IPA PROJE T NARRATIVE REPORT 2013 EUROPEAN RAILWAY AGENY Annual... · IPA Narrative Report 2013...

IPA Narrative Report 2013

September 2014-V 1.0

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IPA PROJECT NARRATIVE REPORT 2013 EUROPEAN RAILWAY AGENCY

Reference: ERA-REP-118 Version: 1.0 Date: 15/09/2014 Distribution: European Commission Sector: Safety Unit File name: ERA IPA Project Annual Report 2013

IPA Narrative Report 2013 September 2014-V 1.0

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Contents

1. SUMMARY .................................................................................................. 5

Specific objectives for IPA 2013 ............................................................................................ 5 Cooperation with the IPA beneficiaries .................................................................................. 6 Accession of Croatia to the EU .............................................................................................. 6 Human resources ................................................................................................................... 7 Activities ................................................................................................................................. 7

2. TERMINOLOGY AND ABBREVIATIONS ................................................... 8

3. DETAILED ACTIVITIES .............................................................................. 9

EU pre-accession law preparation dedicated study visit in Croatia ............................. 9 Objectives .............................................................................................................................. 9 Summary of the visit............................................................................................................... 9 Conclusions - How the objectives were met .......................................................................... 9

Participation in two (2) National Safety Authorities plenary meetings of the EU Member States ...................................................................................................... 9 Objectives ............................................................................................................................ 10 Summary of the NSA meetings ............................................................................................ 10 Conclusions - How the objectives were met ........................................................................ 10

Participation in two (2) National Investigation Bodies meetings of the EU Member States .................................................................................................................. 11 Objectives ............................................................................................................................ 11 Summary of the visits ........................................................................................................... 11 Conclusions - How the objectives were met ........................................................................ 11

Dedicated visit with focus on Entities in Charge of Maintenance and Safety Management System in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia ................. 12 Objective .............................................................................................................................. 12 Summary of the visit............................................................................................................. 12 Conclusions - How the objectives were met ........................................................................ 12

Safety and Interoperability Seminar in Turkey for all IPA countries ........................... 12 Objectives ............................................................................................................................ 13 Summary of the visit............................................................................................................. 13 Conclusions - How the objectives were met ........................................................................ 13

Accident investigation training for Kosovo (UNSCR 1244/99) and Albania ............... 13 Objectives ............................................................................................................................ 13 Summary of the visit............................................................................................................. 14 Conclusions - How the objectives were met ........................................................................ 14

IPA Concluding seminar ........................................................................................... 14 Belgrade, Serbia - 27 November 2013 ................................................................................ 14 Objectives ............................................................................................................................ 14 Summary of the visit............................................................................................................. 15 Conclusions - How the objectives were met ........................................................................ 15

Participation of the beneficiaries in the IPA activities of ERA .................................... 15

4. HUMAN RESOURCES .............................................................................. 16

Trainees at the premises of ERA .............................................................................. 16 Trainee from Serbia ............................................................................................................. 16


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Trainee from Croatia ............................................................................................................ 17 Trainee from Kosovo (UNSCR 1244/99) ............................................................................. 17 Trainee from Montenegro .................................................................................................... 17 Trainee from Serbia ............................................................................................................. 18

IPA Project Officer .................................................................................................... 18

5. DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED .............................................................. 19

Indicative Measures to overcome problems .............................................................. 19

6. ACTIVITIES OF THE EUROPEAN RAILWAY AGENCY WITH THE EU CANDIDATE COUNTRIES IN 2015 AND IN THE FUTURE ..................... 21

The IPA Projects 2009-2011 and 2012-2013 ............................................................ 21

Indicative success stories of the ERA IPA Project 2012-2013 .................................. 21

Need for a project in 2015 and in the future .............................................................. 22

Proposal for 2015 ..................................................................................................... 22

List of Tables Table 1: Table of Terms ............................................................................................................................... 8 Table 2: Table of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................... 8


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1. SUMMARY

The European Railway Agency (ERA) draws up the present narrative report pursuant to articles Art. 2 of Annex II of the European Union Contribution Agreement with an International Organisation No 2011/274 – 042 between the European Commission and ERA, aiming at providing up to date information about the implementation of the ERA IPA Agreement.

