On Tuesday 20 April, the European Commission authorised Polish measures to support the restructuring of Polish Regional Railways, the operator of regional passenger rail transport throughout Poland.
Polish Regional Railways (Przewozy Regionalne) is the largest regional railway operator in the field of passenger transport in Poland and the only provider of public passenger transport services by rail in seven of the country’s 16 regions. The company, which is majority owned by the Public Industrial Development Agency, has been experiencing financial difficulties.
In January 2018, the Commission opened a formal investigation procedure to determine whether certain aid measures in favour of Polish Regional Railways were in line with EU State aid rules.
The investigation covered €181 million of restructuring aid notified by Poland to the Commission in 2015, as well as other State aid measures granted before 2015 (€565 million, €448 million and €260 million).
The Commission found that the measures were both proportionate and necessary to ensure the viability of Polish Regional Railways and thus to avoid the serious disruption of the provision of an important service in Poland that would have been caused by the insolvency of the sole nationwide provider of regional rail passenger services.
In its assessment, the Commission took into account, inter alia, the importance of a well-functioning regional rail service for the Polish population.
In order to limit the possible negative effects of the aid on competition, Poland has committed to accelerate the phasing out of this practice and to complete this process earlier than required by the railway package (by 25 December 2023 at the latest, according to the package).
In addition, Poland has committed itself to already start gradually opening the market through public tenders. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)