Brussels, 04/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - The associations representing European shippers and logistic companies, CLECAT and ESC, have given their support to the revised version of the first rail package, making an appeal for greater liberalisation of the railway in Europe. “Full liberalisation of the rail freight sector remains a priority”, the two organisations state on Monday 3 January in a position paper on the directive adopted by the European Commission last September with a view to establishing a single rail area in Europe (see EUROPE 10217). CLECAT and ESC, which make up the large group of rail service users, support the objectives defined by the Commission but sound a note of caution against the reappearance of protectionism in the wake of the recent economic crisis. In this context, they point out that liberalisation of the sector goes hand in hand with the development of rail freight. “The Commission has rightly noted that the decline of rail freight has stopped in those countries which have introduced liberalisation. Market shares in those countries with little competition have decreased”, they say in the paper.
The associations which, together, are made up of a large number of rail freight users, thus set out the basic rules that must be followed with liberalisation. In their view, the opening up of competition should above all support the establishment of independent rail regulators with the requisite skills, knowledge and authority to ensure open, fair and non-discriminatory access to freight terminals and marshalling yards. They also call for strict independence between rail companies and infrastructure management companies and for the establishment of transparent conditions for all agreements that govern relations between rail users and transport companies.
Generally speaking, CLECAT and ESC support the objectives of the revised version of the package although they consider some provisions are not sufficiently strict. When it comes to competition, both associations place special emphasis on unbundling between operations and infrastructures which should, if necessary, be a binding measure. They insist on strict commercial independence for rail companies. According to CLECAT and ESC, these should enjoy administrative, legal, technical and financial independence from any holding, grouping, infrastructure manager or other company in charge of infrastructure issues (including companies dealing with timetabling, access to and pricing of slots, access to related services, etc). They also underline that the right of access to slots for stakeholders other than rail companies as set out in the directive must be compulsory. On the subject of funding and pricing, both organisations support the Commission, whose objective it is to set up a “financial architecture” for each rail network. They do, however, take issue over the use of revenue derived from environmental charges to be used in a manner at the discretion of the member states. ESC and CLECAT “would prefer to see such revenue ring-fenced and used solely for the benefit of those that have paid it, improving the network or service which they have used and for which they incurred the charges”. Making users pay for the externalities they produce without working on the reduction of these externalities would, they say, be “counterproductive”. When it comes to regulatory oversight, CLECAT and ESC comment that, in most cases, regulatory authorities are understaffed, have limited investigative powers and cannot enforce their decisions with financial penalties. In most member states, regulatory authorities are linked to the transport ministries which are also owners of rail companies, they say, specifying that they support all the provisions of the package on this. The EU Council of Ministers will seek to reach a political agreement on the directive during its meeting on 16 June. The whole paper can be consulted at the CLECAT and ESC websites: http://www.clecat.org and http://www.europeanshippers.com . (A.By./transl.jl)