Commission Regulation (EU) No 1077/2012Show full title

Commission Regulation (EU) No 1077/2012

of 16 November 2012

on a common safety method for supervision by national safety authorities after issuing a safety certificate or safety authorisation

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Directive 2004/49/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on safety on the Community’s railways and amending Council Directive 95/18/EC on the licensing of railway undertakings and Directive 2001/14/EC on the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and the levying of charges for the use of railway infrastructure and safety certification(1) and in particular Article 6 thereof,

Whereas:

(1) One of the purposes of Directive 2004/49/EC is to improve access to the market for rail transport services by defining common principles for the management, regulation and supervision of railway safety. Directive 2004/49/EC also provides equal treatment for all railway undertakings by applying the same safety certification requirements throughout the European Union.

(2) On 5 October 2009 the Commission issued a mandate to the European Railway Agency (‘the Agency’) in accordance with Directive 2004/49/EC to draw up a draft common safety method (CSM) for supervision by national safety authorities after issuing a safety certificate or a safety authorisation to railway undertakings and infrastructure managers. The Agency submitted its recommendation on the CSM to the Commission, supported by an impact assessment report, in agreement with the mandate of the Commission. This Regulation is based on the recommendation by the Agency.

(3) Commission Regulation (EU) No 1158/2010 of 9 December 2010 on a common safety method for assessing conformity with the requirements for obtaining railway safety certificates(2) provides a method for assessing conformity with requirements for obtaining safety certificates to be issued in accordance with Article 10(2)(a) and Article 10(2)(b) of Directive 2004/49/EC. That Regulation defines the criteria against which assessment by national safety authorities must be carried out, describes the procedures to follow and establishes the principles to be observed by national safety authorities during supervision as defined in that Regulation after issuing a safety certificate.

(4) Commission Regulation (EU) No 1169/2010 of 10 December 2010 on a common safety method for assessing conformity with the requirements for obtaining a railway safety authorisation(3) includes all the harmonised requirements and assessment methods by means of which national safety authorities can issue an infrastructure manager with a safety authorisation under Article 11 of Directive 2004/49/EC covering the adequacy of the safety management system in general and any network-specific authorisation. That Regulation also defines the criteria against which assessment by national safety authorities must be carried out, describes the procedures to follow and establishes the principles to be used by national safety authorities during supervision, as defined in that Regulation, after issuing a safety authorisation.

(5) After issuing a safety certificate or a safety authorisation, the national safety authority must put in place arrangements to check whether the results outlined in the application for a safety certificate or a safety authorisation are being achieved during operation and that all the necessary requirements are complied with on a continuous basis, as required by Article 16(2)(e) and Article 17(2) of Directive 2004/49/EC.

(6) To be able to perform its tasks under Article 16(2)(f) of Directive 2004/49/EC, the national safety authority also needs to judge, based on its supervision activities, the effectiveness of the safety regulatory framework. ‘Supervision’ means the arrangements put in place by the national safety authority to oversee safety performance after it has granted a safety certificate or safety authorisation.

(7) In undertaking supervision, the national safety authority must apply the fundamental principles of national safety authority supervision activity — proportionality, consistency, targeting, transparency, accountability and cooperation — as set out in Regulation (EU) No 1158/2010 and in Regulation (EU) No 1169/2010. However, these principles also need a framework and process to apply them in practice in the day-to-day activities of the national safety authorities. The current Regulation would provide the necessary framework and process to the national safety authorities, while improving the mutual trust in their approaches to, and decision-making during supervision activities.

(8) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established in accordance with Article 27(1) of Directive 2004/49/EC,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

(1)

OJ L 164, 30.4.2004, p. 44.

(2)

OJ L 326, 10.12.2010, p. 11.

(3)

OJ L 327, 11.12.2010, p. 13.