The IPA Project of ERA 2013 focused on the action “Prolongation of the Preparatory measures for the participation of the Candidate and Potential Candidate Western Balkan countries (including Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia as well as Kosovo-UNSCR 1244/199) and Turkey in the activities of the European Railway Agency (ERA).

This annual narrative report contains information about the IPA Project activities in 2013 describing all the activities organized and conducted in 2013 to assist the IPA beneficiary countries to implement the EU railway policy.

The financial part which includes all the expenses that occurred and covered by the Project’s budget according to the addendum to the Agreement between the European Commission and ERA is submitted to EC as a separate report.

Context of ERA IPA Project 2013

The Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) was designed so as to detect and satisfy the needs of its beneficiary countries within the context of EU pre-accession policy.

The beneficiary countries of the ERA IPA 2013 were1 the following:

a) Croatia as the EU acceding country,

b) the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey as candidate countries and

c) Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo (under the UNSC Resolution 1204/1999) as potential EU candidates.

Specific objectives for IPA 2013

The principal objective of the project was to strengthen the compliance of the beneficiary countries’ legislations with the EU acquis communautaire in the fields of railway safety and interoperability.

More precisely, already since 2010 the ERA has been actively working in line with the major objectives of the project which are:

For the acceding country, to prepare the full implementation of the EU legislation until the accession (foreseen to be the 1st July 2013).

1 http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/countries/index_en.htm


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For the candidate countries, to prepare the full implementation of the EU railway legislation

For the potential candidate countries, to progressively align their legislation and practice with the EU railway law.

Moreover, key goals of the project were in 2013 to:

assist Croatia’s preparation of new national regulatory frameworks that enable them to comply with the EU railway legislation in safety and interoperability

provide support to the candidate and potential candidate countries so that they can participate effectively in some future activities of ERA’s Networks of National Safety Authorities (NSAs) and National Investigation Bodies (NIBs) as trainees or following their accession to the EU as observers and finally as Member States,

enhance the flow of communication and information between the national railway administrations of the beneficiary countries and the EU Member States NSAs, NIBs,

disseminate best practices in the areas of railway safety and interoperability taking into account the experience of the EU Member States

run training programs on the activities of the ERA for officers already engaged in the national railway administrations of the beneficiary countries

Cooperation with the IPA beneficiaries

2012 has been a productive year for the implementation of the IPA project. ERA implemented the IPA project 2012 focusing on the specific needs of each of the beneficiary countries and according to their railway systems’ characteristics, taking into consideration the political situation of the sensitive areas of Western Balkans and Turkey, which create a challenging project environment.

From their side, the IPA countries enhanced their step by step cooperation, and it is expected that they will gradually deepen their involvement to the ERA activities and adopt progressively the European Union’s railway strategy.

However, the different levels of progress among the beneficiaries of the IPA project are evident also in 2012.

Accession of Croatia to the EU

The milestone for 2013 was the preparation of Croatia for its accession in the EU and the adoption of the EU railway legislation before 1st July 2013.

In 2013 ERA adapted its preparatory measures for the accession of Croatia to the EU. In line with the overall purpose and principles applying to observer status, Croatia had already been invited in 2012 as an observer to the meetings of the Agency’s Management Boards.


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In 2013 ERA prepared itself internally and externally the Croatian officials to fully participate and catch up with the activities of the European Railway Agency and the EU Member States.

Moreover, in 2013 ERA worked more with Serbia as a candidate country. The Agency managed in 2013 to disseminate the EU railway legislation, bearing in mind that Serbia needed to speed up the transposition of the EU legislation.

Overall, the IPA project 2013 was a key project for the integration of these 2 countries in the implementation of the European railway legislative framework.

Human resources

In 2013, the European Railway Agency dedicated for a second year a Project Officer in charge of the IPA Project to achieve the optimum implementation of the IPA Project 2013.

Moreover, it trained at its premises 5 trainees, 2 from Serbia, 1 from Croatia, 1 from Montenegro, 1 from Kosovo (UNSCR 1244/99).

