Directive 2001/14/EC is hereby amended as follows:
the following point shall be added to Article 1(3):
transport operations in the form of railway services which are carried out in transit through the Community.’;
the following point shall be added to Article 2:
“transit” shall mean the crossing of the Community territory which is carried out without loading or unloading of goods, and/or without picking up of passengers nor setting them down in the Community territory.’;
the following paragraph shall be added to Article 13:
‘4.When an applicant intends to request infrastructure capacity with a view to operating an international passenger service as defined in Article 3 of Directive 91/440/EEC, it shall inform the infrastructure managers and the regulatory bodies concerned. In order to enable the assessment of the purpose of the international service to carry passengers between stations located in different Member States, and the potential economic impact on existing public service contracts, regulatory bodies shall ensure that any competent authority that has awarded a rail passenger service defined in a public service contract, any other interested competent authority with a right to limit access under Article 10(3b) of Directive 91/440/EEC and any railway undertaking performing the public service contract on the route of this international passenger service is informed.’;
Article 17(5) shall be replaced by the following:
‘5.Framework agreements shall in principle cover a period of five years, renewable for periods equal to their original duration. The infrastructure manager may agree to a shorter or longer period in specific cases. Any period longer than five years shall be justified by the existence of commercial contracts, specialised investments or risks.
5a.For services using specialised infrastructure referred to in Article 24 which requires substantial and long-term investment, duly justified by the applicant, framework agreements may be for a period of 15 years. Any period longer than 15 years shall be permissible only in exceptional cases, in particular where there is large-scale, long-term investment, and particularly where such investment is covered by contractual commitments including a multi-annual amortisation plan.
The applicant's requirements may in this case call for detailed definition of the capacity characteristics — including the frequency, volume and quality of train paths — which are to be provided to the applicant for the duration of the framework agreement. The infrastructure manager may reduce reserved capacity which, over a period of at least one month, has been used less than the threshold quota provided for in Article 27.
As from 1 January 2010, an initial framework agreement may be drawn up for a period of five years, renewable once, on the basis of the capacity characteristics used by applicants operating services before 1 January 2010, in order to take account of specialised investments or the existence of commercial contracts. The regulatory body referred to in Article 30 shall be responsible for authorising the entry into force of such an agreement.’;
the following sentence shall be inserted before the final sentence of Article 30(1):
‘It shall furthermore be functionally independent from any competent authority involved in the award of a public service contract.’;
Article 34(3) shall be replaced by the following:
‘3.Measures designed to amend non-essential elements of this Directive and relating to the adaptation of the Annexes thereto shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 35(3).’;
Article 35(3) shall be replaced by the following:
‘3.Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5a(1) to (4), and Article 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.’;
the following subparagraph shall be added to Article 38:
‘The obligations for transposition and implementation of this Directive shall not apply to Cyprus and Malta for as long as no railway system is established within their territory.’