Commission Opinion pursuant to Article 251(2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty on the European Parliament's amendment to the Council Common Position regarding the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2004/49/EC on safety on the Community's railways amending the proposal of the Commission pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC Treaty
Date: 2008-10-30
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European Union Agency for Railways, European standard, approximation of laws, rail network, rail transport, technical regulations, trans-European network, transport safety

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 30.10.2008 
COM(2008) 681 final 

2006/0272 (COD) 

COMMISSION OPINION 

pursuant to Article 251(2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty 
on the European Parliament's amendment 
to the Council Common Position regarding the 
proposal for a 

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

amending Directive 2004/49/EC on safety on the Community's railways 

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

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2006/0272 (COD) 

COMMISSION OPINION 

pursuant to Article 251(2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty 
on the European Parliament's amendment 
to the Council Common Position regarding the 
proposal for a 

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

amending Directive 2004/49/EC on safety on the Community's railways 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

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

2. 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the European Parliament and 
the Council (document COM(2006) 784 final – 2006/0272 COD): 

13.12.2006 

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

11.07.2007 

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

29.11.2007 

Date of adoption of the common position (by unanimity): 

03.03.2008 

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

09.07.2008 

3. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL 

On 13 December 2006, the European Commission adopted a series of measures to support the 
revitalisation  of  the  railway  sector  by  removing  obstacles  to  the  movement  of  trains 
throughout the European rail network.  

The Commission launched this initiative for two main reasons: 

–  to facilitate the free movement of trains within the EU by making the procedure for putting 

locomotives into service more transparent and more efficient. 

–  to  simplify  the  regulatory  environment  by  consolidating  and  merging  the  directives  on 

railway interoperability.  

One of these measures consists of amending Directive 2004/49/EC on rail safety. In making 
this proposal, the Commission had three objectives: 

–  The  introduction  of  the  principle  of  mutual  recognition  by  other  Member  States  of 
authorisations  already  issued  by  one  Member  State  for  putting  equipment  into  service. 

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According to this principle, rolling stock already authorised to be put into service in  one 
Member State will possibly be required to undergo complementary certification in another 
Member  State  only  as  regards  the  additional  national  requirements  arising,  for  example, 
from local system specifications. 

–  The  extension  of  the  Agency's  powers  to  enable  it  to  make  an  inventory  of  the  different 
national procedures and technical regulations in force and to establish and update (extend) 
the  list  of  requirements  where  compliance  should  be  checked  once  only  because  the 
requirements concern internationally accepted rules or can be deemed to be equivalent to 
them.  

–  The clarification of the relationship between the rail company and the entity in charge of 
maintenance.  The  entry  into  force  of  the  new  Convention  concerning  International 
Carriage by Railway (COTIF 1999) has brought in new rules governing contracts for the 
use  of  vehicles.  There  is  therefore  a  proposal  to  define  the  keeper  of  a  wagon  and  to 
specify  the  relationship  between  the  company  and  the  keeper,  in  particular  as  regards 
maintenance.  

4. 

THE  OPINION  OF  THE  COMMISSION  ON  THE  AMENDMENTS 
PROPOSED BY THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

As a result of the agreement of the European Parliament and the Council, at first reading, to 
transfer the provisions of Article 14 of this proposal for a directive regarding the putting into 
service  and  cross-acceptance  of  rolling  stock  to  the  proposal  to  recast  the  Interoperability 
Directive,  this  proposal  essentially  now  covers  only  the  introduction  of  the  regulatory 
procedure with scrutiny and an article on vehicle maintenance.  

After several months of negotiation under the Slovene presidency, a solution for reaching an 
agreement  emerged  at  the  informal  trialogue  on  24  June  2008.  This  agreement  essentially 
concerns the certification of the entities in charge of vehicle maintenance.  

The Commission can accept the compromise amendment adopted by the European Parliament 
after the second reading.  

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