The Commission presents a report on the progress made
in preparing for the European Union Agency for Railways enhanced
role under Directive (EU) 2016/797 on the interoperability of the
rail system within the European Union.
With the entry into force of the Fourth Railway
Package technical pillar, the European Union Agency for Railways
will become, as of 16 June 2019, the EU authority
responsible for issuing authorisations for placing railway vehicles
on the market and also the system authority for the European
Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS).
The new Regulation establishing the Agency has
introduced many important modifications that strengthen the role
to be played by the Agency and provide it with necessary
instruments to achieve this objective. Those modifications concern
the governance of the Agency, its resources, capacities and
capabilities as well as IT tools and various other
skills.
The main conclusions of the report are the
following:
- Regulatory and organisational measures: the Commission and the Agency have respectively
taken regulatory and organisational steps to ensure that the Agency
has a strengthened role as of 16 June 2019. The Agency is stepping
up its effort to boost its capacity to meet the required targets
set for its new role by 16 June 2019. The Commission is actively
monitoring the Agency’s preparedness through its membership of
the Agency’s Executive Board and Management Board and the
close and regular cooperation between the two
institutions.
- Transposition by EU Member States: much of the success of the Fourth Railway Package
technical pillar depends on the timely and complete transposition
by Member States. The Commission is closely following up on Member
States’ progress and providing them with guidance on how to
organise the transition period between the old and the new regime.
While indications are positive it is however, too early to confirm
that a large number of Member States will transpose the Fourth
Railway Package technical pillar by 16 June 2019. The Commission
hopes that possible extensions of transposition deadlines will only
be requested as a matter of exception, and on the basis of
realistic, objective justification.
- Resources, capacity and capabilities: the Agency and the national safety authorities
(NSAs) with input from other bodies in the rail sector are making
the greatest possible effort in their respective spheres of
responsibility to predict the future development of the
Agency’s workload. Beyond the new tasks of authorisation and
certification, the Agency’s capability to deliver on other
core statutory tasks, such as technical assistance and policy
recommendations to the Commission must be maintained. In
particular, the Agency requires specialised staff
with a high level of expertise and language skills. Introducing
fee-based activities will also require the establishment of a
resources system and internal procedures within the Agency,
covering the necessary financial and human resources.
- Cooperation agreements between the Agency and
NSAs: a particular source of
uncertainty is the lack of predictability of the number of
applications the Agency is expected to receive as of mid-2019 and
beyond and as a consequence the revenue it will generate. In
anticipating these risks a careful analysis of the needs for the
Agency’s transition budget is required. For the Agency to
successfully assume its new role, the report stresses the need for
open, effective, committed and sincere cooperation with NSAs. Any
serious delay in concluding cooperation agreements and actually
delivering input to the Agency's authorisation and certification
decisions could lead to formal proceedings against individual
Member States for not applying EU law and for the infringement of
the principle of sincere cooperation.
- Approvals of ERTMS trackside projects: the Commission and the European ERTMS Coordinator
cooperate in a transparent and predictable manner in improving
ERTMS deployment. However, the risk of excessive workload to
deliver approvals of ERTMS trackside projects calls for more
commitment from Member States and infrastructure managers to better
forecast trackside procurement for both ERTMS European Deployment
Plan commitments and other ERTMS infrastructure
projects.
The railway sector requires the Fourth Railway
Package technical pillar to be urgently implemented as it
introduces a system of truly transparent and impartial railway
rules at EU level by removing unnecessary national obstacles. The
Commission invites Member States and NSAs to consolidate their
efforts to make the single European railway area a
reality.