  is  proposed  that 
operators be permitted to pick up and set down passengers at any station on an international 
route, including at stations located in the same Member State. This has been organised in such 
a  way  as  to  safeguard  the  economic  equilibrium  of  public  service  contracts  which  could  be 
affected by this, while at the same time not placing exaggerated constraints on the operating 
conditions of railway undertakings operating international open access rail passenger services.  

4. 

Opinion of the Commission on the amendments adopted by the Parliament 

The Commission can accept in their entirety or partly most of the amendments adopted by the 
European  Parliament  in  second  reading.  The  amendments  the  Commission  can  agree  with 
clarify  the  proposal  made  by  the  Commission,  introduce  additional  reporting  requirements 
and modify certain comitology provisions based on Council Decision 2006/512/EC of 17 July 
2006 amending Council Decision 1999/468/EC. 

Amendments  concerning  the  levy  to  finance  public  services  (8,  21,  22,  23):  These 
amendments clarify the scope of such a levy and the conditions of raising it.  

Amendment 11 on the length of framework agreements: this amendment introduces a recital 
on  the  proposed  provision  in  the  Directive  to  extend  the  standard  duration  of  framework 
agreements in the case of specialised infrastructure and substantial long term investment to 15 
years. 

Amendments on reporting requirements (13, 24, 25): these amendments modify the reporting 
requirements of the Commission. Amendment 24 suggests adding assessing the impact of the 
directive in small countries of the EU. The other two amendments suggest focussing the 2012 
report on the state of preparation for the opening of the market for national passenger services 
and require another report in 2018 on the application of the compromising economic viability 
test of public services through cabotage as well as of the reciprocity clause. The Commission 
can  agree  on  assessing  in  2012  the  state  of  preparation  for  the  opening  of  the  market  for 
national passenger services. However, it considers that the two assessment items proposed for 
the  report  in  2018  should  be  advanced  to  the  2012  report.  The  two  amendments  require 
redrafting as the reference to domestic rail passenger market opening is not relevant anymore 
due to the fact that it has not been voted by the Plenary. 

Amendments  on  comitology  procedure  (14,  26,  27,  31,  32):  These  amendments  align  the 
comitology  provisions  of  Directive  91/440/EEC  as  amended  by  this  Directive  to  Council 
Decision 2006/512/EC of 17 July 2006.  

Other amendments (16, 19, 30): introduce drafting clarifications to the Commission proposal. 

The  Commission,  however,  cannot  agree  to  amendment  3  which  deletes  recital  8.  The 
Commission considers the enumeration in recital 8 of criteria and procedural aspects for the 
assessment of whether the principal purpose of a cabotage service is international transport as 
important for the transparency of the procedure.  

The  Commission  cannot  agree  to  amendment  2  as  it  does  not  make  sense  to  grant  new 
Member States the right to postpone opening of national rail passenger markets by 5 years if 
this Directive does not open domestic rail passenger markets at all.  

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5. 

Conclusion 

Pursuant to Article 250(2) of the EC Treaty, the Commission amends its proposal as set out 
above.  

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