Recast of the first railway package – end in sight

Today, the EU member states within the Permanent Representatives Committee (Coreper I) endorsed the compromise text on the recast of the first railway package. Notwithstanding the negative vote of the delegations from Germany, Poland, Estonia, Luxembourg and Austria, the text will now be tabled as a huge, single amendment for the vote in the European Parliament plenary which is scheduled for the first week of July. The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) welcomes that the struggle of finding an agreement has finally come to an end.

To enter into force, the text also needs to be formally approved by the Council, which is due to take its decision after the vote in Parliament.

CER Executive Director Libor Lochman said: “The compromise text contains a number of improvements if compared to the legislation currently into force. For example national regulatory bodies will be strengthened and the access to rail related services has been simplified and facilitated, also in view of an ever more open rail market. At the same time, we regret that some major points are not adequately solved: the adequate financing of infrastructure managers is still just an option and not an obligation, ETCS differentiated charging will penalize many railway undertakings operating on non-equipped corridor lines etc.”.

Lochman added: “I still believe that the quality of the legislation produced by the EU institutions can and must be improved. Moreover, I am convinced that the current differences among the political institutions and the sector are a direct consequence of the lack of a more systematic dialogue. Like we did in the past, we remain open to participate in a constructive conversation in order to find better and reasonable solutions to our common concerns, also in light of upcoming fourth railway package.”