Key Benefits:
The Prime Minister,
On the report of the Minister of State, Minister of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and the Sea, in charge of green technologies and climate negotiations,
Having regard to Regulation (EC) No. 1370/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on public services for the carriage of passengers by rail and road, and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1191/69 and (EEC) No. 1107/70;
Having regard to Council Directive 91/440/EEC of 29 July 1991 amended on the development of community railways and Directive 2001/14/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 26 February 2001 amended on the distribution of railway infrastructure capacity and the pricing of railway infrastructure, in their drafting by Directive 2007/58/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 23 October 2007, together with the latter directive;
Vu la Act No. 82-1153 of 30 December 1982 amended inland transport orientation, including Article 17-2;
Vu la Act No. 2009-1503 of 8 December 2009 amended on the organization and regulation of rail transport and carrying various transport provisions, including Articles 15 and 31;
Vu le Decree No. 97-444 of 5 May 1997 amended on the missions and statutes of Réseau ferré de France;
Vu le Decree No. 2003-194 of 7 March 2003 modified on the use of the national grid;
Vu le Decree No. 2006-1534 of 6 December 2006 for the application of articles 1st, 1st-1 and 1st-2 Act No. 97-135 of 13 February 1997 creating the public establishment " Réseau ferré de France" for the renewal of railway transport;
The State Council (section of public works) heard,
Decrete:
I. ― For the purpose of this decree, the following means:
1° "Public Service Contract": the contract as defined in Article 2(i) of Regulation (EC) No. 1370/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 relating to public passenger transport services by rail and road, and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1191/69 and (EEC) No. 1107/70;
2° "Organizing Authorities": the region, the Ile-de-France transport union and the departments and public persons who have entered into a public service contract for the operation of a passenger rail service;
3° "International passenger rail transport service": a passenger rail transport service in which the train crosses at least once the border between France and another Member State of the European Union and whose main purpose is the transport of passengers between stations located in different Member States; the train may be assembled or divided, and the different parts of the train may have different origins and destinations provided that all cars cross at least one border;
4° "Inner Desserte": a service, by a railway passenger company, of a route between two stations located on the national territory.
II. ― The information obligations set out in sections 2, 4, 5 and 6 are the responsibility of the railway undertaking providing traction, even when it does not itself provide all passenger transport services.
Any railway company wishing to operate an international passenger rail service with inland service addresses, no later than five months before the scheduled date for the start of the service, a record of information to the infrastructure manager, to the Railway Regulatory Authority, referred to as "ARAF", and to the Minister responsible for transport who acknowledges its receipt.
The record mentioned in the first paragraph includes the following information:
1° The original station and the final destination of the international passenger rail service as well as the frequency of service;
2° Indoor desserts envisaged;
3° Schedules and applicable rates;
4° The number of expected travellers and the expected turnover by distinguishing the share of domestic service and the share of international service;
5° The length of the largest domestic service and the length of international service.
The file addressed to the infrastructure manager may not include information relating to the applicable rates, the number of expected travellers and the anticipated turnover.
The provisions of this Article shall also apply to any substantial modification of an international passenger rail service with domestic service. The substantial character of the modifications is appreciated with regard to all the elements mentioned in 1° to 5° above.
For any contract of public rail transport service on the railway network defined in theArticle 17-1 of the Act of 30 December 1982 referred to above, the ARAF shall be informed by the competent organizing authority of the name of the attribute of the public service contract, the desserts provided for in the contract and the expiration date of the contract. The contract attribute can also provide this information to ARAF.
ARAF establishes and publishes, including electronically, the list of these public service contracts with reference to the information described in the preceding paragraph.
I. ― The Minister for Transport, the railway operator or candidate for operation or any interested railway company may apply to ARAF to verify whether a passenger rail service that crosses at least once the border between France and another Member State of the European Union and includes domestic service constitutes an international transport service within the meaning of Article 1. For this purpose, ARAF takes into account, among other things, the share of the turnover and traffic of travellers from domestic service and the length of these services.
The Minister responsible for transportation shall have a period of one month from the date of receipt of the record referred to in section 2 to file with the FAA pursuant to this section.
