Railway transport of passengers: opening to international competition, Rail Market Access. 3rd package

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the joint text approved by the Conciliation Committee regarding the proposal amending Council Directive 91/440/EEC on the development of the Community's railways and Directive 2001/14/EC on the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and the levying of charges for the use of railway infrastructure. It approved the joint text by 541 votes in favour to 66 against with 20 abstentions.

The key points of the agreement reached can be summarised as follows:

• Comitology: measures necessary to adapt the annexes of Directive 91/440/EEC and Directive 2001/14/EC will be adopted in accordance with the 'regulatory with scrutiny' procedure;
• Levy: in line with the EP second reading position, provisions governing the levy on international rail passenger services to finance public rail passenger services include the stipulation that 'the total levies imposed shall not endanger the economic viability of the rail passenger service on which they are imposed'; and that the compensation paid shall not exceed the total cost incurred in discharging the relevant public service obligations.
• Reporting obligations: the Parliament achieved its goal of ensuring that, when the Commission reports in 2012 on the implementation of the Directive, it will also be obliged to assess the development of the market including the state of preparation for a further opening-up of the rail market and, if appropriate, propose additional measures to bring about further liberalisation of rail market access.