Brussels, 23/01/2007 (Agence Europe) - After the European Parliament's vote on the third rail package, during which MEPs rejected the proposal included in the report by German Christian Democrat Georg Jarzembowski on the liberalisation of the rail market for national passengers, sectoral organisations showed that they were swiftly reassured but still expressed some reservation.
The Community of European Railways (CER) takes the view that the regulation on passengers' rights should not be extended to national passengers' rights, as suggested by Belgian rapporteur Dirk Sterckx (ALDE). According to Colin Hall, CER Vice-President, the “Member States are the best placed to manage their national transport needs”, in application of the principle of subsidiarity. The European Rail Infrastructure Managers (EIM) cautiously welcomed the decision taken by MEPs. In a press release published on Monday, members of the association express their regret that the agenda for liberalising the national passenger market has not been adopted. They also fear that enlarging the scope of the directive on the certification of engine and train drivers to on-board personnel responsible for security tasks, as proposed in the report by Gilles Savary (PES, France), would entail additional cost due to the rise in spending for the control and certification system. As far as the extension of international passengers' rights to national passengers is concerned, the secretary general of the association, Michael Robson, was of the view that transposing the international passenger law to national law would double the existing legislation within Member States. He said that, when it comes to respecting compensation for delays, EIM considers the principle of subsidiarity should be applied, while the Parliament's proposal provided for compensation amounting to 25% of the price of the ticket in the event of a one-hour delay, and 50% when trains are not available due to the fault of the operator.
In the ensuing conciliation procedure, it is the Commission that must play the role of mediator between those who defend the opinion of the Council, and those who support the Parliament's stance. The view taken by all, and the only view to receive unanimity, is that this third rail package should be adopted as soon as possible.