Brussels, 06/12/2000 (Agence Europe) - Complement to "rail package" adopted by the European Parliament and the Council during the conciliation meeting on 22 November, the Directive on the technical harmonisation of the transeuropean conventional railway network, should be adopted next February by the European Parliament. The European Commission presented to the EP Transport Committee, a revised version of this draft Directive on interoperability, which reproduces the "common position" adopted by the Council in mid-November, and a major part of the amendments adopted by the EP in May. The MEPs seem favourable towards this new version.
The main changes, compared to the draft presented one year ago by the Commission, are as follows: 1) the Directive requires consultations of users and social partners for the elaboration of common standards in terms of hygiene, safety and professional qualifications, 2) the derogations to the obligation to respect the future common standards are specified, 3) the Member States will be held to present a register of material and infrastructure, and obligation that should guarantee greater transparency to the new operators (but requires much more time for its elaboration as the information is presently dispersed), 4) the Member States undertake to respect and prepare the common rules during the transition period of around 10 years between the adoption of the Directive and the establishments of the first common standards, 5) in accordance with the EP's wishes, the Commission will be held to prepare within three years a first package of specifications, notably covering the common control of signalling, the data applications for freight, operational rule and management of traffic, noise pollution caused by rolling stock and infrastructure, the freight wagons specifications.