Relevant EU legislation on railways and on high speed rail (including the Third Railway Package)

1. Relevant EU legislation on railways and on high speed rail (including the Third Railway Package) The First Railway Package The First Railway Package, which was adopted by the European Commission in 2001, is an important suite of European Directives. It is designed to: open the international rail freight market, establish a general framework for the development of European railways, and clarify the formal relationship between the State and the infrastructure manager on the one hand, and between the infrastructure manager and railway undertakings (train operators) on the other hand (Directive 2001/12/EC); set out the conditions that freight operators must meet in order to be granted a licence to operate services on the European rail network (Directive 2001/13/EC); and introduce a defined policy for capacity allocation and infrastructure charging (Directive 2001/14/EC).

2. Relevant EU legislation on railways and on high speed rail (including the Third Railway Package) The Second Railway Package • The Second Railway Package was adopted by the European Commission in 2004. Its aim is to create a legally and technically integrated European railway area. The package contains four pieces of legislation and a recommendation: • Directive 2004/49/EC (the Railway Safety Directive, now amended by Directive 2008/11/0/EC) develops a common approach to rail safety. It lays down a clear procedure for granting the safety certificates which every railway company must obtain before it can run trains on the European network and harmonises safety levels across Europe by, among other things; specifying what infrastructure managers need to do in order to receive safety authorisation. • Directive 2004/50/EC which amended Directives96/48/EC and 2001/16/EC on the interoperability of the European high speed and conventional rail systems respectively and now updated by Directive 2008/57/EC (the Interoperability Directive) harmonises and clarifies interoperability requirements; • Directive 2004/51/EC opens up both national and international freight services on the entire European network from 1 January 2007;

3. Relevant EU legislation on railways and on high speed rail (including the Third Railway Package) • Regulation (EC) 881/2004 (now amended by Regulation 1335/2008) sets up an effective steering body, theEuropean Railway Agency (ERA), to co-ordinate groups of technical experts seeking common solutions on safety and interoperability: < The European Railway Agency was set up to help create an integrated railway area by reinforcing safety and interoperability. Its main task is to develop economically viable common technical standards and approaches to safety, working closely with railway sector stakeholders, national authorities and other concerned parties, as well as with the European institutions. The Agency also acts as the system authority for the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) project, which has been set up to create unique signalling standards throughout Europe> • And a recommendation covering the accession of the European Community to the Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail (COTIF).

4. Relevant EU legislation on railways and on high speed rail (including the Third Railway Package) • The Third Railway Package was presented by theCommission in April 2004. Adopted on 23 October 2007after numerous changes introduced by the EuropeanParliament and the Council, during first and secondreading, and later during the conciliation phase, it waspublished in the Official Journal of the European Unionon 3 December 2007. It contains measures to revitalise the railways in Europe. • The European Commission puts forward new proposals to open up the international passenger transport market by 2010 and to regulate passenger rights in railway traffic just rights of passengers travelling by plane and the certification of train crews. • This third package should complete the European regulatory framework for the rail sector.

5. Relevant EU legislation on railways and on high speed rail (including the Third Railway Package) • The Third Railway Package includes two Directives and oneRegulation which entered into force on 4 December 2007: • Directive 2007/58/EC, which amends Directive 91/440/EEC on the development of theCommunity’s railwaysand Directive 2001/14/EC on the allocation of railwayinfrastructurecapacity and the levying of charges for theuse of railway infrastructure. It opens up the market ininternational passenger rail services by 1 January 2010; • Directive 2007/59/EC on the certification of train crewsoperating locomotives and trains on the Community’srail network; • Regulation 1371/2007/EC on the rights and obligationsof international rail passengers. >Directive 2007/58/EC on thedevelopment of the Community’s railways:

6. Relevant EU legislation on railways and on high speed rail (including the Third Railway Package) • The Directive, which had to be transposed into national legislationbefore 4 June 2009, only deals with the opening up ofthe international passenger rail services market. • The Directive allows Member States to raise a levy onpassenger rail services in order to contribute to thefinancing of public service obligation compensation inthe framework of public services contracts concluded inaccordance with Community law. • It authorises “cabotage” for international services, i.e.the right for railway undertakings, in the course of aninternational passenger service, to pick up passengersat any station located on the international route and setthem down at another, including stations located in thesame Member State. • Due to the fact that cabotage could trigger a conflict of interest with certain national services, which are operated under public-service contracts and benefit from exclusive rights, further explanations were provided with respect to the initial text on the conditions for cabotage limitation: - when necessary in order to maintain the economic balance of public services.

