Brussels, 24/04/2009 (Agence Europe) - At first reading on Thursday 23 April, the European Parliament adopted (532 votes to 19 and 42 abstentions) the report by Petr Duchon (EPP-ED, Czech Republic) on the draft regulation on a European rail network for competitive freight, which aims to enhance harmonisation and competitiveness of rail freight transport. Presented by the Commission last December, the regulation suggests setting in place a European rail network composed of several international rail freight corridors identified by member states and along which freight transport could benefit from the best conditions possible (EUROPE 9802). The Parliament nonetheless made the rules considerably more flexible for governing the network, especially with regard to traffic rules and categories of goods to be transported.
Priority rules. According to the initial proposal, trains transporting sensitive goods may benefit from priority rules and better conditions of circulation than currently prevail. MEPs said, on the other hand, that it would not be appropriate to grant too high a level of priority to freight transport to the detriment of passenger transport and, during a very tight vote, they adopted an amendment of the EPP-ED (291 to 290 and 7 abstentions), which provides for these priority rules not to be applied during rush hours (the latter being defined as a maximum of three hours in the morning and three hours in the afternoon during work days). Scope. Corridors should link at least two member states and be part of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) as the Commission advocated but, if necessary, some major sections not included in the network and having a high level of freight transport could be included. Categories of goods transported. MEPs also introduced more flexible definitions concerning categories of goods to be carried, doing away with the notion of “priority freight” as the Commission wanted. This category is replaced by the notion of “facilitated freight” to indicate high time-sensitive goods that should benefit from speedier times of transport and guaranteed punctuality (on condition that the manager of the infrastructure reserves sufficiently in advance for access to this facilitated path and as long as the request is based on an assessment of market needs). Setting corridors in place. MEPs abolished the link between the number of corridors and the volume of goods transported as proposed by the Commission. One year after entry into force of the regulation, each member state with two direct rail links with other member states should receive at least a proposal for a freight corridor. Three years after the entry into force of the text, each member state should have at least one corridor. The decision to create new corridors should be left to the initiative of member states depending on market requirements, MEPs say. The Council is expected to examine the project during the next Transport Council in June. (A.By./transl.jl)