Considerations on COM(1998)480-1 - Amendment of Directive 91/440/EEC on the development of the EC's railways - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(1998)480-1 - Amendment of Directive 91/440/EEC on the development of the EC's railways. |
|---|---|
| document | COM(1998)480  |
| date | February 26, 2001 |
(2) Fair and non-discriminatory access to the infastructure needs to be guaranteed through the separation of certain essential functions and/or the creation of a rail regulator fulfilling the control and implementation functions as well as through the separation of profit and loss accounts and the balance sheets.
(3) Fair and non-discriminatory access to the infrastructure needs to be guaranteed also through the separation of safety related functions and/or the creation of a rail regulator fulfilling the control and implementation functions. In any case railway undertakings may be involved in a non-discriminatory way in enforcement and monitoring of safety standards.
(4) Extension of access rights should, as with other modes of transport, proceed in conjunction with the parallel implementation of the necessary accompanying harmonisation measures.
(5) In accordance with the objective of completing the internal market, which will include the possibility for all licensed railway undertakings meeting the safety conditions to provide services, access rights should, for a transitional period of up to seven years, be extended to licensed railway undertakings for the international transport of goods on a defined network, called the Trans European Rail Freight Network, including access to, and supply of, services in major terminals and ports. After this transitional period, the Trans-European Rail Freight Network should cover the entire European rail network and the railway undertakings should be granted rights of access thereto for international freight transport.
(6) Access right is guaranteed to the licensed railway undertaking meeting the safety conditions and seeking access, whatever the mode of operation.
(7) Member States remain free to grant access rights that are more extensive than access for railway undertakings operating international combined transport to international groupings operating international services and to railway undertakings operating international freight services within the Trans-European Rail Freight Network. The use of these more extensive access rights may be limited to railway undertakings licensed in Member States where access rights of a similar nature are granted, provided that this limitation is compatible with the Treaty.
(8) To promote efficient management of infrastructure in the public interest, infrastructure managers should be given a status independent of the State, and freedom to manage their internal affairs, while Member States should take the necessary measures for the development and the safe use of railway infrastructure.
(9) To promote the efficient operation of passenger and freight transport services and to ensure transparency in their finances, including all financial compensation or aid paid by the State, it is necessary to separate the accounts of passenger and of freight transport services.
(10) It is necessary to implement a number of measures in order better to monitor the development of the railway sector and the evolution of the market, assess the effect of the measures adopted and analyse the impact of the measures envisaged by the Commission.
(11) Bodies should be established with a sufficient degree of independence to regulate competition on the rail services market where there are no entities performing that function.
(12) The Commission should report on the implementation of this Directive and make appropriate proposals.
(13) The measures necessary for the implementation of this Directive should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission(6).
(14) Specific measures are required to take account of the specific geopolitical and geographical situations of certain Member States as well as a specific organisation of the railway sector in various Member States while ensuring the integrity of the internal market.
(15) In accordance with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty, the objectives of this Directive, namely to develop the Community's railways, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States in view of the need to ensure fair and non-discriminatory terms for access to the infrastructure as well as to take account of the manifestly international dimensions involved in the operation of significant elements of the railway networks, and can therefore, by reason of the need for coordinated trans-national action, be better achieved by the Community. This Directive does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve those objectives.
(16) Directive 91/440/EEC should be amended accordingly.