The European Parliament today adopted a resolution on the ‘Implementation of the first railway package Directives’ with a large majority. The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) has always been advocating the proper implementation of the Directives and supports today’s call to action by Brian Simpson, Chairman of the Committee on Transport and Tourism in the European Parliament.
Members of the European Parliament stressed the fact that a proper and full implementation of the first railway package is a fundamental condition to create a European rail network. More importantly, the Resolution recognised the delay in implementing the appropriate financial architecture as one of the major problems of the rail sector. Without a stable financial framework, a competitive market will not be able to produce all the effects foreseen in the first railway package and in the successive follow-up packages. During the debate preceding the vote, Members of the European Parliament stressed that the European Commission should pay attention to the fact that so many Member States (21 out of 25 concerned) did not properly implement the legislation. Some Members added that something could also be wrong with the legislative text taking into account the high number of implementation problems.
In this regard, CER agrees with Members of the European Parliament that the European Commission’s infringement talks should put a particular focus on the Member States’ financial obligations which were set in the first railway package. Empirical evidence in surveys conducted by CER shows that financial obligations are not respected by most Member States. This is particularly a problem with regard to the financing of infrastructure and of local and regional public transport services.
“Experience shows that liberalization of the railway market is necessary, but not sufficient to obtain a healthy and stable railway market. In order to create a competitive playing field in Europe, it is essential that Member States treat the financing of the railway infrastructure, public service contracts and historic debt as their top priority” concludes Johannes Ludewig, Executive Director of the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER).
The CER position paper on the 'Financial Architecture' for the European Rail Sector is available on the CER website.
The full resolution on the ‘Implementation of the first railway package Directives’ will be available on the Parliament’s website.
 CER supports EP Resolution on the full implementation of the 1st railway package | [ ] | 231 Kb |