Safety Directive: A major step towards the Single European Rail Area

The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) welcomes the general approach agreed today by the Transport Council on the European Commission proposal for a recast of the rail Safety Directive.

This general approach is a step ahead towards the elimination of the burdensome administrative procedures which are currently weighing on the sector’s shoulders and undermining the rail business. This approach will finally assign to the European Railway Agency (ERA) the role of issuing single safety certificates.

In this regard, this agreement which streamlines procedures linked to safety and the one already concluded earlier this year on interoperability represent together a major achievement for the entire sector.

CER Executive Director Libor Lochman commented positively on the results of today’s Council: “I am very pleased of this outcome. The Council made an important step towards the Single European Rail Area. I only regret that the transition period has been extended to 5 years: if the final agreement on the whole package is likely to be taken only in 2015, then we will have to wait until 2020 to have these new procedures in place. But let’s keep the general positive momentum: I hope that the Lithuanian Presidency will now move forward with the revision of the regulation on ERA, so that we will be able to have an agreement on the whole Fourth Railway Package’s Technical Pillar by the end of the year”.