Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-06-16-Speech-3-504"
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"en.20100616.33.3-504"2
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"Mr President, thank you for grounding me from air to rail now. It is my privilege to stand before Parliament to speak on this matter.
The Commission should not be left alone in pushing for rail market opening and, ultimately, for the revitalisation of rail as a sustainable and efficient mode of transport. We count on your support to make European rail policy a full success and a contribution to getting Europe out of the present economic crisis.
I would like to thank Parliament very much for its support for the efforts of the European Commission to control the proper implementation of the first railway package by Member States, which is their responsibility. The Commission, for its part, has complied with its obligations as guardian of the treaty by sending reasoned opinions to 22 Member States for incorrect implementation of the first package. I can assure you that the Commission will not hesitate to take Member States which are still not complying with European legislation to the Court of Justice.
While the specific legal details of the infringement procedures are a matter between the Commission and the Member States, our services have already submitted to the Committee on Transport and Tourism, earlier this year, a complete list of all infringements. We also share the regret expressed by the committee that the level of investment in rail infrastructure remains insufficient in many Member States.
However, the Commission cannot agree with the statement that it has not sufficiently focused monitoring on the financial foundations of the railway system. The directives of the first railway package only prescribe that Member States have to ensure a balanced budget for the infrastructure managers over a reasonable period of time. Where the Commission has found evidence that Member States have not respected this provision, infringement procedures have been opened.
Some interest groups want to go further and think that the Commission could oblige Member States to increase investment in the railway sector in general. We might like to see this, but there is no legal base to support it. That being said, the Commission has, on several occasions, made a political appeal to Member States because we recognise the importance of investment in rail infrastructure to promote a sustainable transport system in Europe. Not very long ago, there was a discussion on that question in this Chamber, in the context of the volcanic ash cloud and the implications it had for connectivity within Europe and between Europe and the rest of the world.
I note the wish that the revisions of the first railway package should address the question of lack of resources and powers of regulatory bodies as a priority. I can assure you that the forthcoming Commission proposals will do just that. The recast of the first package will also contribute to clarifying principles of infrastructure access charging, in line with the request from Parliament.
On the independence of essential functions, the Commission has already made its position very clear in its communication of May 2006. Infrastructure managers must be independent from railway undertakings and railway holdings. A holding should not have operational control over its infrastructure subsidiary. Control and independence exclude each other: you cannot have both at the same time. Based on the case-law of the Court of Justice, we have established clear criteria for assessing the independence of an infrastructure subsidiary from the holding company. I am therefore confident that the Commission will win this argument in the forthcoming court procedures.
The resolution also calls for the application of a reciprocity principle. However, this is not a principle that we can accept in European legislation in general. Each Member State has to comply with the European directives as they stand, independently of what other Member States do. Otherwise implementation would always follow the path of the slowest Member State.
In conclusion, I acknowledge the critical view the draft resolution takes on the implementation of the first railway package by the Member States. I reassure you again that the Commission has done – and intends to continue to do – its job as guardian of the treaty."@en1
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