EU Asks Romania To Implement Directive On Railway Safety

05.19.2011 By Bostan Radu

The European Commission (EC) has sent a reasoned opinion to nine member states, including Romania, formally asking them to fully implement the railway safety directive.

The opinion was sent to Austria, Germany, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Sweden and the UK - states which, in the Commission's opinion, have failed to align their national legislation with the directive, although they were required to do so by December 24, 2010.

According to a press release, the Commission has given the states two months to remedy the issue, before it refers the cases to the Court of Justice. EU's executive arm considers failure to fully implement Directive 2008/110/EC affects the level of safety, posing a risk to railway users.

"Directive 2008/110/EC improves the level of safety of the European rail transport system. It provides a legal basis for a common framework for the maintenance of rolling stock: before a rail vehicle is allowed to be put into service, the body responsible for its maintenance (known as the 'entity in charge of maintenance' or ECM) must be identified. For freight wagons, the ECM must be certified according to a system developed by the European Railway Agency and adopted by the Commission on 10 May 2011," says the Commission in the press release.

The directive also says the certificate provided to the ECM is valid throughout the European Union. "This provision recognizes equivalence between the ECMs and intends to increase both the level of safety and the interoperability of railways throughout the EU," says the Commission.