Brussels, 19/11/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has adopted a proposal of decision calling on the Council to approve Community accession to the Convention concerning International Carriage by Rail (COTIF), which aims to facilitate international rail transport by developing uniform legal rules for the continent of Europe. The Community's accession to COTIF must promote the development of rail transport throughout the continent as a result of better technical and administrative interoperability of rail systems, and make it possible to rebalance the modal split for the benefit of the railways. Community accession, however, will only be possible with enforcement of the Vilnius protocol on 3 June 1999 which modifies COTIF, which requires ratification by at least two thirds of the Protocol's signatory parties. The Commission therefore invites Member States to pursue ratification of the Vilnius Protocol. Entry into force of the Vilnius protocol and Community accession to COTIF should, in principle, take place in 2005. OTIF (the organisation responsible for facilitating international rail transport) at present has 42 members including the EU Member States, as well as Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic.