Revision of Railway State Aid Guidelines - Update

CER would like to share its members' views in regard to the content of the updated text of the “Community guidelines on State aid for railway undertakings” (hereinafter “Railway Guidelines”, “Guidelines”), which is currently being developed by DG Competition. In light of the EU's Green Deal policy objectives of shifting a substantial amount of freight onto rail, and considering that their attainment depends on major investments by Member States, the updated text of the Railway Guidelines should make it easier for Member States to support rail transport, thus providing strong incentives for modal shift to rail.

The following paragraphs outline CER’s vision in regard to which stipulations of the updated text of the Guidelines would be most appropriate to reach these objectives.