Activities

In line with its mandate, the ERA organised and accomplished in 2013 the following activities for the IPA countries:

1. Pre-accession law preparation dedicated study visit in Croatia

2. Participation in two (2) National Safety Authorities meetings of the EU Member States

3. Participation in two (2) National Investigation Bodies meetings of the EU Member States

4. Dedicated visit with focus on Entities in Charge of Maintenance and Safety Management System in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

5. Safety and Interoperability Seminar in Turkey for all IPA countries

6. Accident investigation training for Kosovo (UNSCR 1244/99) and Albania in Pristina

7. IPA Concluding seminar

Through the aforementioned activities the ERA managed to maintain in 2013 its solid communication and contact network with the beneficiary countries’ railway stakeholders.

Result

Overall, the IPA Project 2013 has offered the opportunity to officials from the EU candidate and potential candidate countries to work together with the Member States, to co-operate with ERA, to exchange views and to be active members of the several working teams. The project was dedicated to the dissemination of the complex legal and technical issued connected to the EU railway legislation, especially in Croatia. The IPA project 2013 also targeted to those countries which currently are in the process of amending their national railway legislations (such as Montenegro, Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina) and are on their way of building their institutions following the model of the EU railway acquis communautaire.


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2. Terminology and Abbreviations Specific Terms and Abbreviations

Table 1: Table of Terms

Term Definition

Agency The European Railway Agency (ERA) such as established by the regulation 881/2004.

The IPA beneficiaries Croatia, the Former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo (UNSCR 1244/1999)

The EU candidate countries

The Former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey

The EU potential candidates

Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo (UNSCR 1244/1999)

The acceding country

Croatia

Table 2: Table of Abbreviations

Abbreviation Meaning

BiH Bosnia and Herzegovina

EC European Commission

ERA European Railway Agency

The FYROM The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

IPA Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance

NIB National Investigation Body

NSA National Safety Authority

TSIs Technical Specifications for Interoperability

UNSCR The United Nations’ Security Council Resolution 1244/1999 for Kosovo


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3. Detailed activities

ERA conducted in 2013 the following activities

EU pre-accession law preparation dedicated study visit in Croatia

Zagreb, Croatia – 28 February and 1 March 2013

Objectives

The EU pre-accession law preparation dedicated study visit in Croatia was the first visit of ERA for 2013.

The objective was to help Croatia prepare its new law on safety and interoperability, before its accession to the EU.

Summary of the visit

To achieve the objective, ERA’s visit was targeted to:

a) answer practical questions on how to draft the legal text

b) assist in drafting articles related to safety issues

c) assist in drafting articles related to interoperability issues

d) assist in drafting articles related to train driver qualification issues

Conclusions - How the objectives were met

The Agency estimates that the officials of Croatian Ministry of Transport and NSA were satisfied for the assistance, based also on the evaluation forms of the meeting.

Finally Croatia prepared following ERA’s guidance a complete legal text which is officially adopted before its accession to the EU.

Participation in two (2) National Safety Authorities plenary meetings of the EU Member States

a) 30th plenary meeting of the Network of National Safety Authorities Lille, France – 20 and 21 February 2013

and

b) 31st plenary meeting of the Network of National Safety Authorities Valenciennes, France – 22 and 23 May 2013


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Objectives

Purpose of the participation of the IPA countries in the 2 plenary meetings of the EU Member Sates’ NSAs was to integrate the IPA countries in the activities of the EU Member States. In other words, to integrate them into “real life” agenda of the EU Member States.

Their participation allowed them to follow the EU Member States’ priorities and activities in the fields of railway safety and interoperability.

Summary of the NSA meetings

During the two meetings the IPA participants had the chance to follow the activities of the EU Member states in these areas:

The available registers

National safety rules

Discussion on a French decree on railway safety

Certification of Entities in Charge of Maintenance

The experience of the NSAs of EU Member States on certification of Entities in Charge of Maintenance

Common Safety Method on risk assessment

Train drivers directive

Interoperability

Cross acceptance in Luxembourg

Human factors in the Safety Management Systems

Revised PRM TSI – interoperability

Risk acceptance criteria for technical systems

Latvian national rules

Common Safety Targets


The IPA participants had the opportunity to meet the representatives of the EU Member States. This was useful for them, since ERA’s IPA Project allowed them to participate in the real


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life of the EU MS railway administrations. Another asset was the networking of IPA participants and the establishment of contacts with the responsible in the EU Member States.

