Commission Opinion pursuant to Article 251(2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty on the European Parliament's amendment to the Council's common position regarding the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 881/2004 establishing a European Railway Agency 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, mutual recognition principle, rail transport, technical standard, trans-European network, transport safety, vehicle on rails

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 30.10.2008 
COM(2008) 687 final 

2006/0274 (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's common position regarding the 
Proposal for a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

amending Regulation (EC) No 881/2004 establishing a European railway agency 

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

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2006/0274 (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's common position regarding the 
Proposal for a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

amending Regulation (EC) No 881/2004 establishing a European railway agency 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

Article 251(2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty provides that the Commission 
shall 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 
Parliament. 

2. 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the European Parliament and 
the Council (document COM(2006) 785 final – 2006/0274 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 Parliament's opinion at 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 the Regulation which established the European 
Railway Agency in order to include new tasks with the aim of facilitating the free movement 
of trains. Notably: 

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–  to  develop  a  reference  document  cross-referencing  all  the  national  rules  applied  by  the 

Member States for putting rolling stock into service;  

–  to organise the systems work of the national safety authorities so as gradually to reduce the 
number of national rules imposed by each Member State and to identify those which can 
be deemed to be equivalent; 

–  to  produce  technical  opinions  if  requested  by  the  national  safety  authorities  or  the 

Commission. 

In addition, the amendment of the Regulation provided an opportunity to clarify a number of 
different tasks based on the experience acquired following the establishment of the Agency, 
particularly  in  the  context  of  setting  up  ERTMS  (the  European  Rail  Traffic  Management 
System) and the registers of rolling stock. 

4. 

COMMISSION'S  OPINION  ON  THE  AMENDMENTS  PROPOSED  BY 
PARLIAMENT 

After  several  months  of  negotiations  under  the  Slovenian  Council  Presidency,  a  solution 
leading  to  an  agreement  was  arrived  at  during  the  informal  trialogue  on  24 June  2008.  The 
agreement mainly concerned the Agency's tasks in the area of ERTMS. 

The Commission can accept the compromise amendment adopted by the European Parliament 
at the end of the second reading.  

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