7. Relevant EU legislation on railways and on high speed rail (including the Third Railway Package) • The text of the Directive also includes a reciprocityclause on the issues of competition and direct attributionof exclusive rights, as well as clauses on frameworkagreements allowing specialised infrastructures to be setup, requiring major long-term investments. • The Directive stipulates that by 31 December 2012, theCommission shall present a report on the application ofthe Directive, as well as the state of the preparation of afurther opening-up of the passenger rail market. • In thisreport, the Commission shall analyse the different modelsfor organizing this market and the impact of the Directiveon public service contracts and their financing, taking intoaccount the implementation of the Regulation on publicservice requirements and the intrinsic differences betweenMember States in terms of density of networks, number ofpassengers, average travel distance, etc. >Directive 2007/59/EC on thecertification of train crews: The Directive, which had to be transposed into national legislationbefore 4 December 2009, is aimed at harmonisingprofessional, medical and linguistic standards atCommunity level of train crews participating directly intasks related to train and passenger safety. It has the samescope as Directive 2004/49/EC, and therefore the sameexclusion possibilities for urban rail systems.

8. Relevant EU legislation on railways and on high speed rail (including the Third Railway Package) • As a first step, this Directive applies only to traindrivers. These drivers shall have a licence demonstratingthat they satisfy minimum conditions as regard medicalrequirements, basic education background and generalprofessional skill. • In parallel, the European Railway Agency shall, taking intoaccount the Technical Specifications for Interoperabilityon operation and traffic management developed underDirectives 96/48/EC and 2001/16/EC, identify the profileand tasks of other crew members performing safety-criticaltasks whose professional qualifications accordinglycontribute to railway safety. • Subsequently, the Commission shallpresent a report and,if appropriate, bring forward a legislative proposal on acertification system for these other crew members. > Regulation 1371/2007/EC on therights and obligations of passengers (there’s an opinion that it is the most important of the Third Railway Package ): • The Regulation deals with the responsibility of rail operatorsand infrastructure managers towards passengers (and theirluggage or equipment) before, during, and after travel, inparticular as regards information and transport contracts.

9. Relevant EU legislation on railways and on high speed rail (including the Third Railway Package) • This includes compensation and assistance in the eventof delays, complaints procedures, and special clausesapplicable to people with reduced mobility. • The main issueto settle before the final adoption of the regulation (andthe third railway package as a whole) has been the scopeof the Regulation, which the Council intended to limit tointernational services, whereas the Parliament wanted itto encompass national services. • It shall not apply to railwayundertakings and transport services which are notlicensed (see Article 2 (2)). • None of the licensed undertakings and services can beexempted from the provisions of some Articles of theregulation (see Article 2 (3)), but apart fromthis restriction Member States can temporarily exemptdomestic rail passenger services, and permanently exempturban, suburban and regional rail services. Indeed:

10. Relevant EU legislation on railways and on high speed rail (including the Third Railway Package) • According to Article 2 (4) a Member State may grantan exemption for a of period no longer than five years,which may be renewed twice (e.g. 15 years as a totalmaximum), for domestic rail passenger services. • In addition, according to Article 2 (6), a Member State may alsogrant a temporary exemption, for a maximum period of five yearswhich may be renewed, for particular services or journeys becausea significant part of the rail passenger service, including at leastone scheduled station stop, is operated outside the Community. • The passenger’s rights in force (in understandable language): -non-discriminating access to trains and assistance to low-mobility and disabled people is guaranteed, -the railway passengers’ right to compensations in case their luggage is lost is reinforced,

11. Relevant EU legislation on railways and on high speed rail (including the Third Railway Package) - The Regulation 1371/2007/EC strengthens the passengers’ rights in case of death or injury by paying compensations in advance to satisfy immediate economic needs. The compensations are estimated at least EUR 21,000 per passenger in case of death -Strengthens the passengers’ rights to compensations in case train journey is cancelled or in case of delays, the minimum compensation rising to 25% of the ticket price for delays of one and two hours and of 50% for delays exceeding two hours. - Provides railway passengers the right to be completely informed before their journey, for example, about delays -Forces railway companies and railway station managers to ensure the personal security of passengers inside railway stations and trains -Railway companies have to provide a mechanism to help passengers present their complaints about the rights and obligation included in the new regulation -Extending the existing railway passengers’ rights to internal railway services within the International Railway Transport Convention (COTIF) which mainly covers international transport.

12. Relevant EU legislation on railways and on high speed rail (including the Third Railway Package) • Interoperability and the high speed rail: Directive 96/48/EC – the basics • Harmonisation of technical and operational specifications for the trans-Europeanrail system is vital for free movement of trains and related equipment in the European internal market. • The interoperability directives, together with European legislation opening up the rail market to regulatedcompetition, are key factors in increasing the rail sector’s productivity and in making this sector more competitiverelative to other transport modes. • The directives are important in creating a single European railway system, competitive enough to remain oneof the leading players in the transport system in the enlarged Europe. The lack of interoperability is one ofthe problems holding back its development, which Directive 96/48/EC and the related technical specificationsfor interoperability aim to resolve for the high-speed sector.