Moreover, the agenda of the two meetings included issues which are very relevant to the day-to-day operations of both the railway administrations of the IPA States and the railway undertakings and infrastructure managers that operate in the territories of the IPA countries.

Participation in two (2) National Investigation Bodies meetings of the EU Member States

a) 23rd plenary meeting of the Network of National Investigation Bodies Lille, France – 13 March 2013 and b) 24th plenary meeting of the Network of National Investigation Bodies Lille, France – 19 June 2013

Objectives

These two meetings were the first and last two opportunities of the IPA countries to actively participate in the works of the EU Member States NIBs.

The participation of the IPA countries served the purpose of actively getting involved in 2 fora where the EU Member States discussed challenges in the area of railway accident investigation. After these meetings the participants could make use of their network of the NIB EU states.

Summary of the visits

During the two meetings the IPA participants had the chance to follow the activities of the EU Member states in these areas:

Comment of the NIBs on the 4th EU railway package

Investigation procedure of art 23 RSD

NIB independence

Issues related to trainings, assessment and working groups


The participation of the IPA countries was useful for the creation of a network with the NIBs of the EU Member States and involvement in actual accident investigation challenges. The two meetings were very well appreciated by the representatives of IPA countries regarding the aforementioned targets.


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Dedicated visit with focus on Entities in Charge of Maintenance and Safety Management System in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Skopje, the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia – 6 March 2013

Objective

Purpose of the dedicated visit was to exchange views on the implementation of the EU railway policy, focusing on the ECMs and SMS and to exchange views on country’s needs in the fields of railways on its way to its accession to the EU.


This was the first visit of ERA in Skopje within the scheme of IPA Project 2012 – 2013. The visit was the evolution of the establishment of communication and cooperation with the Ministry and the NSA of the country in 2012.

The issues discussed were the following:

The challenges of the NSA and Ministry in the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia

Safety Management System

Common Safety Methods for monitoring and supervision

The roles of the NSA

Entities in Charge of Maintenance


The first visit of ERA in Skopje was appreciated by the officials of the country as an indicator of cooperation.

Officials from the administration of the country had the chance to contact ERA’s experts and receive answers on the questions of Safety Management System and Entities in Charge of Maintenance. The visit was successful both in terms of relations with the country and in terms of technical assistance to the officials.

Safety and Interoperability Seminar in Turkey for all IPA countries

Ankara, Turkey – 2 and 3 July 2013


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Objectives

This seminar was organised to bring together all IPA countries in the territory of Turkey.

It was the first IPA meeting to be organised by ERA in Turkey, and thus important for the cooperation of Turkish railways with ERA.

The purpose was to enhance the network of the IPA countries railways experts and officials, before the end of IPA 2013 and the break of 2014. Equally important was to clarify latest developments in the area of safety and interoperability.


The issues discussed were the following:

Exchange of views on the railway system of Turkey

Exchange of views on the railway system of Croatia as an EU Member State

Exchange of views on the railway system of Serbia

The role of ERA

Details of functioning of Safety Management System

Technical Specifications of Interoperability

Maintenance of railway subsystems


Turkey was very pleased to have hosted the first seminar in its territory, bringing together the experts of the country and the West Balkans.

ERA managed to enhance the network of the IPA countries.

The exchange of views helped the participants have a solid picture of the EU railway legislation.

