BETA


2020/0127(COD) Measures for a sustainable rail market in view of the COVID-19 pandemic

Progress: Procedure completed, awaiting publication in Official Journal

RoleCommitteeRapporteurShadows
Lead TRAN
Lead committee dossier:
Legal Basis:
RoP 163, TFEU 091

Events

2020/10/07
   CSL - Draft final act
Documents
2020/10/07
   EP/CSL - Act adopted by Council after Parliament's 1st reading
2020/10/07
   CSL - Final act signed
2020/10/07
   EP - End of procedure in Parliament
2020/09/25
   PT_PARLIAMENT - Contribution
Documents
2020/09/25
   ES_PARLIAMENT - Contribution
Documents
2020/09/17
   EP - Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
Details

The European Parliament adopted by 678 votes to 3, with 5 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing measures for a sustainable rail market in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The proposal for a Regulation is intended to complete the existing rail-related framework in order to allow national authorities and rail stakeholders to deal more easily with a number of negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to respond to the urgent needs of the railway sector as long as those consequences persist.

The European Parliament adopted its position at first reading in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure by amending the Commission proposal as follows:

Reduction, waiver or deferral of charges for the minimum access package and of reservation charges

Member States may authorise infrastructure managers to reduce, waive or defer the payment of charges for the minimum access package, and for access to infrastructure connecting service facilities, where appropriate according to the market segments identified in their network statements, in a transparent, objective and non‑discriminatory way, where such payment has or will become due during the reference period.

Member States shall inform the Commission of the measures taken under this Article no later than three months from the date of entry into force of this Regulation, and shall inform the Commission of subsequent measures or changes thereof. The Commission shall make this information publicly available.

Extension of the reference period

The proposed measures cover a reference period from 1 March 2020 to 31 December 2020 for which the pricing may be modified, by way of derogation from Article 27 of Directive 2012/34/EU.

By 1 November 2020, infrastructure managers shall provide the Commission with data on the usage of their networks categorised by market segments, in accordance with Article 32(1) of Directive 2012/34/EU, for the periods from 1 March 2019 until 30 September 2019 and from 1 March 2020 until 30 September 2020.

Members clarified that where the reference period is extended, the infrastructure managers shall provide the Commission with a new set of data when half of the prolongation of the reference period has elapsed, in order to allow the Commission to assess the development of the situation during the prolongation of the reference period.

The amended text underlines that the Commission shall continuously analyse the economic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on that sector and the Union should be in a position to prolong without undue delay the period during which the measures provided for by this Regulation apply if the adverse conditions persist.

Documents
2020/09/02
   EP - Decision by committee, without report
2020/07/15
   ESC - Economic and Social Committee: opinion, report
Documents
2020/07/08
   EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
2020/06/19
   EC - Legislative proposal published
Details

PURPOSE: to assist the railway sector deal with the emergency created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.

BACKGROUND: the COVID-19 pandemic brought about a significant drop in demand which in turn has led to a sharp drop in rail transport. Demand for both passenger and freight services for the whole of 2020 is expected to be well below 2019 levels.

The pandemic may lead to a large number of insolvencies and liquidity shortages within the railway sector. It affects all the supply chain and has effects on railway undertakings, shippers and logistic enterprises. Infrastructure managers and service facility operators will also suffer from its financial consequences.

The rail sector makes a vital contribution to the European economy as a whole and to employment, directly employing more than 1 million people, of whom around 600 000 are employed in railway undertakings and 440 000 in infrastructure managers (by the end of 2016). Rail transport is also a key element of the EU's strategy to improve the sustainability of the transport sector, ensure economic and social cohesion and connecting Europeans within and between Member States.

Directive 2012/34/EU establishing a Single European Railway Area does not allow Member States, in the context of the COVID-19 epidemic, to respond to the unpredictable effects on rail transport by adapting, in particular, the rules on charging and capacity allocation. Targeted derogations should therefore be allowed in order to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on rail transport and to preserve the integrity of the single European railway area.

CONTENT: the proposal for a Regulation is intended to complete the existing rail-related framework in order to allow national authorities and rail stakeholders to deal more easily with a number of negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to respond to the urgent needs of the railway sector as long as those consequences persist.

These temporary emergency measures concern notably the waiver, reduction or deferral of track access charges for the use of rail infrastructure, as well as the waiver of reservation charges.

They cover a reference period from 1 March 2020 until 31 December 2020, in respect of which charges may be altered, by derogation from Article 27 of Directive 2012/34/EU whereby the network statement (displaying all applicable charges) shall be published no less than for months in advance for the deadline for requests for infrastructure capacity.

Income losses on the part of infrastructure managers as a result of the reductions envisaged in the proposed Regulation shall be reimbursed by Member States by 31 December of the year following the year in which the loss was incurred at the latest.

The Commission may, by means of delegated acts, extend the time period during which the measures envisaged by the proposed Regulation apply.

