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IRG-Rail (15) 1 IRG-Rail (15) 1 Independent Regulators’ Group – Rail IRG-Rail Annual Report 2014 February 2015 IRG-Rail (15) 1 Foreword of the Chair ................................................................................................. 3 A. Introduction .......................................................................................................... 5 I. Goals of IRG-Rail ............................................................................................. 5 II. Work Programme and Working Groups ........................................................ 5 B. Overview of the Activities according to the Work Programme 2014 .................... 9 1. Activities of the Access Working Group ..................................................... 9 2. Activities of the Charges Working Group ................................................. 12 3. Activities of the Legislative Developments Working Group ...................... 14 4. Activities of the Market Monitoring Group ................................................ 15 C. Organisational Issues ........................................................................................ 17 I. Representation and Communication .............................................................. 17 II. Information about Elections and Plenary Meetings ..................................... 18 1. Elections .................................................................................................. 18 2. Plenary Meetings ..................................................................................... 18 Annex I – Published Documents .............................................................................. 20 Annex II – Members of IRG-Rail .............................................................................. 21 2 IRG-Rail (15) 1 Foreword of the Chair The annual report for 2014 covers the activities performed by the Independent Regulators’ Group-Rail (IRG-Rail). Since the creation of the group in 2011, a lot has been achieved. Rail freight and passenger transport have an important role to play in the European economy and need to be integrated into a global transport concept in Europe. The European economy must develop a multimodal transport strategy. The continuous legislative developments proposed by the European Commission will promote the creation of a true single market for rail services. On the legislative side, the year 2014 was marked by fewer new proposals from the European Commission since it was the year when the European citizens elected a new Parliament. A new team under the presidency of Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker took over the executive task of running European policy. We are looking forward to working together with the new Transport Commissioner Mrs. Violeta Bulc. IRG-Rail’s main aim is to actively contribute to the creation of a single, competitive, efficient and sustainable internal rail market in Europe. As a unique platform for exchange of information, experience and best practice between national European railway regulators, IRG-Rail focuses on cooperation with a view to existing and upcoming regulatory challenges in European railways, and endorses a consistent application of the European regulatory framework. The organisational structure of IRG-Rail is based on four different working groups. Each group focuses on the main regulatory topics concerning access, charges, market monitoring and legislative developments. Two sub-groups have been established to work on the charging and access regimes for service facilities. 3 IRG-Rail (15) 1 Over the years, the organisation has evolved and I have adopted the same approach as my predecessors (Mr. Matthias Kurth, Mrs. Iris Henseler-Unger and Mrs. Anna Walker). As Chair, I was pleased to welcome the Italian Transport Regulation Authority ART as a new member of our group in March 2014. IRG-Rail has become a voice highly respected by the European Commission, the European Parliament and rail stakeholders in Europe. It is an organisation which tackles key issues without wasting its scarce resources. It remains highly efficient, and is capable of rapidly producing position papers that are targeted, relevant and current. The representatives of the various regulators in the working groups have all done work distinguished by its high quality, and this is why I would like to thank them all for their effort and invaluable contributions. Our organisation is about a common effort, realised by people with different backgrounds and cultures, who manage to get along, work together and agree on a common goal in favour of an efficient railway market. I would also like to thank my successor, Mr. Henk Don of the Dutch Regulatory Body ACM, and his team, for their support as vice-president, as well as everyone who provided their expertise to the group since its creation. I express my best wishes to my successor for his presidency and I hope that at the end of the year, he will be as satisfied as I am today when considering what has been achieved so far since 2011. Jacques Prost - Chair, Institut Luxembourgeois de Régulation 4 IRG-Rail (15) 1 A. Introduction I. Goals of IRG-Rail 1. IRG-Rail is the Independent Rail Regulators’ Group, an association representing the independent rail regulatory bodies of 25 European countries. It was created on June 9, 2011 by 15 European countries1, with the aim of enhancing and promoting cooperation between national independent rail regulatory bodies. Since its foundation, the independent rail regulatory bodies from Finland, Greece, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Poland, Bulgaria, Belgium, Kosovo and Italy also have become members. 2. The group’s objectives are to: enable effective and sustainable competition in the provision of passenger and freight rail transport; proactively contribute to the development and application of the European regulatory framework for railways; express the common position of Europe’s rail regulatory bodies regarding the most important emerging issues in the European rail market. 3. On the basis of an open and transparent dialogue with all relevant parties, notably with the European Commission, the European Parliament and the main rail stakeholders, IRG-Rail, composed of regulatory professionals from all around Europe, strives to contribute its views, experience and efforts to the sustainable development of a single competitive European rail market. II. Work Programme and Working Groups 4. As in previous years, in 2014 IRG-Rail continued to focus on the two key areas (highlighted in the Work Programme 20142), namely the harmonisation and improvement 1 Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, France, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. 2 The Work Programme 2014 has been approved by the IRG-Rail Plenary as of October 2013. 5 IRG-Rail (15) 1 of the cooperation between regulatory bodies, as well as dealing with new challenges resulting from changes in the institutional environment. 5. During the on-going liberalisation process of the European railway market, IRG-Rail has sought to contribute to the shaping of tomorrow’s railway market. In order to promote fair, sustainable and transparent competition on the market, IRG-Rail proactively shares its regulatory knowledge and experience with the main stakeholders of the European rail market, thus seeking to influence the upcoming challenges and initiatives at European level. 6. In order to foster a common regulatory voice, IRG-Rail strives to deepen the cooperation among regulatory bodies and improve the harmonisation of regulatory practice in its member countries. The group also seeks to anticipate and address challenges emerging from the evolution of the institutional environment in Europe. 7. The working groups listed below aim to tackle their respective topics by publishing IRG- Rail’s view in documents such as position papers or discussion papers, reports or guidelines. Working Group Scope Covering access issues in particular with regard Access Working Group to freight corridors and access to service facilities Dealing with charging matters in relation with Charges Working Group railway infrastructure and rail-related services Dealing with issues stemming from new Legislative Developments Working legislative instruments or initiatives proposed by Group the European Commission Market Monitoring Working Group Working on general market monitoring topics Responsible for general coordination, Advisory Steering Committee3 monitoring and strategic orientation 3 The Advisory Steering Committee consists of representatives of regulatory bodies of the current, previous and next chair of IRG-Rail. Members of other regulatory bodies are also invited to participate. 6 IRG-Rail (15) 1 8. In 2014, the Access Working Group focused on the development of European freight corridors, in relation to Directive n° 913/2010. It published a position paper on the monitoring task of the regulatory bodies with regards to the activities of the Corridor One- Stop-Shop. Furthermore, it issued a position paper on framework agreements, containing comments on a discussion paper from the European Commission. During the year, a Sub-Working Group Access, working on issues relating to service facilities, was established. It produced an initial position paper covering transparency and non- discriminatory access to service facilities. A further paper, currently under preparation, is dealing with the forthcoming implementing act on service facilities. 9.
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