Accident investigation training for Kosovo (UNSCR 1244/99) and Albania

Pristina, Kosovo (UNSCR 1244/99) – 9 and 10 July 2013

Objectives

The objectives of the training were to:

monitor the fundaments of the accident investigation procedures practiced by the

Accident and Incident Investigations Commission

develop a common methodological approach on investigation of railway accidents


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focus on the specific institutional and practical needs of the Accident and Incident

Investigations Commission

exchange views on issues related to the investigation of railway accidents on the basis

of the requirements of the EU legislation

propose the key reforms needed in the procedures of accident investigation

establish a solid cooperation network between the European Railway Agency and the

experts of Kosovo (UNSCR 1244/99) and Albania


This was the first IPA event of ERA in Pristina. It was also a good opportunity to gather together for the first time experts from Albania and Kosovo (UNSCR 1244/99).

The

obligations of an investigator

skills of an investigator

investigation process

Safety occurrence notification

Necessary equipment

ERAIl database

Handling information and evidence


The National Investigation Body of Kosovo, as well as the accident investigation experts from Albania received this training, which was very useful for the promotion of the relevant legislation in their countries.

IPA Concluding seminar

Belgrade, Serbia - 27 November 2013

Objectives

Objectives of the concluding seminar was to:

- sum up the findings of the IPA Project 2012 – 2013

- discuss the future in terms of IPA strategy papers


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- bring together all IPA countries before the pause of 2014

- express the availability of ERA for the future


ERA presented the results of the IPA Project 2012 -2013. A discussion on the future of IPA Project and on the strategy of each country took place.

ERA distributed the participants all available material related to the EU railway legislation and the activities of IPA Project 2012 -2013.


The concluding seminar achieved to summarise what was presented to the IPA countries in 2012 -2013.

It was also useful for the preparation of the future IPA activities. In relation to this, the IPA countries expressed their interest in the continuation of IPA after 2013.

Participation of the beneficiaries in the IPA activities of ERA

In 2013, all the IPA countries managed to participate in all the activities organised for them, as following:

February June May March July March

November

IPA 2013

Safety and Interoperability

Seminar in Turkey

IPA

Concluding

Seminar

ECM-SMS study

visit in

FYR

Macedonia

*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

Accident

Investigatio

n training in

Kosovo*

Pre-accession

law preparation

study visit

in Croatia

NIB

meeting

July

NSA

meeting

NIB

meeting

NSA

meeting

February


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4. Human resources

Trainees at the premises of ERA

The IPA in-service training programme of the European Railway Agency (ERA) gave trainees an understanding of the Agency and its role within the activities of the European Union and enabled them to acquire practical knowledge in one of ERA fields of activity and to obtain professional experience in the course of their work.

The IPA traineeship scheme of the European Railway Agency (ERA) and its aims are:

To provide trainees an understanding of the objectives and activities of ERA.

To enable trainees to acquire practical experience and knowledge of the day-to-day

work of ERA in the different fields of activity of the Agency.

To promote European integration within the spirit of new governance and through

active participation to create awareness of true European citizenship.

To enable trainees to put into practice knowledge acquired during their professional

career.

In 2013 ERA hosted the following 5 trainees:

Trainee from Serbia

ERA trained at its premises an employee from the Directorate for Railways of Serbia. The trainee was trained at the premises of ERA for 3 months.

Today the former ERA trainee is working for the Directorate for Railways of Serbia and functions as a link connecting the Agency and the Serbian administration for the benefit of the implementation of the EU railway policy in the country.

Indicative accomplishments:

Risk Assessment and Monitoring. The trainee acquired an understanding of the regulatory framework and practical implementation of the risk assessment, in order to be able to apply it in Serbia In addition he assisted the risk assessment project Officers in the day-to-day organisation and substantial tasks, such as dissemination

Safety Management System. The trainee contributed to the dissemination activities of the Agency and assisted the project officers in their day-to-day tasks (content of the WEB-SMS)

Involvement in the preparation of the IPA Project activities and communication with the authorities of Serbia

The trainee participated actively in the meetings of the Management System Sector of Safety Unit.


