Directive 2004/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

Article 1

Directive 96/48/EC is hereby amended as follows:

1)

Article 1 shall be replaced by the following:

“Article 1

1. The aim of this Directive is to establish the conditions to-be met to achieve interoperability within Community territory of the trans-European high-speed rail system as described in Annex I.

These conditions concern the design, construction, placing in service, upgrading, renewal, operation and maintenance of the parts of this system placed in service after ...(1), as well as the qualifications and health and safety conditions of the staff who contribute to its operation.

2. The pursuit of this objective must lead to the definition of an optimal level of technical harmonisation and make it possible to:

(a) facilitate, improve and develop international rail transport services within Community territory and with third countries;

(b) contribute to the gradual creation of the internal market in equipment and services for the construction, operation, renewal and upgrading of the trans-European high-speed rail system;

(c) contribute to the interoperability of the trans-European high-speed rail system.”.

2)

the following points shall be added to Article 2:

“(j)

"basic parameter" means any regulatory, technical or operational condition which is critical to interoperability and requires a decision or recommendation in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 21(2) before any development of complete draft TSIs;

(k)

"specific case" means any part of the trans-European high-speed rail system which needs special provisions in the TSIs, either temporary or definitive, because of geographical, topographical or urban environment constraints or those affecting compatibility with the existing system. This may include in particular railway lines and networks isolated from the rest of the Community territory, the loading gauge, the track gauge or space between the tracks;

(l)

"upgrading" means any major modification work on a subsystem or part subsystem which improves the overall performance of the subsystem;

(m)

"substitution in the framework of maintenance" means any replacement of components by parts of identical function and performance in the framework of preventive or corrective maintenance;

(n)

"renewal" means any major substitution work on a subsystem or part subsystem which does not change the overall performance of the subsystem;

(o)

"existing rail system" means the structure composed of the railway infrastructures, comprising lines and fixed installations of the existing rail system plus the existing rolling stock of all categories and origin travelling on that infrastructure;

(p)

"placing in service" means all the operations by which a subsystem is put into its design operating state.”;

3)

Article 2(h) shall be deleted.

4)

Article 5 shall be amended as follows:

(a)

paragraph 1 shall be replaced by the following:

“1. Each of the subsystems shall be covered by one TSI. Where necessary, a subsystem may be covered by several TSIs and one TSI may cover several subsystems. The decision to develop and/or to review a TSI and the choice of its technical and geographical scope requires a mandate in accordance with Article 6(1).”;

(b)

paragraph 3 shall be replaced by the following:

“3. To the extent necessary in order to achieve the objectives referred to in Article 1, each TSI shall:

(a) indicate its intended scope (part of network or rolling stock referred to in Annex I, subsystem or part of subsystem referred to in Annex II);

(b) lay down essential requirements for each subsystem concerned and its interfaces vis-à-vis other subsystems;

(c) establish the functional and technical specifications to be met by the subsystem and its interfaces vis-à-vis other subsystems. If need be, these specifications may vary according to the use of the subsystem, for example according to the categories of line and/or rolling stock provided for in Annex I;

(d) determine the interoperability constituents and interfaces which must be covered by European specifications, including European standards, which are necessary to achieve interoperability within the trans-European high speed rail system;

(e) state, in each case under consideration, which procedures are to be used in order to assess the conformity or the suitability for use of the interoperability constituents, on the one hand, or the EC verification of the subsystems, on the other hand. These procedures shall be based on the modules defined in Decision 93/465/EEC;

(f) indicate the strategy for implementing the TSIs. In particular, it is necessary to specify the stages to be completed in order to make a gradual transition from the existing situation to the final situation in which compliance with the TSIs shall be the norm;

(g) indicate, for the staff concerned, the professional competences and health and safety conditions at work required for the operation and maintenance of the subsystem, as well as for the implementation of the TSIs.”;

(c)

the following paragraph shall be inserted:

“6. TSIs may make an explicit, clearly identified reference to European standards or specifications where this is strictly necessary in order to achieve the objectives of this Directive. In such case, these European standards or specifications (or the relevant parts thereof) shall be regarded as annexes to the TSI concerned and shall become mandatory from the moment the TSI is applicable. In the absence of European standards or specifications and pending their development, reference may be made to other clearly identified normative documents; in such case, this shall concern documents that are easily accessible and in the public domain.”;

5)

Article 6 shall be replaced by the following:

“Article 6

1. Draft TSIs and subsequent amendments to TSIs shall be drafted under a mandate from the Commission in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 21(2). They shall be drafted under the responsibility of the Agency in accordance with Articles 3 and 12 of Regulation (EC) No 2004/ /EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of establishing a European Railway Agency (Agency Regulation)(2) and in cooperation with the Working Parties mentioned in those Articles.

