Luxembourg, 10/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - European transport ministers are advocating a dual certification system for rolling stock in a general approach adopted on Thursday 10 October on the directive relating to railway safety in the 4th railway package. This is an alternative to the single stop shop proposed by the European Commission. Ministers also expressed fears about the cost of certification and opted for a longer transition period (five years) in the directive than that proposed by the Commission (two years).
The mixed system that ministers drew up is calculated on the alternative already established in the field of interoperability in a previous general approach. It includes certification for rolling stock by the European Railway Agency during cross-border operations by the latter. In other words, national safety agencies will remain in charge for exclusively domestic use. This will mean member states will not transfer all their responsibilities from their national agencies to the European Railway Agency. The Luxembourg delegation said, however, that any transfer of responsibilities would be premature.
Several delegations expressed concern about increased costs for certification (Hungary, Germany, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Portugal and others). The European Commissioner for Transport, Siim Kallas, was eager to provide assurances and pointed out that the European Railway Agency would not be any more expensive than was currently the case, given that today it was necessary to introduce requests to every different member state. He estimated that around €50 million in savings could be made with a single certificate. The transparency of the charges applied would be tackled during the debates on the European Railway Agency regulation, which are also expected to be the subject of a general approach during the December Transport Council.
The Council suggested extending the transposition time for the directive and therefore the transfer of responsibilities to the European Railway Agency in five years time. France was particularly keen to emphasise that it was important to allow time for the ERA to develop its authority. The Commissioner, however, highlighted the importance of applying the directive within the two years following adoption of the 4th railway package. He explained that the transition period needs to be as short as possible. If we extend it, this will mean making our lives more complicated. (MD/transl.fl)