Brussels, 25/08/2015 (Agence Europe) - A European source revealed on Tuesday 25 August that LANDSEC, the EU expert advisory group on land transport security, will meet on 11 September, ahead of the Transport Council on 8 October, to discuss rail security, following the failed terrorist attack on the Thalys train.
This will be the ninth time that LANDSEC, which was established in May 2012 and which is made up of experts from the Transport and Home Affairs Ministries of the 28 member states will have met. The meeting, initially scheduled for 4 November, has been brought forward following recent events (see EUROPE 11373).
The European Commission, however, is remaining circumspect and states that any measures that might be taken will fully respect the principles of proportionality and subsidiarity. According to the European Commission spokesperson for transport, there are major differences between the forms of transport and it is not possible simply to transfer the model that applies for air travel to the rail sector. A source close to the matter revealed that minimum European standards could be considered, for example, with regard to security checks, luggage, training of staff and putting in place emergency plans. Any measures that might be put in place at EU level, however, would apply only to high-speed trains, that is, those that travel at speeds of over 160 kilometres per hour and form part of the trans-European transport network (TEN-T). Domestic networks will remain firmly under the control of the member states.
The rail sector is lagging significantly behind air and sea transport in terms of security, according to the Commission. In the wake of the Twin Towers attack of 11 September 2001, the European Union was granted further responsibilities for security in air transport (Regulation no 1592/2002) and in sea transport (Regulation no 724/2004). Since then, however, nothing has been done in terms of road and rail transport security. Thus, no European body has been set up to bring uniformity to security and safety standards across the EU. “Rail security and safety have not thus far been a priority for member states or operators, apart, that is, from metal theft”, the institutions note (see EUROPE 11321).
It was against this background that, in May 2012, the European Commission published a working paper on security and safety in transport, notably land transport, which resulted visibly and tangibly in the creation of LANDSEC. This group has a dual objective: firstly, to help the Commission draft legislative proposals and define policies and to coordinate the member states and, secondly, to encourage the sharing of best practice in terms of land transport security. It is for this reason that LANDSEC comprises transport and domestic security experts, these two areas being inextricably linked when discussing the issue of passenger security. (Pascal Hansens)