II. ― ARAF shall promptly inform the relevant railway company and the Minister for Transport of any referral. It renders a notice within two months of the notice. The Minister for Transport may request the AAFC to specify in his opinion the terms and conditions for the limitation of domestic service in order to allow the service concerned to comply with the conditions set out in 3° I of section 1st. It shall notify the Minister responsible for transportation, the applicant, the railway company concerned and the infrastructure manager.
III. ― The Minister for Transport shall have a period of one month from the date of receipt of the notice of the CARs to pronounce, provided that the Authority has determined that the condition referred to in I was not fulfilled and, in the opinion of the Minister, the limitation of the internal desserts provided for in second paragraph of section 17-2 of the Act of 30 December 1982 referred to above. When the Authority considers that the condition referred to in I is fulfilled, the Minister for Transport grants the right of access.
The railway undertaking, which, on the occasion of an international rail passenger transport service, wishes to provide an internal service within the competence of a region, department or Union des transports d'Ile-de-France or subject to a public service contract set out in the list provided for in Article 3, shall transmit to the organizing authority the record referred to in Article 2 under the conditions that it provides.
At the request of the railway company, the organizing authority shall indicate to it the services offered to public service users as well as the times and rates as they arise from the public service contract.
Within one month of the transmission of the file, the railway company informs the organising authority concerned of its decision to create the intended internal desserts or to terminate this project.
In the event that the railway company confirms its intention to carry out these services, the organizing authority shall promptly inform the holder of the public service contract by making the necessary arrangements to ensure the confidentiality of the commercial data of the railway undertaking, including by the holder of the public service contract. The organizing authority shall issue to the railway company an attestation that it has made this information. The railway company shall promptly transmit this certificate to the RAF and to the infrastructure manager.
I. ― The organizing authority and the holder of the public service contract, within one month of the date on which they were informed of the decision referred to in the third paragraph of section 5 and the infrastructure manager, within one month of the date on which he received the certificate referred to in the fourth paragraph of section 5, may enter the public service agreement if they consider that an international service
The author of the referral shall promptly inform the other parties mentioned in the previous paragraph and the international passenger railway undertaking wishing to provide an internal service.
II. ― ARAF issues its opinion, after consulting all parties concerned, within two months of its referral, as long as the relevant information has been provided to it. This notice is based on predetermined criteria by this authority, an economic analysis of the record referred to in section 2 or any further investigation that the FAA considers necessary to carry out under the application of theArticle 22 of the Act of 8 December 2009 referred to above. In particular, it takes into account the financial implications of creating a domestic service on the cost-effectiveness of the service and on the net cost to the organizing authority. The notice shall specify the circumstances of fact and law on which it is based and the period in which the parties referred to in the first paragraph may not, unless significant changes are made, request a further notice of the domestic service concerned. This period may not exceed three years. If requested by the organizing authority, the ARAF shall specify in its opinion the terms of limitation or prohibition of domestic service. The notice is notified by the ARAF to the parties referred to in I and communicated to the Minister for Transport.
III. ― In view of the opinion of the ARAF and within one month of its notification, the organizing authority may limit, or if necessary prohibit, domestic service to the extent necessary to neutralize its impact on the economic balance of the public service contract. It notifies its decision, regardless of its meaning, to the railway company that wishes to provide service. It shall promptly inform the Minister responsible for transportation, the holder of the public service contract, the ARAF and the infrastructure manager of that decision.
The organizing authority may, by a convention that is communicated to ARAF, accept the realization of an internal service by the railway company wishing to operate an international passenger rail service. It may, provided that ARAF has estimated that the intended service would be likely to compromise the economic balance of a public service contract, provide a contribution to the organization authority to neutralize, within the strictly necessary limits, the impact of the service on that balance. Methods for calculating this contribution are determined on an objective, transparent and non-discriminatory basis.
An application for a link filed with an infrastructure manager to operate an international passenger rail service with inland service is inadmissible if the railway company did not send the information package to it in accordance with section 2.
Before the scheduled date for the start of the service, the railway company concerned shall transmit to the infrastructure manager a copy of the attestation provided for in section 5. If not, any assigned link is removed. Such a deletion is equivalent to the billing of fees for the use of the network to the renunciation of the link by the railway company.
