Brussels, 28/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - The seminar held on 17 November in Brussels by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) on the organisation and financing of local public transport in Europe was an opportunity for the 80 participants from 21 countries to discuss the European Commission's proposal to modify the regulation on public passenger transport by rail and road (COM(2005) 319 final). Having drawn up an initial proposal in 2001 on which no agreement could be reached in the Council in 2002, the Commission presented a second version on 20 July aiming to simplify and update the rules adopted in 1969 and modified in 1991, in order to allow local authorities to choose the mode of organisation of local public transport which is best suited to the needs of their population (EUROPE 8995). The Commission proposes that authorities should have recourse to an external operator through public procurement, or organise transport services internally, by direct award to an internal operator. This second proposal was generally well received by the participants in the seminar, in as far as it respects the principle of subsidiarity and sets a clear legal framework, designed to avoid an increase in court cases, “but certain points must still be improved”, according to the Secretary General of the CEMR Jeremy Smith. The definition of the “internal operator”, the question of geographical borders and, above all, the relationship between this draft regulation and the directives on public procurement must all be clarified. The director of the Euroteam from the International Union of Public Transport (UITP) Brigitte Ollier appealed for a single legal instrument for the whole of the transport sector.
The seminar also served as a platform for the presentation of case-studies to demonstrate the different approaches to the organisation and financing of public transport. Certain Member States have a long tradition of sub-contracting public transport services, whereas competition is very limited in others. In France for example, 90% of local public transport contracts are granted to private companies (with Paris and its surrounding region being an exception), but there are only three large operators which form an oligarchy and can impose their own rules, said a concerned Chantal Duchène, the director of the French Group of Transport Authorities (GART).