TSIs shall be adopted and reviewed in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 21(2). They shall be published by the Commission in the Official Journal of the European Union.

2. The Agency shall be responsible for preparing the review and updating of TSIs and making any recommendations to the Committee referred to in Article 21 in order to take account of developments in technology or social requirements.

3. Each draft TSI shall be drawn up in two stages.

First of all, the Agency shall identify the basic parameters for the TSI as well as the interfaces with the other subsystems and any other specific cases that may be necessary. The most viable alternative solutions accompanied by technical and economic justification shall be put forward for each of these parameters and interfaces. A decision shall be taken in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 21(2); if necessary, specific cases shall be cited.

The Agency shall then draw up the draft TSI on the basis of these basic parameters. Where appropriate, the Agency shall take account of technical progress, of standardisation work already carried out, of working parties already in place and of acknowledged research work. An overall assessment of the estimated costs and benefits of the implementation of the TSIs shall be attached to the draft TSI; this assessment shall indicate the likely impact for all the operators and economic agents involved.

4. The drafting, adoption and review of each TSI (including the basic parameters) shall take account of the estimated costs and benefits of all the technical solutions considered, together with the interfaces between them, so as to establish and implement the most viable solutions. The Member States shall participate in this assessment by providing the requisite data.

5. The Committee referred to in Article 21 shall be kept regularly informed of the preparatory work on the TSIs. During this work the Committee may formulate any terms of reference or useful recommendations concerning the design of the TSIs and the cost-benefit analysis. In particular, the Committee may, at the request of a Member State, require that alternative solutions be examined and that the assessment of the cost and benefits of these alternative solutions be set out in the report annexed to the draft TSI.

6. On the adoption of each TSI, the date of entry into force of that TSI shall be established in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 21(2). Where different subsystems have to be placed in service simultaneously for reasons of technical compatibility, the dates of entry into force of the corresponding TSIs shall be the same.

7. The drafting, adoption and review of the TSIs shall take account of the opinion of users, as regards the characteristics which have a direct impact on the conditions in which they use the subsystems. To that end the Agency shall consult associations and bodies representing users during the drafting and review phases of the TSIs. They shall enclose with the draft TSI a report on the results of this consultation.

The list of associations and bodies to be consulted shall be finalised by the Committee referred to in Article 21 before it adopts the mandate to review the TSIs and may be re-examined and updated at the request of a Member State or the Commission.

8. The drafting, adoption and review of the TSIs shall take account of the opinion of the social partners as regards the conditions referred to in Article 5(3)(g).

To this end, the social partners shall be consulted before the draft TSI is submitted, for adoption or review, to the Committee referred to in Article 21.

The social partners shall be consulted in the context of the sectoral dialogue committee set up in accordance with Commission Decision 98/500/EC(3). The social partners shall issue their opinion within three months.”;

6)

Article 7 shall be replaced by the following:

“Article 7

A Member State need not apply one or more TSIs, including those relating to rolling stock, in the following cases and circumstances:

(a)

for a proposed new line, for the renewal or upgrading of an existing line, or for any element referred to Article 1(1) at an advanced stage of development or the subject of a contract in course of performance when these TSIs are published;

(b)

for any project concerning the renewal or upgrading of an existing line where the loading gauge, track gauge, space between the tracks, or electrification voltage in these TSIs is not compatible with those of the existing line;

(c)

for a proposed new line or for the proposed renewal or upgrading of an existing line in the territory of that Member State when its rail network is separated or isolated by the sea from the rail network of the rest of the Community territory;

(d)

for any proposed renewal, extension or upgrading of an existing line, when the application of these TSIs would compromise the economic viability of the project and/or the compatibility of the rail system in the Member State;

(e)

where, following an accident or a natural disaster, the conditions for the rapid restoration of the network do not economically or technically allow for partial or total application of the relevant TSIs;

In all cases, the Member State concerned shall serve prior notice of its intended derogation to the Commission and shall forward to it a file setting out the TSIs or the parts of TSIs that it does not wish to be applied as well as the corresponding specifications that it does wish to apply. The Commission shall analyse the measures envisaged by the Member State. In cases (b) and (d), the Commission shall take a decision in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 21(2). Where necessary, a recommendation shall be drawn up concerning the specifications to be applied. Nevertheless, in the case of (b) the Commission's decision shall not refer to the loading gauge and the track gauge.”;

