Select Committee on European Scrutiny Second Report


3 THE THIRD RAILWAY PACKAGE

(a) 
(25436)
7170/04
COM(04) 140

(b) 
(25437)
7147/04
COM(04) 139

(c) 
(25438)
7172/04
SEC(04) 236


(d) 
(25439)
7149/04
COM(04) 143

(e) 
(25455)
7148/04
COM(04) 142

(f) 
(25456)
7150/04
COM(04) 144
  
Commission Communication: "Further integration of the European rail
system: third railway package
  
  
  
Draft Directive amending Council Directive 91/440/EEC on the
development of the Community's railways
  
  
  
Commission staff working paper: Draft Directive amending Directive
91/440/EEC on the development of the Community's railways to gradually
open up the market for international passenger services by rail
  
  
  
Draft Regulation on international rail passengers' rights and obligation
  
  
  
Draft Directive on the certification of train crews operating locomotives and
trains on the Community's rail network
  
  
  
  
Draft Regulation on compensation in cases of non-compliance with
contractual quality requirements for rail freight services


Legal base(a) and (c) —
(b) and (d) to (f) Article 71 EC; co-decision; QMV
DepartmentTransport
Basis of consideration Minister's letter of 29 November 2004
Previous Committee Report HC 42-xxxii (2003-04), para 8 (13 October 2004)
To be discussed in Council 9-10 December 2004 (document (e) only)
Committee's assessmentPolitically important
Committee's decisionNot cleared; further information awaited

Background

3.1 The Community's First Railway Package was intended, amongst other things, to open up more than 50,000 kilometres of the trans­European rail freight network to international goods services in 2003, with the entire network following in 2008. The Commission's 2001 White Paper, "European Transport Policy for 2010: time to decide", proposed, amongst other things, construction of a legally and technically integrated European railway area. The Second Railway Package was designed to provide for the establishment of that legally and technically integrated European railway area. The White Paper and the two packages were all discussed in European Standing Committee A.[9]

3.2 The present documents are together the Third Railway Package, which aims to revitalise the international rail passenger market by extending competition and establishing a harmonised system of minimum passenger rights, improve the interoperability of the European rail system and enhance the performance and size of the Community rail freight market. The package includes four legislative proposals:

  • document (b) is a draft Directive to amend Directive 91/440/EEC and is concerned with the liberalisation of international passenger services;
  • document (d) is a draft Regulation on international passengers' rights and obligations;
  • document (e) is a draft Directive on train driver licensing. It would require licensing and certification of all train drivers and other train staff "with an indirect role in driving" working for those train operators and infrastructure managers required to have safety certification or authorisation under the Safety Directive of the Second Railway Package. It would apply to virtually all train operators and infrastructure managers in the UK, with the exception of operations on functionally-separated infrastructure such as London Underground Ltd's own network. The proposal sets out detailed requirements for the operation of the licensing system; and
  • document (f) is a draft Regulation on contractual quality requirements for rail freight services.

3.3 In September 2004, we reported that initial discussions had shown little support from Member States for treating these proposals as a single package and that document (e) (train driver licensing) had been selected to be discussed first.[10] In October 2004, we reported a draft partial Regulatory Impact Assessment, a summary of the consultation responses and an indication of the Government's negotiating stance on the train driver licensing proposal.[11]

The Minister's letter

3.4 The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Mr Tony McNulty) writes now to tell us that it is still the case that there is little support amongst Member States for the Commission's desire to treat the proposals as a single package and that the forthcoming Luxembourg Presidency has confirmed that it will continue to deal with the dossiers separately. He says the Government intends to continue this approach during the UK Presidency in the latter half of 2005. The Minister adds that he will provide us with an update on the other three proposals shortly. This will include a summary of the results of the Department's consultation exercise, which closed in October 2004, and detailed partial Regulatory Impact Assessments.

3.5 The Minister encloses a revised partial Regulatory Impact Assessment of the draft Directive on train driver licensing. He notes that the main change is that it now acknowledges the wide range of uncertainty about the scale of many of the costs and benefits. The Government's conclusions are unchanged: the core principle it "intends to pursue in the negotiations is that mandatory licensing should be confined to cross-border drivers, at least pending a thorough re-assessment of the costs and benefits of extending the mandatory scope" of the legislation.

3.6 The Minister previously identified three key issues for the UK: scope of the proposal; detail of the competence requirements for licences and certificates, and frequency of periodic checks; and competence and independence criteria to be met by issuers of licences and certificates and examiners of train drivers' competences, and the role of accreditation. He reports that Working Group discussions of document (e) have continued, most recently on 22 November 2004. He says there are many points of detail still to be resolved. On the three main issues he tells us:

    Scope of the proposal

    "The Commission's original proposal provides for a phased, but automatic, extension of the scope of the proposal from cross-border drivers, to all drivers plus other train crew involved in safety-critical tasks (eg guards). The current position is that a substantial majority of Member States, including the UK, favour not including extension of the scope to 'other train crew' within this Directive, but simply providing that the European Rail Agency (ERA) prepare a report on the case for licensing such staff, and if so, how. The UK, supported by two other Member States, is arguing that the extension to 'domestic' drivers - that is, drivers who do not wish to operate in another Member State -- should be made conditional on a comitology decision informed by an ERA report and thorough cost benefit assessment. The UK will continue to press its case, supported by the results of our own partial RIA, the lack of a convincing Commission cost benefit assessment, and the commitment made by the 2004-6 Presidencies to make better regulation a priority in Council business.


    Detail of the competence requirements for licences and certificates, and frequency of periodic checks

    "We have been successful in ensuring that the Directive does not impose significant additional burdens compared with current UK practice.

    Competence and independence criteria to be met by issuers of licences and certificates and examiners of train drivers' competences, and the role of accreditation

    "We have been successful in ensuring that adequate, but not unduly onerous, mechanisms are stipulated to ensure the independence and competence of the persons involved in examining train drivers competences and fitness. In particular the proposal now includes the possibility of a less onerous mechanism of 'recognition' of competence and independence.

    "On the other hand, the text now includes, at the request of several Member States, requirements for recognition or accreditation of training providers. The UK, along with two other Member States, are continuing to resist this on the grounds of the cost implications — particularly where train operators would be required to organise 'independent' trainers within their companies — and the absence of any obvious benefits given the safeguards offered by the requirement for recognised/accredited examiners at the end of the training process."

3.7 The Minister tells us that it is now the Dutch Presidency's intention to seek a general agreement on the draft Directive on train driver licensing at the Transport Council on 9-10 December 2004. He adds that the European Parliament's Transport and Tourism Committee has begun its consideration of the whole package and that a plenary first reading is expected in February 2005.

Conclusion

3.8 We are grateful to the Minister for this latest information. We note that we can expect to see the promised further information shortly. We expect to recommend the debate we have mentioned previously when we have that information. Meanwhile we continue not to clear the documents.




9   See Stg Co Deb, European Standing Committee A, 10 March 1999, cols 1-42; Stg Co Deb, European Standing Committee A, 13 March 2002, cols 3-28; and Stg Co Deb, European Standing Committee A, 8 May 2002, cols 3-24. Back

10   HC 42-xxx (2003-04), para 4 (9 September 2004). Back

11   See headnote. Back


 
previous page contents next page

House of Commons home page Parliament home page House of Lords home page search page enquiries index

© Parliamentary copyright 2004
Prepared 17 December 2004