Brussels, 30/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - After the latest meeting of member states' permanent representatives to the EU (Coreper) on Wednesday 30 September, there is every reason to be hopeful of a happy outcome with regard to the thorny issue of the political pillar in talks on the 4th rail package.
Only two technical points remain to be settled, according to a European source. The first relates to the draft directive (COM/2013/029) on the opening of the market for domestic passenger transport services by rail and the governance of the railway infrastructure, and in particular the Article relating to conditions for access to the railway infrastructure (10.2). This would appear to be a legal issue with a view to articulating the draft directive better with the draft regulation establishing a single European rail area (COM/2013/028).
The second point relates to conditions for exemption from the competitive bidding rule which have still to be fine-tuned. The proposal to exempt markets which represent less than 1% of total traveller numbers in Europe has been jettisoned (see EUROPE 11333) in favour of a more exact and representative, but also more complex, system which will depend on the structural and geographic characteristics of the various domestic markets.
Account will also be taken of the size of the market, demand, the complexity of the network and technical and geographic isolation. Ireland, for example, would meet the last two criteria, given that its railway gauge is not the same as that of other European networks and that, as an island, it is geographically isolated.
Performance (after Dutch proposals) and urgency criteria will also be included in determining the direct award of contracts by competent national or local authorities. The performance criteria have been definitively set and will include measurable data, such as the record on time-keeping, the frequency of trains and the passenger capacity of trains. Situations of urgency remain to be more clearly defined, however, according to the institutions.
With the technical pillar having been approved in June (see EUROPE 11347), the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the EU made adoption of a general approach on the political pillar at the Transport Council on 8 October one of its central priorities. “We are very hopeful” of achieving this goal, a further source stated. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)