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

On 21 November 2012, the European Parliament and the Council adopted Directive 2012/34/EU establishing a single European railway area (recast). Directive 2012/34/EU has taken over from Directive 2001/14/EC the obligation for Member States to establish regulatory bodies responsible for monitoring the competitive situation in the rail services market, with a view to preventing discrimination against applicants and ensuring the proper functioning of the single European railway area.

Directive 2012/34/EU has created a European network of rail regulatory bodies that convenes at regular intervals. The network provides a platform for regulatory bodies to exchange information about their work, decision-making principles and practices, the main issues of procedures and problems of interpreting transposed Union railway law. The network’s activities should also serve as a basis for adoption of a number of implementing acts under this Directive.

The network provides a formalized structure for cooperation on a wide range of activities, and replaces the working group of regulatory bodies that had previously been set up to ensure cooperation between regulators. Under Article 57(1) of Directive 2012/34/EU, the Commission is a member of the network, and coordinates and supports its work.

According to Article 63(2) of Directive 2012/34/EU, in the light of the experience acquired through the network of regulatory bodies, the Commission is required to submit to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of Regions a report on cooperation between regulatory bodies. According to the same provision, the Commission should, if appropriate, propose complementary measures to ensure a more integrated regulatory oversight of the European rail market, in particular for international services. To this end, legislative measures should also be considered, if appropriate. The Commission hereby submits its report to the Institutions and bodies mentioned in order to fulfil this obligation.

The present report shows that there has been regular cooperation between regulatory bodies since the entry into force of the recast, mainly as regards exchanging information on decision-making practices and market monitoring. However, cooperation on concrete cases has remained limited with only a small number of cases concerning international services and requiring consultation and exchange of information between regulators having been brought to the attention of regulatory bodies so far. The report assesses these developments and identifies areas in which cooperation between regulators should be improved.

EUR-Lex: COM(2015)140: Follow the progress of this report through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2015:140:FIN

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