The European Parliament's Committee on Transport (TRAN) was called upon to vote, on Monday 12 October, on the draft report by Anna Deparnay-Grunenberg (Greens/EFA, Germany) on the European Commission's proposal to make 2021 the European Year of Rail (see EUROPE 12439/7).
With a view to this vote, 15 compromise amendments have been made to Mrs Deparnay-Grunenberg's proposal (see EUROPE 12512/9).
These amendments relate mainly to Articles 2 and 3 of the Commission's initial proposal (https://bit.ly/2SLtUd0 ), aimed respectively at defining the objectives of the European Year of Rail and the measures to be taken to achieve these objectives.
Objectives. The political groups, in their amendments on Article 2, emphasise in particular the need to transform the “Union patchwork of national rail networks” into a truly European network and therefore call for support for regional cross-border rail connectivity in the EU.
They also introduce a reference to the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) - which is completely absent from the Commission proposal - arguing that this European Year should promote precisely the completion of the TEN-T (see EUROPE 12552/3).
Other objectives identified by MEPs include improving the accessibility of trains for the elderly and people with reduced mobility, promoting the existing EU night train network, encouraging the protection of employees as well as strengthening rail transport in agglomerations and suburbs to promote “climate- and people-friendly, door to door transportation”.
Measures. In the amendments made to Article 3 of the initial proposal, the political groups then propose to invite the Commission to study the possibility of creating a “rail connectivity index” aimed at identifying areas where investment would be particularly necessary.
They also suggest calling on Member States to take initiatives to encourage business travel and commuting by rail.
They also advocate support for the expansion of regional infrastructure, in particular through the promotion of freight transport outside the main corridors or the establishment of activities to better disseminate information on the respect of passengers' rights.
Interinstitutional negotiations. The results of the final vote on this report were not yet known at the time we went to press. However, it was expected that all the compromises put forward by the political groups would be adopted.
Finally, the TRAN Committee MEPs were also asked on Monday to vote on the decision to start inter-institutional negotiations on this dossier.
The EU Council, for its part, had already given the go-ahead for the opening of these negotiations last June (see EUROPE 12513/37). It will then be up to the co-legislators to reach an agreement quickly, so that the necessary preparations for the implementation of the European Year can be launched in time. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)