On Thursday 17 November, the European Commission sent a reasoned opinion to Germany in which it calls on the country to comply with the directive on railway safety (Directive 2004/49/EC).
National rules in Germany require technical inspections for railway rolling stock at regular intervals but this prevents the undertakings in charge of maintenance to make decisions at the time of inspections. This provision may contravene the spirit of the directive, which seeks to guarantee the fluid circulation of railway vehicles on the EU network, whilst ensuring maximum safety.
The directive should have been transposed by December 2010 but the Commission points out that Germany has still not transposed the European legislation in full. Berlin now has two months to respond to the Commission on this. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)