13. Relevant EU legislation on railways and on high speed rail (including the Third Railway Package) • Technical and operational barriers work in favour of incumbent companies and hamper the entry of newplayers. In this respect, harmonising the technical requirements of railway networks is paramount. • The railway system cannot be fully competitive without the prior removal of technical and operational barriersto trade in trains and to their interoperability. • It is their ability to run on any interoperable stretchof the high-speed network. Significant differences still remain between the networks in Europe, most of whichwere built from a national perspective and which have long played on these differences to protect their owninterests or those of their national railway industry. • This hampered the development of rail transport relative to competing transport modes. These differenceshavefavoured several compartmentalised markets instead of a single network. Directive96/48/EC and its related TSIs, with the similar objectives of the construction of the network, the free circulationof trains and the transformation of the supply industry from a multi-domestic to a global one, contributed to resolving – to a greater extent - these problems for the high-speed rail system.

14. Relevant EU legislation on railways and on high speed rail in particular (including the Third Railway Package) • Directive 96/48/EC (entered into force on 8 October 1996) aimed to ease the circulation of high-speed trains through the various train networks of the European Union. • To achieve the interoperability of the European high-speed train network at the various stages. The basic aim is to enable people and goods to move around more easily by promoting the railways as a high class mode of transport in Europe. • Member States are asked to harmonise their high-speed rail systems in order to create an interoperable European network. • The Directive's provisions concern the different parameters, constituents, interfaces and procedures. These are needed and adequate in order to ensure and guarantee interoperability within the high-speed train network. • The said network is defined as: a system consisting of a set of infrastructures, fixed installations, logistic equipment and rolling stock.

15. Relevant EU legislation on railways and on high speed rail in particular (including the Third Railway Package) • The Directive underlines the essential requirements covering all of the conditions to be met in order to ensure the interoperability of the European high-speed train network. Member States are obliged to comply with these essential requirements to achieve the objectives of interoperability in Europe. • The requirements concerning safety, reliability, human health, environmental protection, technical compatibility and operation are defined in general terms in Annex III. • The essential requirements take the form of Technical Specifications for Interoperability- TSIs. These specifications lay down the fundamental elements of each sub-system and identify in particular the constituents that are critical from the perspective of interoperability. Since its creation in 2004, the ERA is responsible for drawing up and revising the TSIs. • The TSIs are two types – conventional TSIs and High Speed TSIs.

16. Relevant EU legislation on railways and on high speed rail in particular (including the Third Railway Package) • The Directive is the cornerstone of a three-tiered structure: - the Directive itself, containing essential requirements to be met by the system; - the technical specifications for interoperability (TSIs), which have to be adopted in accordance with the procedures laid down by the Directive; - all the other European specifications, including European standards from the European standards bodies (European Committee for Standartization - CEN, European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization - Cenelec, European Telecommunications Standards Institute - ETSI). • It is appropriate to distinguish the obligatory standards contained in the TSIs from the European specifications and other harmonised standards developed by the European standardisation organisations. The latter are not compulsory but confer a presumption of conformity with the essential requirements of the Directive.

17. Relevant EU legislation on railways and on high speed rail in particular (including the Third Railway Package) • The trans-European high-speed train network is divided into many sub-systems which are subject to special rules. The European Union implements rules concerning the management of the sub-systems by the Member States. • The Directive also defines the allocation of roles and prerogatives of the Member States, the procurement bodies, manufacturers and notified bodies. • The Directive provides for specific details regarding the proper implementation of the interoperability requirements. These cover the authorisation of placing in service, the EC checking procedure and the EC declaration of conformity with the essential requirements and the TSIs, as well as the role of the notified bodies and cooperation between them. • Amendments • Council Directive 96/48/EC was amended and supplemented in 2004 and subsequently in 2007 by Directives 2004/50/EC and 2007/32/EC:

18. Relevant EU legislation on railways and on high speed rail in particular (including the Third Railway Package) • Directive 2004/50/EC - amending Council Directive 96/48/EC on the interoperability of the trans-European high-speed rail system and Directive 2001/16/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the interoperability of the trans-European conventional rail system, • Directive2007/32/EC - amending Annex VI to Council Directive 96/48/EC on the interoperability of the trans-European high-speed rail system and Annex VI to Directive 2001/16/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the interoperability of the trans-European conventional rail system. • Other related acts: • Commission Decision 2008/217/EC (20 December 2007): concerning the technical specification for interoperability relating to the infrastructure sub-system of the trans-European high-speed rail system, • Commission Decision 2008/164/EC (21 December 2007): concerning the technical specification of interoperability relating to persons with reduced mobility in the trans-European conventional and high-speed rail system,

19. Relevant EU legislation on railways and on high speed rail in particular (including the Third Railway Package) • Commission Decision 2008/163/EC (20 December 2007): concerning the technical specification of interoperability relating to safety in railway tunnels in the trans-European conventional and high-speed rail system, • Commission Decision 2001/260/EC (21 March 2001): on the basic parameters of the command-control and signalling subsystem of the trans-European high-speed rail system referred to as "ERTMS characteristics" in Annex II(3) to Directive 96/48/EC, • Directive 2001/16/EC (19 March 2001) on the interoperability on the trans-European conventional rail system. • For further information: http://europa.eu