7)

the following subparagraph shall be added to Article 9:

“In particular, they may not require checks which have already been carried out as part of the procedure leading to the "EC" declaration of conformity or suitability for use.”;

8)

Article 10 shall be amended as follows:

(a)

paragraph 2 shall be replaced by the following:

“2. All interoperability constituents shall be subject to the procedure for assessing conformity and suitability for the use indicated in the respective TSI and be accompanied by the corresponding certificate.”;

(b)

paragraph 3 shall be replaced by the following:

“3. Member States shall consider that an interoperability constituent meets the essential requirements if it complies with the conditions laid down by the corresponding TSI or the European specifications developed to comply with these conditions.”;

(c)

paragraphs 4 and 5 shall be deleted;

9)

Article 11 shall be replaced by the following:

“Article 11

Where it appears to a Member State or the Commission that European specifications used directly or indirectly for the purposes of this Directive do not meet the essential requirements, partial or total withdrawal of the specifications concerned from the publications containing them, or their amendment, may be decided upon in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 21(2) after consultation of the Committee set up under Directive 98/34/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations and of rules on information society services(4).”;

10)

Article 14 shall be replaced by the following:

“Article 14

1. Each Member State shall authorise the placing in service of those structural subsystems constituting the trans-European high-speed rail system which are located or operated in its territory.

To this end, each Member State shall take all appropriate steps to ensure that these subsystems may be placed in service only if they are designed, constructed and installed in such a way that they do not compromise compliance with the essential requirements concerning them when integrated into the trans-European high-speed rail system.

In particular, each Member State shall check the compatibility of these subsystems with the system into which they are being integrated.

2. Each Member State shall check, when the subsystems are placed in service and at regular intervals thereafter, that they are operated and maintained in accordance with the essential requirements concerning them. To that end, the assessment and verification procedures laid down in the respective structural and functional TSIs shall be used.

3. In the event of renewal or upgrading, the infrastructure manager or the railway undertaking shall send the Member State concerned a file describing the project. The Member State shall examine this file and, taking account of the implementation strategy indicated in the applicable TSI, shall decide whether the size of the works means that a new authorisation for placing in service within the meaning of this Directive is needed.

Such new authorisation for placing in service shall be required whenever the overall safety level of the subsystem concerned may be affected by the works envisaged.

4. Where Member States authorise the placing in service of rolling stock, they shall be responsible for ensuring that an alphanumeric identification code is assigned to each vehicle. This code must be marked on each vehicle and be entered in a national vehicle register that meets the following criteria:

(a) the register shall comply with the common specifications defined in paragraph 5;

(b) the register shall be kept and updated by a body independent of any railway undertaking;

(c) the register shall be accessible to the safety authorities and the investigating bodies designated in Articles 16 and 21 of Directive 2004/xxx/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ofon safety on the Community's railways (Railway Safety Directive)(5); it shall also be made accessible, in response to any legitimate request, to the regulatory bodies designated in Article 30 of Directive 2001/14/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2001 on the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and the levying of charges for the use of railway infrastructure and safety certification(6), to the Agency, to the railway companies and to the infrastructure managers.

In case of rolling stock placed in service for the first time in a third country, Member States may accept vehicles clearly identified according to a different coding system. However, once a Member State has authorised the placing in service of such vehicles on its territory, it must be possible to retrieve the corresponding data, listed below in paragraph 5(c), (d) and (e), through the register.

5. The common specifications for the register shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 21(2), on the basis of the draft specifications prepared by the Agency. These draft specifications shall include: content, data format, functional and technical architecture, operating mode, and rules for data input and consultation. The register shall contain at least the following information:

(a) references to the "EC" declaration of verification and the issuing body;

(b) references to the register of rolling stock mentioned in Article 22a;

(c) identification of the owner of the vehicle or the lessee;

(d) any restrictions on how the vehicle may be used;

(e) safety-critical data relating to the maintenance schedule of the vehicle.”;

11)

the following subparagraph shall be added to Article 15:

“In particular, they may not require checks which have already been carried out as part of the procedure leading to the "EC" declaration of verification.”;

12)

Article 16(3) shall be replaced by the following:

“3. In the absence of TSIs, and including cases when a derogation has been notified under Article 7, Member States shall send the other Member States and the Commission, for each subsystem, a list of the technical rules in use for implementing the essential requirements. This shall be notified by ...(7) and thereafter each time the list of technical rules is changed. On that occasion, Member States shall also designate the bodies responsible for carrying out, in the case of these technical regulations, the verification procedure referred to in Article 18.”;

