On October 8th, the TTE Council discussed two draft directives of the Fourth Railway Package, one which provided for opening up national rail networks to competition from new operators, and another for ensuring non-discrimination in passenger railway markets through governance measures. Delegations were asked to comment on the need to open markets, the transition, and proposed measures for guaranteeing non-discrimination. While not all delegations commented on the need for a transition, many treated the many proposals for ensuring non-discrimination—such as competitive tendering and the independence of infrastructure managers—as separated issues, especially later in the discussion.
Ministers held a policy debate on the two proposals to improve rail services in the EU by opening the market for domestic passenger services and stronger governance (Fourth Railway Package). The discussion will guide future work on the proposals. “After three semesters devoted exclusively to the technical pillar of the fourth railway package, I was proud to host today the first strategic debate on the political pillar of the package”, said Minister Lupi. “All ministers had the chance to express their views on key issues such as domestic market opening, non-discriminatory access to networks, financial transparency and the awarding of public service contracts. On the basis of the discussion, the Council will go on working towards a strategic, shared approach to the political pillar with a view to agreeing on this shared approach by the December Council.”
Siim Kallas, European Commissioner for Transport, thanked the Italian Presidency for its commitment to the Fourth Railway Package, and welcomed its ambition regarding negotiations on the technical pillar. He stated he was happy that progress had been made on that pillar, but argued it would amount to little without an agreement on railway network governance. He wished to remind the Council that the objective was to be able to travel by train from Italy to Denmark, paying only for market costs. He noted the modal share of rail in the EU transport market continued to be lower than desired. While the technical pillar would help, he argued only with a political agreement could progress be made.
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