“One of the major and immediate objectives of the European Commission is the recast of the First Railway Package, which brings nothing new but clarifies the current implementation norms in the European Union’s member states, because, as already known, ten years after the implementation of the First Railway Package, its alignment to national legislations has not been completed, which led to the introduction of infringement procedures for many of the EU states”, pointed out Frank Jost, Strategy Director, Directorate General for Mobility and Transport, EU Commission, during the Railway Days 2011 Summit – “Relocation of manufacturing facilities from West to East. Opportunities and challenges for railway transport development in the Wider Black Sea Area”, organised in Bucharest by Club Feroviar and the Romanian Railway Industry Association (AIF), on 4-5 October.
The Strategy Director of DG MOVE made a short presentation of the major proposals included in the recast of the First Railway Package so that the financing and charging methods would hold an important position as they are defined by developing a financial architecture to stimulate railway infrastructure investments, detailing existing charging norms and the approval of more intelligent charging schemes. Currently, the recast of the First Railway Package awaits the European Parliament’s final vote. Another objective on the agenda of the recast of the First Railway Package is the competition policy. The DG MOVE representative believes that it was necessary to improve the transparency of the railway market, the railway operators’ access to rail-related services, but also eliminating potential interest conflicts and discriminating the railway infrastructure access. The third goal is the inappropriate supervision of rail regulations by national authorities, more precisely the competences of regulating bodies. In some EU member states, transport ministries are responsible for these bodies and they also own and control state operators, which clearly generates a conflict of interest. As for the funds available for infrastructure to be introduced in the next financial period, 2014-2020, Frank Jost said that “the European Commission demanded EUR 50 Billion, but I cannot say what amount we will receive”.
Referring to the current situation of Romanian state-owned railway companies, Frank Jost underlined that “CFR SA, CFR Marfă and CFR Călători have historic debts and most of them are accumulated before the liberalization of the market, so, from the start, they have a disadvantage against private, national or international companies. The International Monetary Fund, competed bodies and the government should reduce these debts so that the companies could be more competitive in the liberalised market”.
The DG MOVE representative explained that for a better cooperation in cross-border transport, private companies communicate with one another, a fact not very common among Romanian state-owned companies. “I suggest you take the example of private companies in what concerns the railway competence and implement it in Romania as well”, said Frank Jost.
Share on:
