Publications Archive

In order to increase competition in the rail transport sector the European Commission proposes to open the market for domestic passenger transport services by rail and provide for a more strict separation between infrastructure managers and railway undertakings. For this, infrastructure managers and railway undertakings must be fundamentally legally distinct. Infrastructure managers that are part of a vertically integrated undertaking (VIU), when the proposed amendment comes into force, may, under strict conditions, be exempt from this requirement of institutional separation.

The Commission formulates recommendations to the Member States and outlines some of its own measures intended to promote entrepreneurship in the EU.

The four Presidents of the European Council, the Commission, the Eurogroup and the European Central Bank (ECB) have proposed measures to improve the stability of the Euro Zone.

The Regulation is to ensure complete traceability of transfers of funds in order to facilitate the "prevention, detection and investigation" of money laundering and terrorist financing. The Commission wants the Regulation to implement the recommendations of the Financial Action Transaction Force (FATF) of 2012. The FATF is an international body which develops measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

The European Commission wants to promote the penetration of the market by vehicles using alternative fuels by extending the network of both refuelling points for alternative fuels and electricity recharging points. For this purpose, the refuelling and electricity recharging infrastructure is to be standardised EU-wide and every Member States will be required to have a specific minimum number of electricity recharging points for electric vehicles by 2020.

The European Commission wants to reduce the amount of plastic waste and the resulting burden on the environment. It is considering promoting the recycling of plastic waste in preference to energy recovery and use of landfill. In addition, it is considering a general ban on using landfill for plastic waste. By way of requirements placed on product design, manufacturers are to be obliged to increase the reparability and re-usability of plastic products.

Public service contracts for passenger transport must, in principle, be awarded on the basis of  competitive tendering. Passenger transport by rail is currently excluded from this, so that Contracts can be awarded directly to a specific rail operator. This exemption is to be lifted in order to increase competitive pressure and improve the quality of services on the rail transport market.

The Commission wants to stimulate cross-border e-commerce and, for this purpose, is considering regulating the parcel delivery market.

Railway undertakings need a safety certification to be allowed to use railway infrastructure. Railway vehicles need to obtain an authorisation. The present processes for obtaining safety certifications and authorisation for railway vehicles are long and costly. The Commission intends to reduce the duration and cost of the certification and authorisation processes by less and more coherent national rules, by introducing an EU-wide uniform certification and by giving more powers to the European Railway Agency (ERA).

In 2011, the Commission proposed a Directive for an FTT for the whole of the EU but the required unanimous agreement of the Council could not be achieved. The Commission is now proposing to introduce the FTT by way of enhanced cooperation between eleven Member States. The FTT is intended to generate more tax revenue and increase stability in the financial markets.