(1)

The Union acceded to the Convention concerning International Carriage by Rail of 9 May 1980, as amended by the Vilnius Protocol of 3 June 1999 (the ‘COTIF’), by means of Council Decision 2013/103/EU (1) and the Agreement between the European Union and the Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail (OTIF) on the Accession of the European Union to the COTIF Convention (2).

(2)

Pursuant to Article 13(1)(f) of the COTIF, the Committee of Technical Experts (‘CTE’) of OTIF was set up.

(3)

Pursuant to Article 20(1)(b) of the COTIF, and in accordance with Article 6(1) of the Uniform Rules concerning the Validation of Technical Standards and the Adoption of Uniform Technical Prescriptions applicable to Railway Material intended to be used in International Traffic (APTU) – Appendix F to COTIF, the CTE is competent to adopt or to amend, inter alia, the Uniform Technical Prescriptions (UTP) applicable to the subsystem ‘rolling stock – locomotives and passenger rolling stock’ (UTP LOC&PAS), to the accessibility of the rail system for persons with disabilities and persons with reduced mobility (UTP PRM), to vehicle marking (UTP Marking), to the subsystem ‘infrastructure’ (UTP INF) and to the subsystem ‘telematics applications for freight services’ (UTP TAF).

(4)

Pursuant to Article 20(1)(e) of the COTIF, and in accordance with Article 21(4) of the Uniform Rules concerning the Technical Admission of Railway Material used in International Traffic (ATMF – Appendix G to the Convention), the CTE is competent to adopt or to amend, inter alia, the Handbook for the implementation and application of the APTU and ATMF Uniform Rules.

(5)

The CTE has included in the agenda of its 17th session, which will take place on 17 and 18 June 2025, a proposal for decisions to revise the UTP LOC&PAS, the UTP PRM, the UTP Marking, and the UTP INF, to modify Appendix I of UTP TAF, and to update the Handbook for the implementation and application of the APTU and ATMF Uniform Rules.

(6)

The envisaged acts of the CTE will have legal effects.

(7)

It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf in the CTE, as the proposed decisions will be binding on the Union, pursuant to Article 6(1) APTU and Article 35(3) and (4) of the COTIF.

(8)

The objectives of those decisions are to align the UTP LOC&PAS, UTP PRM, UTP Marking, and UTP INF to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1694 (3) (the ‘2023 TSI package’), to align the references to the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA)’s Technical Documents of technical specifications for interoperability relating to the ‘telematics applications for freight’ (TAF TSI) listed in Appendix I of UTP TAF to Commission Regulation (EU) No 1305/2014 (4), and to update the Handbook for the implementation and application of the APTU and ATMF Uniform Rules taking into account the feedback on experience from COTIF Contracting States.

(9)

The envisaged OTIF decisions to revise the UTP PRM, the UTP Marking, and the UTP INF are in line with the law and the strategic objectives of the Union by contributing to the alignment of OTIF legislation with the corresponding provisions of Union law, and should therefore be supported by the Union.

(10)

The envisaged OTIF decisions to revise the UTP LOC&PAS and to modify Appendix I of UTP TAF are also generally in line with the law and the strategic objectives of the Union, and contribute to the alignment of OTIF legislation with the equivalent provisions of Union law. However, some of the changes proposed by OTIF should be aligned with the 2023 TSI Package. It is therefore necessary to propose amendments to the envisaged OTIF decisions to revise the UTP LOC&PAS and to modify Appendix I of UTP TAF, in order to ensure alignment with Union acquis as amended by the 2023 TSI Package. The Union should thus support the envisaged decisions subject to the condition that those amendments are introduced,

(1)

to vote in favour of the CTE proposed revision of UTP LOC&PAS applicable to the subsystem ‘rolling stock – locomotives and passenger rolling stock’, as found in the CTE Working Document TECH-25003 UTP LOC&PAS, subject to the following amendments:

(2)

to vote in favour of the CTE proposed amendments to UTP PRM applicable to the accessibility of the rail system for persons with disabilities and persons with reduced mobility, as found in the CTE Working Document TECH-25004 UTP PRM;

(3)

to vote in favour of the CTE proposed amendments to UTP Marking applicable to vehicle marking, as found in the CTE Working Document TECH-25005 UTP Marking;

(4)

to vote in favour of the CTE proposed amendments to UTP INF applicable to the subsystem ‘infrastructure’, as found in the CTE Working Document TECH-25006 UTP INF;

(5)

to vote in favour of the CTE proposal to align the references to the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA)’s Technical Documents relating to the ‘telematics applications for freight’ (TAF TSI) listed in Appendix I of UTP TAF to Regulation (EU) No 1305/2014, as found in the CTE Working Document TECH-25007 UTP TAF, subject to the following amendment:

(6)

to vote in favour of the CTE proposal to Update of the Handbook for the implementation and application of the APTU and ATMF Uniform Rules, as found in the CTE Working Document TECH-25011 Handbook, subject to the following amendments:

(7)

minor changes may be agreed to the acts of the CTE set out in this Article by the Commission, without a further decision of the Council.