Within six months of the publication of this decree in the Official Journal of the French Republic, ARAF is informed of the contracts provided for in Article 3 which are being implemented.
The above-mentioned decree of 7 March 2003 is amended:
1° Section 1 is amended to read:
(a) In the first paragraph, the words: "or any international grouping of railway companies" are deleted and the word "specified" is replaced by the word "specified";
(b) In the second paragraph, the words "and international groupings" are deleted and the word "reported" is replaced by the word "reported";
2° In Article 2, the 3° is replaced by a 3° as follows:
"The railway companies established in a Member State of the European Union or applying rules equivalent to those of the European Union pursuant to agreements with the European Union, with a view to operating international passenger transport services; the right of access of railway companies to operate domestic service on the occasion of these services is exercised in respect ofArticle 17-2 of the Act of 30 December 1982 referred to above.
3° Section 3 is amended to read:
(a) In I and II, the words "or international grouping" are deleted and the word "specified" is replaced by the word "specified";
(b) In the last paragraph of II, the words "or grouping" are deleted;
4° The last paragraph of Article 4 is deleted;
5° Section 8 is amended to read:
(a) The first sentence is replaced by the following sentence: "The physical persons who provide the permanent and effective direction of the railway companies referred to in Article 2 and those companies themselves must attest to their honorability. » ;
(b) The second sentence is deleted;
6° In Article 19, after the words: "the railway companies having a right of access to the network" are inserted the words: "the international groupings of railway companies established in a Member State of the European Union or applying rules equivalent to that of the European Union under agreements concluded with the European Union",
7° Section 20 is amended to read:
(a) The fourth paragraph is replaced by the following paragraph:
"The framework agreement shall be entered into, unless warranted, for a period of five years, renewable by periods equal to its original duration. Any period of more than five years is motivated by the existence of commercial contracts, special investments or risks. In the event of significant and long-term investments in relation to the purpose of the framework agreement, the framework may be concluded for a period of fifteen years. A term of more than fifteen years is eligible only in exceptional cases, particularly when it comes to significant and long-term investments in relation to the purpose of the framework agreement and especially when they are subject to contractual commitments with a multi-year amortization plan. In this case, the applicant may request a detailed definition of the characteristics of the capabilities, including the frequency, volume and quality of the links, which are made available for the duration of the framework agreement. The infrastructure manager may reduce reserved capacities whose use, over a period of at least one month, is less than a threshold set by the network reference document, unless this sub-use is due to non-economic reasons beyond operator control. » ;
(b) In the second sentence of the fifth paragraph, after the words: "who is the subject of the framework agreement" are added the words: "including framework agreements provided for in the framework agreement VII of section 17-1 of the Act of 30 December 1982 referred to above "
In article 13 of the above-mentioned decree of 5 May 1997, the words "and international groupings of railway companies" are deleted.
The above-mentioned decree of 6 December 2006 is amended:
1° Section 18 is amended to read:
(a) In the first sentence, the words: "or any international grouping of railway companies" are deleted and the word "specified" is replaced by the word "specified";
(b) In the second sentence, the words: "and international groupings" are deleted and the word: "mentioned" is replaced by the word: "mentioned";
2° Section 19 is amended to read:
(a) In I and II, the words: "or any international grouping of railway companies" are deleted and the word "specified" is replaced by the word "specified";
(b) In the last paragraph, the words "or any grouping" are deleted.
The provisions of sections 4, 6 and 7 come into force on the date referred to inArticle 31 of the Act of 8 December 2009 referred to above.
The Minister for Transport shall decide on applications for the operation of an international passenger rail service with domestic service before that date, in accordance with the principles established by theArticle 17-2 of the Act of 30 December 1982 referred to above.
Before the same date, the attestation referred to in the last paragraph of section 5 is also forwarded to the Minister for Transport.
The Minister of State, Minister of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and the Sea, in charge of green technologies and climate negotiations, and the Secretary of State for Transport are responsible, each with regard to it, for the execution of this decree, which will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
Done in Paris, August 24, 2010.
François Fillon
By the Prime Minister:
Minister of State, Minister of Ecology,
of energy, sustainable development and the sea,
green technologies
and climate negotiations,
Jean-Louis Borloo
Secretary of State
Transport Officer
Dominic Bussereau
