Wolfgang Tiefensee, the German Minister of Transport, launched the new European Railway Legislation Handbook at the InnoTrans rail industry fair in Berlin on 23 September. The handbook comprises a comprehensive collection of European railway legislation as it stands today – published by the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) in Brussels.
Compared to the first edition of the European Railway Legislation Handbook in 2004, this standard work has been updated on important legislation. It now includes legal texts such as the directive on market opening for international passenger transport (‘Third Railway Package’) and the new interoperability directive, aimed at facilitating cross-border services through technical harmonisation (‘Technical Package’). As a result the volume of the handbook has increased by almost 300 pages to 844 pages.
When presenting the handbook at the opening cermony of the InnoTrans, Wolfgang Tiefensee, the German Minister of Transport, compared the second edition to the previous and concluded: “The new edition of the European Railway Legislation Handbook clearly shows the enormous progress we have already accomplished in developing a common European railway market in recent years. On the political level we have to continue our work to improve the business conditions for rail transport by removing any remaining administrative and technical barriers as soon as possible. This will be essential to create a fully competitive and open railway market in the European Union.”
Johannes Ludewig, CER Executive Director, emphasised the involvement of the rail sector in developing the European railway legislation during the last two decades: “Many legal texts included in the European Railway Legislation Handbook are the result of fruitful negotiations and trustful cooperation between the European institutions and the rail sector. The main task of CER was and still is today to provide expertise to staff in the EU institutions and to inform railway and infrastructure companies of the activities of the institutions in Brussels.”
The first part of the book provides a brief commentary on the development of European railway legislation – in English, German, and French. It aims to give a non-technical overview of the context in which European railway legislation has evolved and should help the reader to gain an understanding of the central objectives of particular legislation. The second part of the book is dedicated to the major legal texts themselves, thus making the handbook a reliable source of reference.
Copies of the book can be ordered through http://www.eurailpress.de/index.php?id=english_books&L=1 or
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. The retail price is EUR 74,-.
An order form and the press release and picture of the book launch can be downloaded below:
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| order_leaflet_legal_handbook.pdf | [ ] | 0 Kb |