From 16 June 2019, the EU Agency for Railways (ERA) is entering a new era of single and simplified authorisation and certification processes in Europe. ERA takes responsibility for vehicle authorisation, safety certification, and ERTMS trackside approval.
“For years, railway’s progress in Europe has been hampered by technical barriers and excessive cost. The new, simplified certification processes help breaking down the barriers and increasing harmonisation, which will improve the competitive position of railways,” Josef Doppelbauer, Executive Director of ERA said.
Ushering a new era of simplified processes for the European rail market, companies operating across EU borders may now rely on one single, integrated process to obtain vehicle authorisations, single safety certificates or to request ERTMS trackside approval. From 16 June 2019 onwards, they must contact the European Union Agency for Railways in Valenciennes and file only one application through its One-Stop Shop IT tool (OSS). Upon receipt of an application, ERA assigns a project manager who is the personal contact for the applicant and who advises him/her throughout the process. Dedicated multilingual expert teams assess each application.
In June 2019, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, Romania and Slovenia have adopted the new regime, while other countries chose to transpose the new legislation by June 2020. Switzerland will adopt the new regime on a case-by-case basis from June 2019.
Share on:
