Community's railways: safety, licensing, levying of charges, certification. 2nd package

The European Parliament adopted a resolution drafted by Dirk STERCKX (ELDR, B) and made several amendments to the Commission's proposal. (Please refer to the document dated 27/11/02.) In addition to the points in that summary, Parliament made the following amendments: - the opinion of infrastructure managers and network owners and owners should be sought with respect to all factors relating to certification (certification of rolling stock and, in particular, the authorisation to place in operation.) All the corresponding information should be made available to infrastructure managers; - the current situation, in which national safety rules continue to apply, should be regarded as a transitional stage, leading ultimately to a situation where only European rules will apply; - additional definitions of "accident" and "safety"; - the CST and the CSM will be based on an examination of existing targets and methods in the Member States and will take account of the estimated costs and benefits. The possible impact on TSI for the subsystems will be analysed, and the CST and the CSM will contain the necessary proposals for amendments to the TSI; - a reasonable and appropriate period for examining certification applications will be set by the safety authority on the basis of Agency proposals. The Agency will ensure that the safety authority does not make use of examination periods as a delaying mechanism; - Member States must ensure that the initial and continuing training obligations for train drivers and train staff performing vital safety tasks will not lead to distortions in competition; - Member States must ensure that train drivers, staff accompanying trains and staff performing vital safety tasks have an adequate command of the codes and language necessary for operational communications on the routes operated and in connection with the procedures used; - there are several additional subclauses clarifying access to training facilities.