Brussels, 12/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - The Committee of the Regions (CoR) has given its draft opinion on the 4th railway package. A balanced approach must be taken, as the Parliament advocates.
Pascal Mangin (EPP, France), the rapporteur, had drafted an opinion that will be submitted to the plenary session of the Committee of the Regions this October. Mangin explained that “the priority is not liberalisation as an end in itself but making rail transport cheaper and more efficient for passengers and organising authorities”.
The rapporteur underlines the fact that regional and local authorities may play an extended role in the setting in place of rail reform, especially with regard to the granting of public service contracts. On this subject, Mangin takes the view that it is important to give the relevant authorities the option of choosing between competitive tendering and direct awarding. In the latter case, he suggests the annual threshold of 150,000 kilometres, as proposed by the Commission, should be increased to 500,000 kilometres.
On the subject of governance, the CoR member welcomes the fact that the role of infrastructure manager has been strengthened. He also floats the idea of involving local and regional authorities in management boards of infrastructure managers as well as in the coordination committees in charge of supervising infrastructure managers' activities. (MD/transl.jl)