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Trainee from Croatia

The next trainee was a person from Croatia, currently working for the Croatian NSA


The trainee was fully integrated in the activities of the interoperability unit and was in charge of the following:

Practical contribution in creation of Application Guide for the European Register of

Authorised Types of Railway Vehicles (ERATV)

Practical contribution in Sector’s/Unit’s projects of vehicle-registers (ECVVR, ERATV)

Participation in IPA traineeship program schedule

Participation and contribution in weekly Coordination Sector meetings

Participation in Interoperability Unit’s daily tasks

Trainee from Kosovo (UNSCR 1244/99)

Under the IPA Project 2013, ERA trained at its premises the first trainee from Kosovo (UNSCR 1244/99) working for the Railway Regulatory Board of his country.


Comparison of Kosovo Law on railway No 04/L-063 with the fourth Rail Package, and Railway Safety Directive 2004/49/EC

Analysis of material “How to develop a Safety Management System”, comparing with the Trainkos and Infrakos

Participation in NSA network 31st plenary meeting in Valenciennes

Participation in meeting about National Safety Rules(NSR),

Analyzing Rail Accident Report Accident involving a pantograph and the overhead line near Little port, Cambridge shire 5 January 2012,

Analyzing Commission Regulation(EU) No 1077/2012, on a common safety method for supervision by national safety authorities after issuing a safety certificate or safety authorization,

Participation in 11th Task Force meeting, Accident Investigator Training on 18.06.2013,

Preparing a report from 24th Meeting of the Network NIB

Participation in training course “Principles on Accident Investigation”, Prishtina on (09-10).7.2013

Trainee from Montenegro

ERA trained at its premises for 3 months its first trainee from Montenegro. The trainee is working in the Ministry of Transport of her country.



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Tasks related to the Safety Management System

Tasks related to Entities in Charge of Maintenance

Presentation of the railway system in Montenegro

Active participation in several workshops of ERA

Trainee from Serbia

The last trainee of IPA Project 2013 was a trainee from Serbia. She stayed at the premises of ERA for 5 months.


Draft of an EU pilot letter to be addressed to the Member States

Legal analysis of the transposition of EU Aquis in the national legislation of Montenegro.

Pre-evaluation of the National Safety Rules notified to the Commission

Involvement in the preparation of the IPA Project activities

IPA Project Officer

The IPA Project officer took over the planning and execution of the whole project in 2013, as foreseen in the IPA contract between ERA and the Commission.


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5. Difficulties encountered

The major challenges for the ERA during the implementation of the IPA project 2013 were the same with last year, 2012, related to four factors: a) the historical, b) the political, c) the economic and d) the linguistic factor.

a) In historical terms, the railway operators are dominant in their states, taking

advantage of their monopolistic position that they inherited. This affects drastically the

implementation of the European railway policy in the beneficiary countries, since the already

powerful railway undertakings or infrastructure manager tend to try to impose their policies

and tend to reject institutional and practical reforms.

Thus, since these states are not obliged to implement the European law, it is a challenging task for the ERA to promote the EU policy based solely at a cooperation level lacking legal instruments.

b) Political complications are obstructing the cooperation and the movement of officials

within the countries where ERA organised the IPA activities. The officials are subject to state

policies and sometimes are called to behave according to their state guidelines, putting aside

the cooperation on their professional field.

Moreover, in some very few cases, the interest of the officials of the beneficiaries was not as high as expected. The ERA was called to prepare meetings and activities, while the officials were not willing to co-operate constructively.

c) The economic obstacles are undermining the dissemination of the European railway

policy in the beneficiary states. Due to budgetary restrictions and lack of resources, most

National Safety Authorities or Regulatory Bodies are understaffed in their countries. This

means that they do not have the power and objective ability to function as a balance to the

power of the other railway stakeholders.

d) A significant number of people who work in the railway administrations of the EU

candidate and potential candidate countries do not speak English. This barrier is sometimes

obstructing for the dissemination activities of the Agency.

Indicative Measures to overcome problems

The combination of these factors creates the conditions which might obstruct the development of the implementation of the EU law in the countries aspiring to join the EU.

Therefore, the ERA decided to coordinate the project based on a unified approach.


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The ERA faces the area as a “small EU” which needs deeper integration and cooperation. Therefore the ERA tried to spot similarities among the countries and to build on the existing the common elements of the beneficiaries’ railway area through closer contact.

