NEW LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR PASSENGER TRAFFIC IN EUROPE:
Policy implications and implementation constraints.
Agenda and papers are available in pdf format below
On 5 March, CER organised together with the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure and the Polish national railway company PKP a high level conference on “The new legal framework for passenger traffic in Europe: policy implications and implementation constraints”.
The conference was preceded by a gala dinner organised by PKP in the prestigious Muzeum Kolekcji im. Cezary Grabarczyk, Polish Minister of Infrastructure opened the Gala dinner together with Andrzej Wach, PKP CEO and Johannes Ludewig, CER Executive Director.
The conference which took place in the Polish Parliament attracted over 200 participants from all over Europe, with a strong attendance from Central and Eastern European countries. The conference was opened by Juliuz Engelhardt, Polish Under-Secretary of State, Andrzej Wach and Johannes Ludewig. Mr Engelhardt chaired the morning session while Zbigniew Szafranski, PKP Corporate Representative for international affairs chaired the afternoon session. A large panel of high-level speakers presented the challenges and opportunities brought by the Third Railway Package and the Public Service Regulation. They included Peter Faross, Head of Unit of the European Commission, Elisabeth Jeggle, Member of the European Parliament and shadow rapporteur on the Third Railway Package, Boguslaw Liberadski Member of the European Parliament, Paul Holmes from Scott Wilson Consultancy, Jean Huby, member of the cabinet of commissioner Jacques Barrot, Steve Richards from the European Investment Bank, Howard Rosen from the Railway Working Group, Vasile Olievschi from the World Bank, Carl- Henrik Lundstrom, Director of international affairs of DSB and Ad Toet, Executive Director of Koninklijk Nederlands Vervoer.
From left to right: Boguslaw Liberadski speaking, Peter Faross, Johannes Ludewig, Juliuz Engelhardt
and Andrzej Wach.
While speakers analysed the political and financial implications of the implementation of the Third Railway Package and of the Public Service regulation, Vojtech Kocourek, Czech Deputy Minister for Railway Transport, Liudmila Zumeriené, Lithuanian State Secretary of Transport, and Juliuz Engelhardt explained the state of the art with regard to these pieces of legislation in their respective countries as well as the difficulties they were encountering with regard to the financing of rolling stock: a key prerequisite to secure quality public service transport in a liberalised passenger market.
Financial issues were at the heart of discussions as they are a key element of success of these pieces of legislation: the speakers agreed that public service contracts must be properly compensated to allow railway undertakings to be able to provide high quality services and favour modal shift from road to rail.
The Third Railway Package puts more responsibilities upon railway undertakings which need to prepare themselves for market opening and the long list of passenger rights applicable as of 2010. Finally, there were interesting discussions on the need to finance the refurbishment and the purchase of rolling stock especially in the new EU Member States where the current rolling stock fleet nears 30 - 35 years of age in average.
The discussions revealed that while public authorities must take important political and financial decisions with regard to the rail transport sector in this regard, it is acknowledged that public budget are not extendable. Additional funding can be found in the European funds as well as in the private sector with financial guarantees provided by the Luxembourg Protocol. In the concluding remarks, Mr Ludewig reminded the stakeholders of their responsibilities.
For more information, please contact Delphine Brinckman-Salzedo at
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AGENDA
9:00-9:30
1. Opening session
Mr Juliusz Engelhardt, Polish State Secretary,
Mr Andrzej Wach, CEO PKP
Mr Johannes Ludewig, Executive Director CER
Chairman of the morning sessions:
Mr Juliusz Engelhardt, Polish State Secretary
2. Third Railway Package: challenges and opportunities
9:30-9:50
• Liberalisation
• Passenger Rights
Mr Peter Faross, Head of Unit, European Commission
9:50-10:10
• Driver certification
Ms Elisabeth Jeggle, Member of the European Parliament
10:10-10:30 Coffee Break
3. Public Service Regulation: Political and Financial context for public service obligations
10:30-10:50
3.1 the political context
Mr Bogusław Liberadzki, Member of the European Parliament
10:50-11:20
3.2 Financing of a public service contract
Mr Paul Holms, Principal Policy Analyst, Scott Wilson Consultancy
11:20-12:00
Panel discussion: interaction between the different texts: challenges and opportunities
Moderator: Mr Johannes Ludewig , Executive Director CER
All participants of the morning session
12:00-13:30 Buffet lunch break
Chairman of the afternoon sessions:
Mr Zbigniew Szafranski, PKP
4. The ‘heart of the matter’: financial aspects of market opening
13:30-15:00
The state of the art in Poland
Mr. Juliusz Engelhardt, Undersecretary of the Polish State Ministry of Infrastructure
State of the art in other countries
+ Czech Republic
Mr Vojtěch Kocourek, Deputy Minister for Railway transport, Czech Republic
+ Lithuania
Ms Liudmila Zumeriene, State Secretary, Lithuanian Transport Ministry
The need for financial stability: example of Slovenia
Mr Tomaz Schara, CEO of Slovenian railways SZ
15:00-15:20
Financing of Rolling stock (PSO contract and state aid guidelines)
Mr Jean Huby, Cabinet of EU Transport Commissioner Barrot, European Commission
15:20-15:40 Coffee break
15:40-16:00
Tools for financing rolling stock
• European Funds
Mr Steve Richards, European Investment Bank, JASPERS
16:00-16:20
• The Luxembourg Rail Protocol (UNIDROIT)
Mr Howard Rosen, Chairman of the Railway Working Group
16:20-16:40
• Establishing the right level of compensation and incentives for better quality services under PSO Contracts
Mr Vasile Olievschi, Senior Railway Specialist, World Bank
16:40-17 :20
Panel discussion: the new financial framework as an opportunity for the provision of modern public service
Moderator:
Mr Zbigniew Szafranski, Corporate Representative for International Affairs, PKP
Mr Vojtěch Kocourek, Deputy Minister for Railway transport, Czech Republic;
Ms Liudmila Zumeriene, State Secretary, Lithuanian Transport Ministry;
Mr Carl-Henrik Lundstrøm, Director International Affairs, DSB;
Mr Ad Toet, Director Koninklijk Nederlands Vervoer
17:20-17 :30
Concluding remarks
Mr Juliusz Engelhardt, Polish State Secretary,
Mr Andrzej Wach, CEO PKP
Mr Johannes Ludewig, Executive Director CER
Useful Links
The Minutes of the meeting are available here.
The press release on the conference is also available here.
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