Brussels, 05/12/2005 (Agence Europe) - Monday's Transport Council reached several policy agreements on the third rail package but failed yet again on the European driving licence.
When it came to the proposal for a directive on access to the rail market, the Council approved opening of international passenger services on 1 January 2010, with Luxembourg enjoying more time until 2012 because of its specific situation (due to the small size of its network, 70% of the turnover is on international lines and liberalisation of the international market is equivalent to liberalisation of its domestic market). Although some countries, like Germany, Sweden and Italy, are in favour of greater liberalisation, the date of 2008 put forward by the European Parliament at first reading was considered premature by others and by the Commission. The compromise text first of all authorises consecutive cabotage which consists in allowing passengers to embark and disembark within one and the same Member State on condition that this is a secondary activity of a company offering services on an international line. Only Hungary hoped cabotage would be gradually authorised or at least after 2010. According to the Council, national regulators will be responsible for assessing the content of concession contracts already in existence at the time when the directive takes effect to determine whether other concessions may be authorised given optimal use of infrastructures. At the request by Cyprus, Malta and Lithuania in particular, the introduction of a reciprocity clause will allow Member States to refuse access to their markets to rail companies that have a monopoly in their own country. All delegations supported the joint Commission and Council declaration marking the direct link between this proposal for a directive and the regulation on public service obligations in order to safeguard the balance between liberalisation and the protection of public services, Alistair Darling explained. The declaration certifies that liberalisation does not concern domestic lines and that it authorises the direct attribution of public service contracts. At the request of France, Member States that so wish may be authorised to maintain or keep in place a perequation system, to pay compensation to lines that have shortfalls through a levy on all their rail lines. This arrangement is only a possibility and respects the competence of Member States on territorial planning, French Transport Minister Dominique Perben explained. Portugal, however, also said it did not like the text which penalises States on the periphery, and that it would make a declaration to heighten EP awareness of this issue. The Commission pledged to ensure that introduction of perequation complies with principles of non-discrimination and transparency and is in line with Court of Justice case law.
On the matter of passenger rights and obligations, ministers opted for a compensatory system only applied to international networks, providing for fares to be reimbursed at 25% for delays of 60 to 119 minutes and at 50% for any delay over 120 minutes, but solely in the case when the transporting company is responsible for the delay and not in the case of acts of God, as the Commission proposed.
The Council also approved the proposal for a directive on the certification of train and engine drivers but without it being extended to on-board personnel (contrary to the first EP reading).
Several delegations called for the search for an agreement on the single model of driving licence to be adjourned. German Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee mainly stressed that his new government needed time to gain broader support for the compulsory exchange of “old” permits, while Austria and Poland deplored the administrative costs entailed by the exchange of several million permits. The Council takes the risk that conciliation might be more severe than the agreement on the table, Jacques Barrot commented. He warned: “The Commission is forced to bow before this but I should like to say how unfortunate I find it as this permit is an instrument for learning security on a European level”.