Luxembourg, 10/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 10 June, the Transport Council managed to conclude a general approach on the interoperability chapter in the fourth railway package. This is the first notable success achieved by the Council on the technical pillar. Enhancing interoperability (although by less than the approach advocated by the Commission) should help towards simplifying and shortening authorisation and certification procedures for rolling stock, by granting greater powers to the European Railway Agency (ERA). The European Commissioner for Transport, Siim Kallas, said that, by way of their general approach, the member states are creating “momentum for the completion of the Single European Rail Area and will contribute to the growth and competitiveness of the European railway market”.
The transport ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Monday 10 June gave broad support to the compromise proposed by the Irish Presidency of the Council of Ministers, which advocates a dual approach to certification rather than the generalised centralisation of procedures through the ERA. Thus, only vehicles used in international transport will be certified by the ERA in cooperation with national safety agencies. As for equipment that is exclusively used for domestic purposes, operators will be able to decide whether to go to the ERA or their respective national agencies. The commissioner for transport, Siim Kallas believes that this compromise is “balanced” and he thanked member states for being flexible. The Italian delegation stated that “the role and activities of national agencies” would therefore be protected and added that “the Italian experience proves that liberalisation, national authorities and high safety levels are possible”. Nonetheless, although they finally withdrew their reservations, the Luxembourg, Hungarian and Latvian delegations considered the proposal premature. The Hungarians were still not in favour of extending the remit of the ERA because they think that this would not necessarily lead to greater efficiency. Poland was satisfied with the division of responsibilities but would have preferred to have waited for an assessment of the current directive.
Many delegations fear that the European agency does not have either the expertise or sufficient resources. This is why concerns about adaptation led to the general approach proposing extension of the transition period from three to five years. The commissioner was not pleased with this development and said that, “during this transition period, other competitors will arrive, such as the Japanese and Chinese and we will have to take this into account. This simplification will also reduce manufacturers' costs”. He argued that the ERA could be ready in less than two years and hinted that this point be discussed again in negotiations with the European Parliament.
A number of derogations were introduced with regard to interoperability conditions. This is the case for Latvia which shares different track gauges with Russia, and Germany which requested an exemption for light vehicles, such as trams.
The Dutch delegation explicitly called for separating off the fourth railway package, which would mean that the technical pillar, already partially examined by the Council (apart from safety and the ERA regulation) would be able to continue its own negotiating procedure without having to wait for general approaches on the rest of the package. This request was also put forward by the industry. The European Parliament is expected to decide on its position in November. (MD/transl.fl)