The Council discussed
ongoing work on a proposal for a directive establishing a single
European railway area, intended to simplify, clarify and modernise the
regulatory framework for Europe's railway sector so as to improve conditions
for investments, increase competition and strengthen market supervision in
that sector.
Ministers were
invited to give guidance for further examination of the proposal by the
Council's preparatory bodies, which have begun work on the provisions on the
financing of and charging for railway infrastructure. The ministerial debate,
based on questions submitted by the presidency, showed that:
- the
publication of national rail infrastructure development strategies is generally seen as an appropriate instrument to stimulate
sustainable investments in the sector. Some delegations, however,
emphasized that member states' competence for financing rail
infrastructure had to be respected. Moreover, due regard should be paid
to the principle of annual budgetary decisions when establishing
multi-annual plans;
- differentiation
of track access charges based on noise performances could provide an incentive for retrofitting noisy wagons and
thereby diminishing noise emissions. Several member states, however,
underlined the need to ensure equal treatment of rail and road transport
and advocated a voluntary application of noise-differentiated charges.
It was also mentioned that this measure should primarily focus on
heavily populated areas;
- temporary
reduction of track access charges for trains equipped with the European
train control system (ETCS) could encourage
railway undertakings to install this system. Several delegations,
though, stressed that they want to keep the right to levy new charges or
increase the existing ones in order to compensate for loss of revenue
caused by such a reduction.
Other
outstanding issues:
- adoption
of a business plan: several delegations
questioned the proposed obligation to consult interested parties before
approving the business plan. Delegations considered this requirement too
complex and bureaucratic, which would create difficulties for the
infrastructure managers to define all parties to be consulted. Instead,
a number of delegations would prefer to inform interested parties and
not to establish a legal obligation for consultation. In addition, some
Member States stressed that this provision would be too far reaching in
particular to infrastructure managers acting on local infrastructure;
- conclusion
of multi-annual contracts: delegations
raised the same concern over the consequences the five years period
would have on the "annual budgetary principle”. Furthermore,
delegations expressed the same view concerning the obligation to consult
interested parties. Some delegations also disagreed with the deletion of
the use of appropriate regulatory measures as an alternative to the
conclusion of contractual agreements;
- coordinated
methods for charging of railway infrastructure on international train
paths: some delegations expressed doubts as to
how and to what extend infrastructure managers should cooperate to
coordinate charging at international level. Some delegations indicated
that specific criteria for international coordination should be defined.
In response, the Commission indicated that, according to its proposal,
the definition of such criteria would be left to Member States but that
additional guidance could be envisaged;
- role of
the regulatory body: several delegations
argued during the examination of the proposed provisions regarding financing
and charging of the railway infrastructure that, through the recast proposal,
the role of the regulatory body would be expanded to cover also
non-binding opinions and recommendations in the financial field (e.g.
business plan, performance targets). Moreover, several delegations
reserved their positions on the proposed requirement for prior approval
by the regulatory body on the establishment of the list of market
segments, which constitutes the basis for the approval of the levy of
"mark-ups", as well as on the main parameters of the performance
scheme for the improvement of the performance of the railway network;
- the use
of delegated acts: the proposal lays down
that the basic principles and parameters of the multi-annual agreements
set out in Annex VII of the proposal may be amended by the use of
delegated acts. The same method would apply to the criteria for the
requirements for costs and charges related to railway infrastructure, as
laid down in Annex VIII of the proposal. A majority of delegations
expressed a strong reservation on the use of delegated acts for the above
purpose.