Brussels, 19/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 19 June, Coreper approved the trialogue agreement on the recast of the first rail package. This will come as a great relief to all stakeholders after six months of tough second reading negotiations and a procedure lasting almost two years.
Agreement in principle. Danish Transport Minister Henrik Dam Kristensen, attending the European Parliament (EP) transport and tourism (TRAN) committee meeting, confirmed that Coreper had backed the agreement reached on 13 June. The agreement in principle is less than emphatic, however, as the qualified majority approval was without the backing of the German, Polish, Estonian, Luxembourg and Austrian delegations. TRAN Committee Chairman Brian Simpson (S&D, UK), informing MEPs of the outcome of the negotiations, was pleased that the agreement improved on the initial text and widened its scope. What remains now is the plenary session vote in July and Point A adoption by the Council of Ministers also in July. The text will then come into force the following day.
Final points agreed. The text in question is a recast of three directives which form the “first rail package”, dating from 2001, and clarifies, simplifies and updates the legislative framework applicable to the rail sector. Member states will have two and a half years to incorporate the text into national law. The draft directive as it now stands finally requires member states to put in place strong, independent national regulators. Some countries already have regulators but the text brings uniformity to their roles and, for the first time, sets a maximum of six weeks for handling complaints under the simplified procedure and 16 weeks under the full procedure. The possibility of a European regulator at a later date is envisaged. The agreement does not require this, but calls on the Commission to provide an assessment within two years of the recasts' coming into force. The agreement increases the transparency of financial flows between rail sector players and establishes a more stable financial framework: the multiannual contracts between infrastructure managers and rail companies will be for five years (not three as called for by the Council or seven as sought by the EP). After this period, if the infrastructure manager's accounts are not balanced, member states will be required to make good the difference. The directive will also guarantee free competition between a range of essential services (maintenance, upkeep electrification).
Unbundling and charges left for later. The final text does not yet demand separation of infrastructure managers and rail companies, but asks the Commission to bring forward proposals in the course of this year. The agreement does not say anything either on charges for the use of infrastructure, though it will be for the Commission to propose, within the next two years, before the deadline for transposing the directive, a uniform method for calculating charges to be paid. The recast text does, however, require the introduction of a system of reduced charges for rolling stock fitted with the ERTMS automatic braking system. This “bonus/malus” system must not, however, generate a surplus; its sole purpose is to encourage the market to fit ERTMS (a similar system to reduce noise is provided for but is not compulsory).
Reactions. This last point has not found favour with Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies Executive Director Libor Lochman. However, more widely, the industry is happy with the improvements in the agreement. European Rail Infrastructure Managers (EIM) Executive Director Monika Heiming, for example, said that “the recast will make a positive contribution to achieving better rail services in Europe”. (MD/transl.rt)