To keep the states continually in contact with the EU policy, ERA conducted more frequent activities. In these activities, the ERA promoted the personal contact and fostered communication among the states themselves. In parallel, it gave the opportunity to specialists from EU Member states’ administrations to offer targeted assistance in key railway policy and institutional issues during the Agency’s visits in the countries.

In addition, ERA decided to enhance the training at its premises of people working in the railway administrations and to actively involve the recipients of the training in the future actions of the Agency.

Overall, ERA worked towards the direction of prevention of potential difficulties and avoided any political statements.


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6. Activities of the European Railway Agency with the EU candidate countries in 2015 and in the future

The IPA Projects 2009-2011 and 2012-2013

From 2009 to 2013, the dissemination activities of ERA, the traineeships for officials, the trainings, the translations of guidelines for the EU candidate and potential candidate countries and the salary of the project officer have been covered under the IPA Project of ERA (2009-2013, in 2 phases). All the activities to promote the EU railway legislation in the EU candidate and potential candidate countries have been organised on a contractual basis and with the budget coverage by the European Commission (2 consecutive contracts).

Indicative success stories of the ERA IPA Project 2012-2013

• Successful promotion of the EU railway legislation in Croatia and Serbia.

• Success story of Croatia – new legislation (safety, interoperability, train driver’s directive) is being prepared and the Agency is consulted for opinion => higher likelihood to comply with the EU legislation, less future job for the Agency as of 1st of July 2013 (accession in the EU).

• Effective participation of Croatia in the activities of ERA, as a result of the IPA Project.

• ERA has trained staff from the countries; these persons already work for the NSAs and the regulatory bodies of their states. IPA trainees offer high quality job to the Agency with low cost.

• Translation of material in languages of the area facilitates the law making in these countries and consequently the transposition and implementation of the EU legislation.

• The network of railway experts and influential officials in the countries is well established.

• Through the visits and the trainees, ERA receives valuable input about the situation in the EU candidate countries, which are all EU Border States, important markets for EU Member States’ economies, and through which important European transport corridors are passing.

• In many cases the activities of IPA brought together for the first time ever officials within the country. Moreover, the Agency continues successfully the coordination with SEETO.


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• Serbia’s closer involvement in the activities of the ERA is expected to create a fruitful working environment allowing the cooperation with one more EU state (Croatia).

• Turkey started at the end of 2012 to co-operate closer and more frequently with ERA. A break in the project is likely to cut the connections of ERA with Turkey.

• Internally for the Agency, the IPA Project has been an opportunity to sharpen the dissemination skills of the project officers and to create a pool of educative material (ERA’s extranet-IPA project).

Need for a project in 2015 and in the future

The Agency sees a benefit in continuing the IPA programme in 2015, but this would need funding and that funding is not yet confirmed.

At least for the EU candidate countries (Serbia, Albania, Turkey, FYR Macedonia and Montenegro) it is necessary to have presence in the area for the dissemination of the EU railway legislation, mainly for the following reasons:

1. High amounts-investments on railway infrastructure are planned in Serbia, Turkey and Montenegro (http://voiceofserbia.org/content/international-economic-review, http://www.railwayinsider.eu/wp/archives/46652,http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com, http://www.europeanrailwayreview.com/15953/rail-industry-news/new-loan-for-montenegrin-emergency-rail-infrastructure-rehabilitation/)

2. The Agency has to keep on promoting its role of the EU as a railway international organisation in the area.

3. The Agency has to keep already solid network of co-operation with the officials in the rail administration of the EU candidate countries.

4. A possible break of the project could have impact on the strategy of both the European Commission and the European Railway Agency in the region.

5. There is already established know-how to deal with the ERA’s IPA project activities.

Proposal for 2015

To conclude, the IPA activities of the European Railway Agency need to go on at least for the EU candidate countries in 2015 in order to achieve extension of disseminating the EU railway legislation and in order to guarantee the continuation of an effort to keep the IPA countries involved, an effort which has already been initiated in 2009.

The Agency Work Programme 2015 is currently being finalised. Currrently, IPA activities in 2015 can only be continued on the basis that there is a new contract and associating funding for such a programme.

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