Proposal for a Council Decision establishing the position to be adopted at the 25th session of the OTIF Revision Committee as regards certain amendments to the Convention concerning International Carriage by Rail (COTIF) and to its Appendices

The proposed Council Decision has the objective to establish the position of the European Union at the OTIF Revision Committee due to take place from 25 to 27 June 2014 as regards certain amendments to the Convention concerning International Carriage by Rail (COTIF) as well as to its Appendices B (Contract of International Carriage of Goods by Rail), D (Contracts of Use of Vehicles in International Rail Traffic), E (Contract of Use of Infrastructure in International Rail Traffic), F (Validation of Technical Standards and the Adoption of Uniform Technical Prescriptions applicable to Railway Material intended to be used in International Traffic) and G (Technical Admission of Railway Material used in International Traffic).

The proposal for a Council Decision provides for in its Annex a detailed list of the envisaged amendments, specifying which amendments can be accepted by the Union as presented and which amendments should be rejected at this session of the Revision Committee as they require further consideration and/or further measures to bring them in line with EU law.

A large number of the envisaged amendments are considered to be appropriate for safe and reliable international rail transport, taking into account technological progress, and can therefore be supported while some amendments (in particular the ones regarding financing of OTIF or contracts of carriage of goods) have no impact on EU law. Where the amendments adopted by the Revision Committee are not in accordance with the Union's position, the Union should formulate an objection in order to avoid such amendment to enter into force.

• Primary Source

EUR-Lex: COM(2014)338: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2014:338:FIN

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