On 9 September 2020, the Council of the European Union agreed on a mandate regarding the Commission’s proposal aiming at giving Member States the possibility to help the sector by providing relief from certain infrastructure charges for rail companies, while ensuring a timely refund for infrastructure providers.

Submitted on 19 June 2020, the proposal finds its rationale in that, due to the recent coronavirus outbreak, rail passenger and rail freight transport have declined significantly, causing serious losses to railway undertakings which, therefore, need financial support. Consequently, the draft regulation grants Member States a temporary discretion in respect of applying rules on levying charges on railway undertakings under Directive 2012/34/EU establishing a single European railway area. 

More particularly, Member States may authorise infrastructure managers to reduce, waive or defer the payment of track access charges according to market segments, such as passenger or freight transport, in a transparent, objective and non-discriminatory way. Furthermore, Member States may authorize infrastructure managers to reassess the ability of the market segments to bear potential mark-ups, as well as not to levy reservation charges for capacity allocated but not used during the reference period.

The temporary rules apply from 1 March until 31 December 2020, and are extendable by means of Commission delegated acts. The decision concerning the implementation of the derogations is for Member States, which have to inform the Commission of any measures they take. The Commission, in turn, has an obligation to make this information publicly available.

Marco Stillo