The common position retains the objectives of the Commission proposal but the Council has made certain changes to it. The main changes are as follows:
- the scope of the directive has been limited to railway undertakings providing the international services governed by Directive 91/440/EEC. Railway undertakings which only provide urban, suburban and regional services are excluded from the scope of the directive, as are transport operations using the Channel Tunnel shuttle;
- conditions to be satisfied in order to obtain a licence: the Council found the requirements provided for too restrictive, especially as regards financial capacity, and opted to set general requirements, leaving the Member States responsible for introducing detailed requirements;
- the Commission is to submit an application report to the Council two years after the directive enters into force, accompanied by proposals for new Community measures;
- Member States have been given two years to implement the directive.
In addition, the common position includes the European Parliament's amendments seeking to:
- specify that licences issued by one Member State are valid throughout the Community;
- allow a Member State to designate either an authority or an agency, rather than just an authority to be responsible for issuing licences;
- limit the validity of a temporary licence to six months;
- ensure that a railway undertaking complies both with the requirements of the directive and legislation on health, safety, social conditions and workers' and consumers' rights;
- accept documents drawn up by certain financial institutions as proof of financial capacity.