Brussels, 22/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - Ministers will agree their negotiating mandate on the technical pillar of the 4th railway package on 5 June next. However, the political pillar has still not yet been discussed at this stage.
The Transport Council on 5 June is expected to adopt a general approach on the technical pillar, which relates to railway safety, interoperability and the European Railway Agency. The political agreement brings together the three texts that have already been approved by previous Councils. Nonetheless, over the past few weeks, experts from the working group have had to go through them to bring consistency one with the other. Amendments have consequently been introduced in the preambles and in a number of articles. There are no major changes to what had already been agreed, said a European source, stating that the amendments are “not very controversial”. The general approach is expected to include certain amendments that are shared with the European Parliament's position on the 4th railway package adopted in March. The Council's political agreement to be adopted on 5 June is, thus, expected to provide a guideline in the forthcoming trialogue negotiations that are due to begin once the whole of the 4th railway package is adopted. The most important part, the political chapter on opening up the domestic passenger markets, including railway governance and public service contracts, is still missing. These are indeed very controversial subjects and the Greek Presidency has not even begun to tackle them yet. One diplomatic source, however, provided assurances that, from 1 July, the Italian Presidency would begin discussions with the European delegations on this subject. (MD)