EC Enforces Second Railway Package

June 30, 2006

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The European Commission (EC) sent a reasoned opinion to Greece, Italy, Portugal and Slovenia for failing to notify the EC of any transposition measures for a directive that opens the market for international and national rail freight services. The transposition of this directive into the national legal framework should enable more efficient and on-time international and national services by rail, which are particularly important to make rail more competitive. The EC is committed its role in ensuring an open internal market for rail freight services.

Jacques Barrot, EC vice president in charge of transport, said, "The implementation of this directive is essential to creating a truly integrated railway network in the European Union. The conditions it defines will ensure better use of rail transport and infrastructure. There should be transparent and fair conditions for access to rail infrastructure."

Directive 2004/51/CE had to be implemented into national legislation by Dec. 31, 2004. It aims to open the market for international freight transport by rail as of Jan. 1, 2006 and the market for national transport by Jan. 1, 2007 at the latest. (The exception was France, which was requested to open its national market from March 31, 2006 within the framework of the EC's decision on state aid to restructure SNCF Fret, N386/2004; see:http://ec.europa.eu/community_law/state_aids/transports-2004/n386-04.pdf.)

The directive is one of the measures adopted by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers in the framework of the Second Railway Package (see IP/04/516). This package aims to guarantee and improve access rights to the European rail network for national and international railway services. It also includes a directive on railway safety and requests member states to set up an independent rail safety authority. The package also contains the regulation on the European Railway Agency, located in Valenciennes, France.

Once adopted in national law, legislation implementing the package will be subject to further examination to ensure that it conforms to European legislation and that it transposes it in full.

More information on the current developments in rail transport in the EU can be found on the EC's web site for Rail Transport and Interoperability.

Source: European Commission.