13)

the following subparagraph shall be added to Article 17:

“In such a case, the TSIs shall be reviewed in accordance with Article 6(2). If certain technical aspects corresponding to the essential requirements cannot be explicitly covered in a TSI, they shall be clearly identified in an annex to the TSI. Article 16(3) shall apply to these aspects.”;

14)

the following subparagraph shall be added to Article 18(2):

“They shall also cover verification of the interfaces of the subsystem in question in relation to the system in which it is integrated, on the basis of the information available in the respective TSI and the registers defined in Article 22a.”;

15)

Article 20(5) shall be replaced by the following:

“5. The Commission shall set up a notified bodies coordination group (hereinafter the "coordination group") which shall discuss any matter relating to the application of the procedures for assessing conformity or suitability for the use referred to in Article 13 and the verification procedure referred to in Article 18, or to the application of the relevant TSIs. Member States' representatives may take part in the work of the coordination group as observers.

The Commission and the observers shall inform the committee referred to in Article 21 of the work carried out in the framework of the coordination group. The Commission, when appropriate, will propose the measures needed to remedy the problems.

Where necessary, coordination of the notified bodies shall be implemented in accordance with Article 21.”;

16)

Article 21 shall be replaced by the following:

“Article 21

1. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 5 and 7 of Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission(8) shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.

The period laid down in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at three months.

3. The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.

4. Should it prove necessary, the Committee may set up working parties to assist it in carrying out its tasks, in particular with a view to coordinating the notified bodies.”;

17)

the following Articles shall be inserted:

“Article 21a

1. The Committee may discuss any matter relating to the interoperability of the trans-European high-speed rail system, including questions relating to interoperability between this system and the rail system of third countries.

2. The Committee may discuss any matter relating to the implementation of this Directive. If necessary, the Commission shall adopt an implementing recommendation in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 21(2).

Article 21b

1. The Commission may decide, on its own initiative or at the request of a Member State, in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 21(2), to mandate the drafting of a TSI for an additional subject, insofar as it concerns a subsystem mentioned in Annex II.

2. In accordance with the procedure set out in Article 21(2), the Committee shall, on the basis of a proposal by the Commission, adopt a work programme conforming to the objectives of this Directive and Directive 2001/16/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 March 2001 on the interoperability of the trans-European conventional rail system(9).

Article 21c

Annexes II to VI may be amended in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 21(2).”;

18)

the following Article shall be inserted:

“Article 22a

1. Member States shall ensure that a register of infrastructure and a register of rolling stock are published and updated annually. These registers shall indicate the main features of each subsystem or part subsystem involved, e.g. the basic parameters, and their correlation with the features laid down by the applicable TSIs. To that end, each TSI shall indicate precisely which information must be included in the registers of infrastructure and of rolling stock.

2. A copy of those registers shall be sent to the Member States concerned and to the Agency and shall be made available for consultation by interested parties, including at least the professional actors from the sector.”;

19)

Annex I shall be replaced by the text in Annex I to this Directive;

20)

Annex II shall be replaced by the text in Annex II to this Directive;

21)

the following point shall be added to Annex III:

“2.4.4. Controls

Trains must be equipped with a recording device. The data collected by this device and the processing of the information must be harmonised.”

22)

the following subparagraph shall be added to Annex VII, point 2:

“In particular, the body and the staff responsible for the checks must be functionally independent of the authorities designated to issue authorisations for placing in service in the framework of this Directive, licences in the framework of Council Directive 95/18/EC of 19 June 1995 on the licensing of railway undertakings(10) and safety certificates in the framework of Directive 200./../EC(11), and of the bodies in charge of investigations in the event of accidents.”

(1)

Date of entry into force of this Directive.

(2)

OJ L

(3)

OJ L 225,12.8.1998, p. 27.";

(4)

OJ L 204,21.7.1998, p. 37. Directive as amended by Directive 98/48/EC (OJ L 217, 5.8.1998, p. 18)";

(5)

OJ L

(6)

OJ L 75,15.3.2001, p. 29. Directive as amended by Commission Decision 2002/844/EC (OJ L 289,26.10.2002, p. 30)";

(7)

One year after the entry into force of this Directive.

(8)

OJ L 184,17.7.1999, p. 23.";

(9)

OJ L 110,20.4.2001, p. 1.";

(10)

OJ L 143, 27.6.1995, p. 70. Directive as amended by Directive 2001/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 75, 15.3.2001, p. 26)."

(11)

Number of the Railway Safety Directive.