Brussels, 15/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - Ahead of the inauguration of the European Railway Agency (ERA) on 16 June, the European Commission has published a press release in which it announces the programme of work of the ERA (EUROPE 8968). As its general mission is to harmonise technical rules and national security measures, ERA will be responsible for drawing up and revising technical details of rail interoperability. After the adoption of a first series of these specifications and opted for a high-speed systems in 2002, the agency will concentrate on conventional systems, giving priority to goods transport. "It is also the future of the rail industry which is at stake: standardised European products will be more competitive on world markets", said the vice-president of the Commission in charge of Transport, Jacques Barrot. The ERA will also take on board technical aspects of ERTMS (a rail-traffic management system), for which the Commission is to present a deployment plan in the next few days covering the main priority axes of the Trans European transport network, which are to generate over 5 million EUR in investment by 2017. Under the management of Marcel Verslype of Belgium, who was appointed in October 2004 (EUROPE 8823), the ERA will be fully operational by mid-2006, and comprise some hundred experts, instead of 25 at the moment. (Information: http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/transport/rail/era/index_fr.htm )