Documents

Votes

Demande d'application de la procédure d'urgence: Un marché ferroviaire durable compte tenu de la propagation de la COVID-19 - C9-0186/2020 - 2020/0127(COD) #

2020/09/14 Outcome: +: 679, 0: 4, -: 3
DE FR IT ES PL RO NL BE SE CZ PT HU AT BG EL FI DK SK IE HR LT LV EE SI CY MT LU
Total
88
78
74
58
50
32
28
21
21
21
21
21
19
16
20
14
14
14
13
12
11
8
7
7
6
6
6
icon: PPE PPE
185

Denmark PPE

For (1)

1

Latvia PPE

2

Estonia PPE

For (1)

1
2

Malta PPE

2

Luxembourg PPE

2
icon: S&D S&D
140

Greece S&D

2

Lithuania S&D

2

Latvia S&D

2

Estonia S&D

2

Slovenia S&D

For (1)

1

Cyprus S&D

2

Luxembourg S&D

For (1)

1
icon: Renew Renew
97

Italy Renew

For (1)

1

Hungary Renew

2

Austria Renew

For (1)

1

Bulgaria Renew

2

Finland Renew

3

Slovakia Renew

2

Ireland Renew

2

Croatia Renew

For (1)

1

Lithuania Renew

2

Latvia Renew

For (1)

1

Estonia Renew

3

Slovenia Renew

2

Luxembourg Renew

2
icon: ID ID
74

Netherlands ID

Against (1)

1

Czechia ID

2
3

Finland ID

2

Denmark ID

For (1)

1

Estonia ID

For (1)

1
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
64

Spain Verts/ALE

2

Netherlands Verts/ALE

2

Belgium Verts/ALE

3

Sweden Verts/ALE

3

Czechia Verts/ALE

3

Portugal Verts/ALE

1

Austria Verts/ALE

3

Finland Verts/ALE

3

Denmark Verts/ALE

2

Ireland Verts/ALE

2

Lithuania Verts/ALE

2

Latvia Verts/ALE

1

Luxembourg Verts/ALE

For (1)

1
icon: ECR ECR
60

Germany ECR

For (1)

1

Bulgaria ECR

2

Greece ECR

1

Croatia ECR

For (1)

1

Lithuania ECR

1

Latvia ECR

2
icon: GUE/NGL GUE/NGL
38

Netherlands GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Belgium GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Sweden GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Czechia GUE/NGL

1

Finland GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Denmark GUE/NGL

1

Cyprus GUE/NGL

2
icon: NI NI
28

Germany NI

2

Netherlands NI

1

Hungary NI

1

Slovakia NI

For (1)

Abstain (1)

