Vers le marche unique des transports ferroviaires: les avantages et les dangers de la strategie europeenne

• Published in: Studia diplomatica 2004-01, Vol.57 (2), p.9-131
• Main Authors: Dehousse, Franklin, and others
• Format: Article
• Language: fre
• Subjects: Competition; Crisis management; Deregulation; Europe; European economic community; European Union; Railroads; Regulation
• ISSN: 0770-2965

Prior to the launch of the European market, the railways in Europe were hardly influenced by the creation of the EU, but this has since changed. The railway sector, vital to the region, is a sector of networks where, by definition, competition does not function well. It is also an area where the distinction between internal and external costs plays a determinant role for competitiveness. Furthermore, the traditional railway companies enjoyed a national monopoly that created important resistance to all reform. These factors explain the difficulty in defining an adequate policy at the European level. Only the increase of the European railways' crisis during the 1990s brought about significant initiatives. After some initial measures in 1991 and 1995, they have taken the form of three regulation packages. The first two were adopted in 2001 and 2004 by the common legislature. The third has been presented by the Commission in the spring of 2004. This reform acceleration illustrates to what point the European institutions have become essential in order to determine the future of the railways. In the first part, the authors outline the general context of these initiatives, explain the particular characteristics of this sector, as well as the regulations of the treaty, and the reforms adopted until now. In the second part, they examine the different elements of the current regulations, including applicable rules and the system of public initiatives. The third part deals with a separate analysis of the application of the rules of competitiveness that have become more and more a central question. In the fourth part, the authors assess the probable impact of the new propositions presented by the Commission in 2004. They recommend that in order to understand the scope of the issues in this journal to go back to the last publications of the EEA (European Environmental Agency), and conclude with a description of the strategic character of the railways, the undeniable technical progress, weaknesses, and the necessity of a correction of the strategy.