Brussels, 04/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - The railway sector is keeping up the pressure for an agreement to be found soon on the technical pillar in the fourth railway package that is meant to simplify the authorisation and certification of rolling stock. The Commission and Parliament services, however, have scotched rumours of there being a separation of the package in an effort to put this technical pillar into place earlier.
In a press release on Wednesday 5 June, the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), the Association of the European Rail Industry (UNIFE), the International Union of Wagon Keepers (UIP), the European Passenger Train and Traction Operating Lessors Association (EPTTOLA) and the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) call on the European Parliament and Council to reach an agreement as soon as possible on interoperability. As part of the fourth railway package, this technical pillar seeks to make the European Railway Agency a one-stop shop that will make authorisation and certification procedures for vehicles less costly and shorter (procedures currently take an average of two years). UNIFE Director General Philippe Citroën appealed for the technical pillar, to be “adopted during this parliamentary term to give a needed boost to the development of rail industry in Europe”. The Council is expected to approve a general approach on the subject on Monday 10 June (see other article) and discussion in Parliament's has already begun. Nonetheless, negotiations on the rest of the package, including governance and domestic passenger traffic liberalisation, are expected to take much longer. This is why pressure has been mounting up from the industry for the technical pillar to be dealt with separately from the rest of the package, so that it can be applied much sooner. The Commission, however, does not think this scenario highly likely. Keir Fitch, the head of cabinet for the European commissioner for transport, asserted in a lunch at the European Parliament on Tuesday 4 June that the current aim was to have a single package and that stability was what was needed. The rapporteur on governance, Saïd El Khadraoui (S&D, Belgium), appeared to be on the same wavelength and said that separation of the package “is not on the agenda” and there was no point discussing it “before the next parliamentary elections”. (MD/transl.fl)