Brussels, 18/10/2005 (Agence Europe) - The Community of European Railways (CER) presented a book on 11 October, entitled "Reforming Europe's railways - an assessment of progress", as its contribution to the reflection on the mid-term revision of the White Paper on the European transport policy. Studies carried out in various countries show that reforms implemented have helped to improve the effectiveness and competitiveness of the railway sector, but that transfers from the road to rail remain insufficient. The debate centred mainly on the Eurovignette. According to Johannes Ludewig, president of the CER, the rail sector is now in favour of competition, which it opposed for too long, "as long as this is done on an equal footing between the various modes of transport". The application of the "polluter pays" principle to the road as well as rail and the internalisation of external costs are necessary to determine the right price, "the essential element of a market economy", which will help to attract private investors, he said. The Commission supports the two-stage approach proposed by the rapporteur of the European Parliament on the Eurovignette, Corien Wortmann-Kool (EPP-ED, Netherlands), who calls upon the Commission to propose a method for calculating external costs which is acceptable to the Council and the EP ("the Commission must make a political choice", said the rapporteur that same day, at the debate on the report within the Parliamentary committee on transport). The Commission must also carry out an impact assessment, because "we need a debate on the figures, and not just a debate on the principles", said the Director of DG TREN, Enrico Grillo-Pasquarelli, who feels that "the Eurovignette is not 'the' solution, just 'a' solution". The current situation is the "results of a lack of investment on the part of the Member States in rail infrastructure", said Georg Jarzembowski (EPP-ED, Germany). "There will be no major developments unless there is a coherent policy on the part of the Member States and the regional authorities in favour of the development of the railways", warned former European Commissioner Karel Van Miert, European coordinator for the priority project number 1. The Member States must reach agreement on the financial perspectives 2007-2013 as a matter of urgency, but must also get used to working together on cross-border projects, "just as the railways must think within a cross-border framework, rather than a national one, in order to optimise mobility", said Karel Vinck, European coordinator in charge of facilitating the implementation of the European Rail Traffic Management System, ERTMS. Mr Vinck noted a "lack of confidence" in this new system, despite Community aid earmarked to speed up the passage of existing national systems towards the European system, and acknowledged that "it is hard to be credible while there is no agreement on the financial perspectives".
European Parliament Plenary Session (continued)