Directive 2012/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

Article 57 Cooperation between regulatory bodies

1. The regulatory bodies shall exchange information about their work and decision-making principles and practice and, in particular, exchange information on the main issues of their procedures and on the problems of interpreting transposed Union railway law. They shall otherwise cooperate for the purpose of coordinating their decision-making across the Union. For this purpose, they shall participate and work together in a network that convenes at regular intervals. The Commission shall be a member, coordinate and support the work of the network and make recommendations to the network, as appropriate. It shall ensure active cooperation of the appropriate regulatory bodies.

Subject to the rules on data protection provided for in Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data(1) and Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data(2), the Commission shall support the exchange of the information referred above among the members of the network, possibly through electronic tools, respecting the confidentiality of business secrets supplied by the relevant undertakings.

2. The regulatory bodies shall cooperate closely, including through working arrangements, for the purposes of mutual assistance in their market monitoring tasks and handling complaints or investigations.

3. In the case of a complaint or an own-initiative investigation on issues of access or charging relating to an international train path, as well as in the framework of monitoring competition on the market related to international rail transport services, the regulatory body concerned shall consult the regulatory bodies of all other Member States through which the international train path concerned runs and, where appropriate, the Commission, and shall request all necessary information from them before taking its decision.

4. The regulatory bodies consulted in accordance with paragraph 3 shall provide all the information that they themselves have the right to request under their national law. This information may only be used for the purpose of handling the complaint or investigation referred to in paragraph 3.

5. The regulatory body receiving the complaint or conducting an investigation on its own initiative shall transfer relevant information to the regulatory body responsible in order for that body to take measures regarding the parties concerned.

6. Member States shall ensure that any associated representatives of infrastructure managers as referred to in Article 40(1) provide, without delay, all the information necessary for the purpose of handling the complaint or investigation referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article and requested by the regulatory body of the Member State in which the associated representative is located. That regulatory body shall be entitled to transfer such information regarding the international train path concerned to the regulatory bodies referred to in paragraph 3.

7. At the request of a regulatory body, the Commission may participate in the activities listed under paragraphs 2 to 6 for the purpose of facilitating the cooperation of regulatory bodies as outlined in those paragraphs.

8. Regulatory bodies shall develop common principles and practices for making the decisions for which they are empowered under this Directive. Based on the experience of regulatory bodies and on the activities of the network referred to in paragraph 1, and, if needed, to ensure efficient cooperation of regulatory bodies, the Commission may adopt measures setting out such common principles and practices. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 62(3).

9. Regulatory bodies shall review decisions and practices of associations of infrastructure managers as referred to in Article 37 and Article 40(1) that implement provisions of this Directive or otherwise facilitate international rail transport.

(1)

OJ L 281, 23.11.1995, p. 31.

(2)

OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1.