2

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

events/7
date
2020-10-12T00:00:00
type
Final act published in Official Journal
docs
procedure/final
title
Regulation 2020/1429
url
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!CELEXnumdoc&lg=EN&numdoc=32020R1429
procedure/stage_reached
Old
Procedure completed, awaiting publication in Official Journal
New
Procedure completed
events/4
date
2020-10-07T00:00:00
type
Act adopted by Council after Parliament's 1st reading
body
EP/CSL
procedure/stage_reached
Old
Awaiting Council's 1st reading position
New
Procedure completed, awaiting publication in Official Journal
docs/2
date
2020-09-25T00:00:00
docs
url: http://www.connefof.europarl.europa.eu/connefof/app/exp/COM(2020)0260 title: COM(2020)0260
type
Contribution
body
PT_PARLIAMENT
docs/3
date
2020-09-25T00:00:00
docs
url: http://www.connefof.europarl.europa.eu/connefof/app/exp/COM(2020)0260 title: COM(2020)0260
type
Contribution
body
ES_PARLIAMENT
events/4
date
2020-10-07T00:00:00
type
Final act signed
body
CSL
events/5
date
2020-10-07T00:00:00
type
End of procedure in Parliament
body
EP
docs/1
date
2020-10-07T00:00:00
docs
url: http://register.consilium.europa.eu/content/out?lang=EN&typ=SET&i=ADV&RESULTSET=1&DOC_ID=[%n4]%2F20&DOC_LANCD=EN&ROWSPP=25&NRROWS=500&ORDERBY=DOC_DATE+DESC title: 00030/2020/LEX
type
Draft final act
body
CSL
docs/1
date
2020-09-17T00:00:00
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2020-0236_EN.html title: T9-0236/2020
type
Text adopted by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
body
EP
events/3/summary
  • The European Parliament adopted by 678 votes to 3, with 5 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing measures for a sustainable rail market in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • The proposal for a Regulation is intended to complete the existing rail-related framework in order to allow national authorities and rail stakeholders to deal more easily with a number of negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to respond to the urgent needs of the railway sector as long as those consequences persist.
  • The European Parliament adopted its position at first reading in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure by amending the Commission proposal as follows:
  • Reduction, waiver or deferral of charges for the minimum access package and of reservation charges
  • Member States may authorise infrastructure managers to reduce, waive or defer the payment of charges for the minimum access package, and for access to infrastructure connecting service facilities, where appropriate according to the market segments identified in their network statements, in a transparent, objective and non‑discriminatory way, where such payment has or will become due during the reference period.
  • Member States shall inform the Commission of the measures taken under this Article no later than three months from the date of entry into force of this Regulation, and shall inform the Commission of subsequent measures or changes thereof. The Commission shall make this information publicly available.
  • Extension of the reference period
  • The proposed measures cover a reference period from 1 March 2020 to 31 December 2020 for which the pricing may be modified, by way of derogation from Article 27 of Directive 2012/34/EU.
  • By 1 November 2020, infrastructure managers shall provide the Commission with data on the usage of their networks categorised by market segments, in accordance with Article 32(1) of Directive 2012/34/EU, for the periods from 1 March 2019 until 30 September 2019 and from 1 March 2020 until 30 September 2020.
  • Members clarified that where the reference period is extended, the infrastructure managers shall provide the Commission with a new set of data when half of the prolongation of the reference period has elapsed, in order to allow the Commission to assess the development of the situation during the prolongation of the reference period.
  • The amended text underlines that the Commission shall continuously analyse the economic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on that sector and the Union should be in a position to prolong without undue delay the period during which the measures provided for by this Regulation apply if the adverse conditions persist.
docs/1
date
2020-09-17T00:00:00
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2020-0236_EN.html title: T9-0236/2020
type
Text adopted by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
body
EP
events/2
date
2020-09-02T00:00:00
type
Decision by committee, without report
body
EP
events/3
date
2020-09-17T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
body
EP
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2020-0236_EN.html title: T9-0236/2020
forecasts
  • date: 2020-09-17T00:00:00 title: Vote in plenary scheduled
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 163
procedure/stage_reached
Old
Awaiting committee decision
New
Awaiting Council's 1st reading position
forecasts/0
date
2020-09-17T00:00:00
title
Vote in plenary scheduled
forecasts/0
date
2020-09-14T00:00:00
title
Indicative plenary sitting date, 1st reading/single reading
docs/0
date
2020-07-15T00:00:00
docs
url: https://dmsearch.eesc.europa.eu/search/public?k=(documenttype:AC)(documentnumber:3018)(documentyear:2020)(documentlanguage:EN) title: CES3018/2020
type
Economic and Social Committee: opinion, report
body
ESC
docs/0
date
2020-06-19T00:00:00
docs
type
Legislative proposal
body
EC
events/1
date
2020-07-08T00:00:00
type
Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
body
EP
procedure/dossier_of_the_committee
  • TRAN/9/03367
procedure/stage_reached
Old
Preparatory phase in Parliament
New
Awaiting committee decision
events/0/summary
  • PURPOSE: to assist the railway sector deal with the emergency created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.
  • ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.
  • BACKGROUND: the COVID-19 pandemic brought about a significant drop in demand which in turn has led to a sharp drop in rail transport. Demand for both passenger and freight services for the whole of 2020 is expected to be well below 2019 levels.
  • The pandemic may lead to a large number of insolvencies and liquidity shortages within the railway sector. It affects all the supply chain and has effects on railway undertakings, shippers and logistic enterprises. Infrastructure managers and service facility operators will also suffer from its financial consequences.
  • The rail sector makes a vital contribution to the European economy as a whole and to employment, directly employing more than 1 million people, of whom around 600 000 are employed in railway undertakings and 440 000 in infrastructure managers (by the end of 2016). Rail transport is also a key element of the EU's strategy to improve the sustainability of the transport sector, ensure economic and social cohesion and connecting Europeans within and between Member States.
  • Directive 2012/34/EU establishing a Single European Railway Area does not allow Member States, in the context of the COVID-19 epidemic, to respond to the unpredictable effects on rail transport by adapting, in particular, the rules on charging and capacity allocation. Targeted derogations should therefore be allowed in order to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on rail transport and to preserve the integrity of the single European railway area.
  • CONTENT: the proposal for a Regulation is intended to complete the existing rail-related framework in order to allow national authorities and rail stakeholders to deal more easily with a number of negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to respond to the urgent needs of the railway sector as long as those consequences persist.
  • These temporary emergency measures concern notably the waiver, reduction or deferral of track access charges for the use of rail infrastructure, as well as the waiver of reservation charges.
  • They cover a reference period from 1 March 2020 until 31 December 2020, in respect of which charges may be altered, by derogation from Article 27 of Directive 2012/34/EU whereby the network statement (displaying all applicable charges) shall be published no less than for months in advance for the deadline for requests for infrastructure capacity.
  • Income losses on the part of infrastructure managers as a result of the reductions envisaged in the proposed Regulation shall be reimbursed by Member States by 31 December of the year following the year in which the loss was incurred at the latest.
  • The Commission may, by means of delegated acts, extend the time period during which the measures envisaged by the proposed Regulation apply.
otherinst
  • name: European Economic and Social Committee
  • name: European Committee of the Regions
procedure/other_consulted_institutions
European Economic and Social Committee European Committee of the Regions
forecasts
  • date: 2020-09-14T00:00:00 title: Indicative plenary sitting date, 1st reading/single reading
procedure/Legislative priorities
  • title: The EU’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic url: https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/thematicnote.do?id=2065000&l=en