Brussels, 27/05/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European commissioner responsible for competition, Mario Monti, again placed emphasis on the urgency of reforming the rail sector at the annual reception of the European Union Rail Industries (UNIFE) in Brussels on 21 May. "Rail continues to lose ground over the rod due to the lack of technical and commercial dynamism" , he stressed, placing emphasis on the different obstacles to the development of a railway network.
"Up to the present, Commission activity in the railway sector, in terms of both merger control and anti-trust law enforcement, has been relatively low. This is largely due because, for many years, all the national railways operated a statutory monopoly on their territories". Citing as examples several Member States having introduced competitive measures in their domestic passenger and goods transports markets, Commission Monti stressed that these countries that had gone the furthest, like Sweden and the United Kingdom, "are the two which have gone the furthest in the use of controlled competition, and are also those with the fastest growth in rail use and the rail's market share since the mid 1990s".
Concerned with preserving the interests of passengers and goods, the Commissioner placed emphasis on the fact that implementation of legislation concerning mergers and cartels may lead to the creation of companies of a European dimension and an acceleration of the liberalisation process while avoiding monopolies and discrimination. "I will not hesitate to propose to the Commission the prohibition of blatantly anti-competitive agreements and concerted practices, for instance in the field of slot allocation or fixing fares. Possible abuses of dominant position, such as refusal of access to key facilities or the imposition of unfair or discriminatory conditions of access to the infrastructure will be closely scrunitised".
Finally, the Commissioner stressed three structural obstacles that affect the sector: 1) vertically integrated incumbents in an emerging market that can lead to discrimination against third parties. The Commissioner proposes that, as what was done in the energy market, "a separation of the transport market and supplier operations"; 2 ) the fair and co-ordinated setting of slots; 3) bilateral agreements between flag carriers. "I do recognise that, under the current legislative framework, an international grouping may be the only way to provide certain types of international services. It does not necessarily follow that the international grouping has to be one between flag carriers in all cases".
The market share of the rail sector has continued to diminish in the EU. The rail share for goods went from 21% in 1970 to 8% in 1998. The reform of the sector is thus a crucial challenge. "My department will become increasingly active in this challenge", Mario Monti concluded.