The opening of the national and intra-EU cross border transport markets and integrated Europe-wide railway network reduces travel time and costs of transport and has positive effects on environment and health.
Legal basis:
Since 2001, the EU has established four railway packages, based on targets communicated within the White Paper (58). The first railway package enabled rail operators to have access to the trans-European network on a non-discriminatory basis. The second package accelerated the liberalisation of rail freight services by fully opening the rail freight market to competition from 1st January 2007. The third package, which was adopted in 2007 and remains relevant today, should complete the European regulatory framework for the rail sector. It concerns the opening of the market for rail passenger services and contains important directives for the deregulation of the rail market, such as Directive 2007/58/EC59 on the development of the Community’s railway, the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and the levying of charges for the use of railway infrastructure;