For all member states it is extremely important to have an adequate, transparent and sustainable funding of the infrastructure, fair competition conditions and to initiate organisational reforms to ensure the proper supervision of rail market conditions.
Ensuring the right, transparent and sustainable funding of the infrastructure by better anticipating its deve-lopment and access conditions, facilitating investments for railway undertakings, next to a more adequate level and structure of charging track access, improving the competitiveness of railway operators compared to other means of transport and contributing to the internalization of environment costs are among the main objectives of the First Railway Package recast policy. At the same time, the recast strategy means the set up of the necessary foundation for creating a single European railway area.
The Council and the European Parliament have paved the way for the adoption of the draft directive establishing a single European railway area, by successfully concluding the tripartite negotiations between the Danish presidency, the European Parliament and the Commission on a compromise text. On June 19th, the compromise was endorsed by the member states within the Permanent Representatives Committee. To enter into force, the text still needs to be formally approved by Parliament, whose vote in plenary is scheduled for early July, and by the Council, which is due to take its decision after the vote in Parliament.
A series of amendments proposed for se-cond reading by rapporteur Debora Serracchiani, member of the TRAN Committee, refer to the consolidation of the capacity of regulatory bodies.
Thus, national regulatory bodies will exchange information regarding the activity, decision principles and practices and will collaborate in other regards as well for coordinating decisions across the EU. For this purpose they will work together in a formally established network that convenes at regular intervals at the invitation of and chaired by the Commission. To this aim the Commission will ensure active cooperation between the regulatory bodies and will take action in case regulatory bodies fail to fulfil their mandate.
Under the debated text, the national infrastructure manager will manage its own information services to make sure than commercial sensitive information is properly protected.
Moreover, the text shows that the Commission will no later than 31 December 2012 present a proposal for a Directive containing provisions relating to the separation of infrastructure management and transport operations as well as a proposal for opening the domestic rail passenger market which does not detract from the quality of rail transport services and safeguards public service obligations.
Also, the regulatory body will be required to take a decision on any complaints to remedy the situation within a maximum period of one month from the receipt of the complaint and take action on its own initiative. In the event of an appeal against a refusal to grant infrastructure capacity, or against the terms of an offer of capacity, the regulatory body will either confirm that no modification of the infrastructure manager’s decision is required, or it shall require modification of that decision in accordance with directions specified by the regulatory body. Moreover, the Commission will on its own initiative examine the application and enforcement of the provisions related to the mandate of the regulatory bodies and their decision-making deadlines.
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