Brussels, 23/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - The interinstitutional dialogues on political pillar in the fourth railway package have been delayed due to the absence of a number of rapporteurs and the terror attacks that rocked Belgium on 22 March, according to a number of sources consulted on Wednesday 23 March.
Decisions on governance on the rail markets should have been delayed due to the absence of the rapporteur, David-Maria Sassoli (S&D, Italy), due to illness, from the interinstitutional dialogue on 23 February. Likewise for opening public services, with the absence of rapporteur Wim van de Camp (EPP, the Netherlands) from the 16 March meeting. All the same, the MEPs have high hopes of being able to conclude the talks on the policy arm at the final interinstitutional meeting, which was initially scheduled for 11 or 12 April. The meetings on 22 and 23 March were cancelled following the terror attacks in the Belgian capital.
A source said that the negotiations have been much delayed and the next meeting is bound to be postponed due to the overlap at the Commission with other meetings that had to be reprogrammed (because of the cancellations caused by the terror attacks, Ed.). The source explained that negotiation margins were shrinking as time went on, but the target remains the June Transport Council. The source said it was looking as if one would arrive at the Council with unfinished business and feared that “hasty” decisions would be made.
There are, however, a number of issues that remain to be solved. In terms of governance, the tricky question of 'signposting dividends,' in other words separating financial flow in integrated rail groups including both rail operators and railtrack managers (such as SNCF or Deutsche Bahn), has not yet found a consensual response. Neither has the cumulation of mandates in the various boards of management. At present, talks are covering the proportion of members of management boards who may have positions on both rail operator and railtrack management companies.
On the question of opening up public services, three points remain outstanding - social guarantees when transferring staff between operators, controls on the direct granting of public contracts and the transition period to an open market. On the latter point, the Council was suggesting a very long transition period (some suggested 2041 as the final year) which has been rejected en bloc by the European Parliament and European Commission.
The Council decided on its negotiating position in October 2015, which included a number of derogations (see EUROPE 11406). Since then, debate has stumbled over opening up public services (see EUROPE 11464) and access to rolling stock (see EUROPE 11480). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)