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Mobility and Transport

Regulatory bodies

A Regulatory Body is to be established/set up in every Member State.

The main task of the Regulatory Body is to ensure a fair and non-discriminatory access to the rail network and services. The legal basis for the creation and competence of the Regulatory Body can be found in Article 10.7 of Directive 2001/12/EC and in Articles 30 and 31 of Directive 2001/14/EC.

Organisational independence

The Regulatory Body is a body independent from any infrastructure manager, charging body, allocation body or applicant. It is independent in its organisation, legal structure, funding and in its decision making. Decisions taken by the Regulatory Body shall be subject to judicial review.

Main tasks

The Regulatory Body shall be an appeal body in relation to decisions taken by an infrastructure manager or a railway undertaking regarding discriminatory access conditions.

Any applicant or interested party may lodge a complaint with the Regulatory Body if it feels that it has been treated unjustly, has been subject to discrimination or injured in any other way.

The Regulatory Body shall ensure that the charges set by the infrastructure manager are non-discriminatory. It shall supervise any negotiation between an applicant and an infrastructure manager on the level of the charges and intervene if necessary.

The Regulatory Body shall monitor the competition in the rail services market. In its monitoring function it shall decide on complaints or on its own initiative on appropriate measures to correct undesirable developments.

The Regulatory Body shall have the right to request relevant information from the infrastructure manager, applicants and any third party involved within the Member State concerned, which must be supplied without undue delay.

Co-operation

At European level and with the help of the European Commission, the Regulatory Bodies shall exchange information about their work and decision-making principles and practices with the aim to develop a common approach in order to avoid conflicting decisions.

Regulatory Bodies

Related documents

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS on cooperation between regulatory bodies under Article 63(2) of Directive 2012/34/EU

Legislation

Directive 2012/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 establishing a single European railway area

Directive 2001/14/EC 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

Directive 2001/12/EC of 26 February 2001 amending Council Directive 91/440/EEC on the development of the Community's railways

Council Directive 91/440/EEC of 29 July 1991 on the development of the Community's railways

Reports from Task Forces 'Track Access Charges' and 'Insurance and Licensing'

The European Commission's Directorate General Energy & Transport and the Advisory and Regulatory Committee set up under Article 35 of Directive 2001/14 (also know as 'Developing European Railways Committee - DERC) set up a Task Force on track access charging and another one on licensing of railway undertakings and insurance. This Committee, DERC, accepted the final reports of both task forces at its meeting on 6 July 2005. The coordinates of the task force members are attached, and thus professionals interested have the opportunity to contact their national delegate to get more information.

The report of the task force on track access charging contains a set of recommendations on the development of railway markets, in particular international rail freight.

The report of the task force on licensing and insurance provides information on the links between licensing and insurance as well as an analysis of problems involved with insuring railway undertakings against third party liability.

After the last meeting of the task force, a stakeholders workshop was organised on 8 June 2005: Main conclusions of the stakeholders workshop.

European Network of Rail Regulatory Bodies (ENRRB)

ENRRB was created to facilitate the active cooperation of national rail regulatory bodies and information exchange between these bodies.