Press Release
The EU's Assembly of Regional and Local Representatives
CdR/13/89.en
Brussels, 9 October 2013
The fourth European railway package: recognising the role of the regions is
vital for the reform to succeed
The regions are indispensable in ensuring the long-term success of the reform to complete
liberalisation of European railways. They must therefore be closely involved in decisionmaking bodies and bodies supervising infrastructure managers. They should also be given a
degree of discretion when awarding rail transport contracts. This is the conclusion of the
opinion unanimously adopted today by the Committee of the Regions (CoR) on the "Fourth Railway
Package.
At the beginning of the year the European Commission unveiled its proposal on the Fourth Railway
Package, the last stage in the European railways reform to liberalise the system by 2019. Besides
opening domestic rail transport to all operators, this legislative package envisages a clear separation
between rail transport as such and rail network management, together with more standardised safety
certification for trains.
According to CoR rapporteur Pascal Mangin (FR/EPP), member of the Alsace regional council,
liberalisation should not be seen as an end in itself: the main purpose should be to improve the range
and quality of services for users. It is also important to clarify relations between rail operators and
network managers. As the link between operators and the final users, whose needs they know, local
and regional authorities are key stakeholders in the rail system. It is essential that they be involved in
various aspects of the reform and in the newly established bodies. The role and quality of regulators
is also crucial to the success of the reform.
While emphasising the need to encourage a modal shift from road to rail for environmental reasons,
the CoR's recommendations fall into three main areas:
Public service obligations
The Commission would like to make competitive tendering compulsory for the award of public rail
service contracts for shorter routes. This change to award procedures is one aspect of the reform
which will affect local and regional authorities most directly.
The CoR advocates a more flexible approach allowing local authorities to retain the option of
choosing between competitive tendering and direct award. In particular, direct award should remain
an option for contracts on a limited number of kilometres per year. However, the regulator needs to
strictly monitor direct awards to avoid any monopolistic excesses.
With regard to state aids, the CoR rejects – in line with the position of the European Parliament and
the Council - the proposed mandatory, systematic notification of all state aid measures for public
transport services.
Market opening
The CoR recommends that local and regional representatives are systematically involved in the
management boards of infrastructure managers, and in the coordination committees responsible for
supervising activities of infrastructure managers. Similarly, the CoR should be kept informed of
developments in the network of infrastructure managers, a new body envisaged by the reform.
Increased powers for infrastructure managers must go hand in hand with making them more
answerable at local level. CoR members would also like a representative responsible for relations with
local and regional authorities to be appointed within infrastructure managers.
With regard to the sensitive issue of separating infrastructure managers and historical operators
(unbundling), the idea that total separation of activities is the best solution does not, in the CoR's
view, belong in the draft directive, which should remain neutral in this respect. Improvements are
therefore still needed to this proposal, particularly in terms of adapting it more effectively to smaller
networks.
Competitiveness in the rail sector must not be at the expense of the social framework. The CoR
demands that the references to the social framework in the Commission's proposals are worked out in
greater detail in order to prevent any risk of social dumping.
Technical simplification
The CoR is in favour of a stronger role for the European Railway Agency, enabling it to act as onestop shop responsible for authorising the sale of rolling stock and safety certificates. Given that local
and regional authorities are involved in the financing of rolling stock and have a direct interest in
improving interoperability and safety, the CoR would like to be consulted on the drafting of the
Agency's budget and approval of its work programmes.
Additional information:
• Draft opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the Fourth Railway Package
• Railways reform: the COTER commission supports the Commission's balanced position (CoR
press release, 11/07/2013)
• European Rail: Challenges Ahead (European Commission press release, 30/01/2013)
Committee of the Regions
The Committee of the Regions is the EU's assembly of regional and local representatives from all 28
Member States. Its mission is to involve regional and local authorities and the communities they
represent in the EU's decision-making process and to inform them about EU policies. The European
Commission, the European Parliament and the Council are obliged to consult the Committee in policy
areas affecting regions and cities. It can appeal to the EU Court of Justice if its rights are infringed or it
believes that an EU law infringes the subsidiarity principle or fails to respect regional or local powers.
CoR website: www.cor.europa.eu
Follow us on Twitter: @EU_CoR
For more information, please contact:
Nathalie Vandelle
Tel. +32 2 282 24 99
nathalie.vandelle@cor.europa.eu
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