Brussels, 13/12/2006 (Agence Europe) - Nearly two weeks before the rail freight market is fully opened up on 1 January 2007, the European Commission adopted a package of measures to facilitate the movement of locomotives within the Community territory, by written procedure on 13 December. Commission also proposes to extend the competencies of the European Railway Agency (ERA) in this field.
In order to be able to circulate on the territory of a Member State, locomotives must be certified by the authorities of that country. This is a long and expensive procedure, particularly when a train must pass through several countries and thus undergo several certification procedures, each of which are based on different national criteria. According to railway manufacturers and businesses, certain demands are even felt to be unjustified technically. These national standardisation procedures, which can take up to three years, constitute real obstacles to the creation of new railway companies, and are seriously slowing down the interoperability of the European rail system. For this reason, the Commission is proposing to bring in the principle of mutual recognition of service authorisations already issued by another Member State: rolling stock which has been authorised for use in one Member State does not require additional certification in another Member State, unless for reasons of additional national requirements stemming from the specific nature of the local network (which would represent around 10 to 15% of rolling stock).
The Commission is also proposing to extend the competencies of the ERA, so that it will compile a reference document of all the different national procedures and technical rules in force in this area. This document, which will be updated regularly, will draw a list of requirements which must be verified only once, either because they are recognised international rules, or because they can be considered to be equivalent. This document, which will be available one year after the entry into force and transposition of the directive, will guarantee greater transparency and legal security. ERA will also be in charge of creating a network of national rail security authorities and organising their work, in order to effect a gradual reduction in the volume of national rules applicable and to identify those which can be considered mutually equivalent. It will also be able to produce technical opinions by request of the national safety authorities and the Commission.
The Commission's package of measures includes a communication, a proposed directive on railway interoperability merging and clarifying directives 96/48/EC and 2001/16/EC (on the interoperability of the trans-European high-speed railway system and the interoperability of the conventional trans-European railway system), a proposal modifying directive 2004/49/EC on the safety of Community railways and a proposal modifying regulation 881/2004 instituting ERA. The Commission intends to add to this package of measures with the adoption of a communication on the freight-orientated network, in 2007. This communication will propose an action plan aimed to facilitate the creation of a freight-orientated network, which may lead to the development of a network dedicated to freight in the medium term (2010-2015). (dt)