12.8.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 236/125

A.

whereas the first railway package, which was adopted in 2001 and contains three directives on the development of the Community’s railways, on the licensing of railway undertakings and on the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and the levying of charges for the use of railway infrastructure and safety certification, was intended to revitalise the rail industry by acting as a first step towards the creation of an integrated European railway area, and to provide a sound financial structure to bring this about,

B.

whereas the directives of the first railway package were due to be transposed into national law on 15 March 2003, but the Commission waited until June 2008 before launching infringement procedures against Member States for incorrect or incomplete implementation of the first railway package,

C.

whereas, on the basis of the second report of the Commission on monitoring the development of the rail market, the rail share in transport has not increased but only stabilised to the low level of around 10 % in the rail freight market and to less than 7 % for passenger transport in 2002,

1.

Deplores that a large majority of 22 Member States have failed to implement properly the three directives of the first railway package; considers that this failure has prevented the development of rail share in transport in general;

2.

Recalls that Parliament had already underlined in its resolution of 12 July 2007 that a full implementation of the first railway package was an absolute priority; is therefore very dissatisfied that this priority has not been respected by a large majority of Member States including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovenia and Slovakia;

3.

Regrets that the Commission has lost five years to act against this failure and has waited until June 2008 before sending letters of formal notice and until October 2009 to send reasoned opinions for incorrect or incomplete implementation of the first railway package; regrets that the European Commission has not sufficiently focussed its monitoring on the financial foundations of the railway system; urges therefore the Commission to initiate without delay the legal proceedings against the 22 Member States which have not implemented the first railway package;

4.

Urges the 22 Member States to respect the European legislation without further delay; is convinced that those Member States still prevent fair competition in the rail market by not implementing the directives of the first railway package;

5.

Requests that the Commission makes public concrete information on the elements not fully implemented in each Member State, especially on the insufficient set up of an independent regulatory body and the lack of implementation of provisions on track access charging; furthermore, asks the Commission to inform Parliament on the different legal interpretations between the Commission and the Member States on the independence of infrastructure managers (Articles 4(2) and 14(2) of Directive 2001/14/EC);

6.

Stresses that sufficient independence has to be guaranteed to the infrastructure manager, as the latter has a central role, according to Directive 2001/14/EC in providing fair access to infrastructure capacity to all applicants through the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and the levying of charges for the use of railway infrastructure and safety certification;

7.

Considers that the independence of the infrastructure manager is a precondition for allowing fair, transparent and non-discriminatory treatment of all operators; underlines as particularly worrying that insufficient practical and legal safeguards to guarantee the independence of infrastructure managers have been provided, especially when they are part of a railway holding containing also rail transport activities;

8.

Requests that Member States not respecting this provision clearly separate the essential task of allocating capacity on the national rail network from any incumbent railway operator through all necessary legal and functional measures, as this lack of independence could prevent a real determination of the use of infrastructure by the infrastructure manager;

9.

Is worried by the fact that no sufficient powers and resources have been attributed to regulatory bodies and that these insufficiencies lead to a lack of control of competition problems in each national market;

10.

Asks the Commission to inform the Parliament on the powers of the regulatory bodies which need to be reinforced by Member States in order to guarantee them real power to monitor their respective railway markets;

11.

Considers that this failure to set up truly independent regulatory bodies in the Member States hinders a proper implementation of the first railway package;

12.

Notes that specific provisions relating to the financing of infrastructure and tackling of railway debt were included in the first railway package (Article 9 of Directive 2001/12/EC);

13.

Regrets that the level of investment in rail infrastructure development and maintenance remains largely insufficient in many Member States, with the quality of the existing infrastructure declining in several cases; urges Member States to mobilise the necessary resources to ensure that new rail transport projects are developed and that the existing infrastructure is adequately maintained;

14.

Notes that the independence of infrastructure managers and guaranteed powers and resources for regulatory bodies are preconditions for satisfactory track access charging; recalls that these infrastructure charges shall be calculated in a fair, transparent and consistent manner and provide sufficient visibility for the railway undertakings;

15.

Expresses concerns at the insufficient implementation of provisions on infrastructure charges, especially the absence of performance schemes in order to improve the performance of the railway network and of tariff systems based on the direct costs of rail services, as well as the lack of independent determination of infrastructure charges by the infrastructure manager;

16.

Regrets that, due to this lack of implementation, the infrastructure charges appear not to be directly linked to the costs of train services and that the rail market might not be able to bear these high charges; notes that this high level of infrastructure charges can hinder the entering into the market of non-incumbent operators and that the Commission has received several complaints by operators on the access to terminals and to rail services;

17.

Considers that track access charging principles applying to rail and road transport should converge to establish the ground for a real level playing field among transport modes; stresses that such level playing field would allow making the EU transport system more sustainable and more efficient and would maximise the rail environmental competitiveness;

18.

Stresses that a proper and full implementation of the first railway package is a fundamental condition to create a European rail network and that the absolute priority of the European Commission shall be to pursue this implementation by all legal procedures at its disposal;

19.

Urges the Commission to propose a revision of the first railway package by September 2010; requests the Commission to treat in priority in this revision the problems of the independence of the infrastructure managers, of the regulatory bodies’ lack of resources and powers and to propose an appropriate infrastructure access charging principles that stimulates public and private investments in the rail sector;

20.

Considers that the successful opening up of markets in the rail transport sector depends on the full implementation of the provisions laid down in the first railway package; further liberalisation of the rail market should not detract from the quality of rail transport service and should safeguard public service obligations; until the complete opening up of the markets, the principle of reciprocity should be applied;

21.

Asks the Commission to react or give the information concerning the requests in paragraphs 3, 5, 10 and 16 within the recast of the first railway package or at the latest by the end of 2010;

22.

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.