EU Parliament backs cross-border rail competition

(STRASBOURG) - The European Parliament Thursday backed plans to open up cross-border rail markets but the competition drive was dealt a blow when a vote on freeing up national markets failed due to a lack of MEPs.

In a second reading of major legislative package on rail reform, the euro-deputies voted in favour of an agreement among member states to open the international market from 2010.

However, plans to set a 2017 deadline for national internal markets to be opened up were embarrassingly shot down because not enough MEPs were present to form a qualified majority.

With many lawmakers already gone on the last day of the parliament's plenary session, the 2017 proposal received only 358 votes in favour and 145 against while a qualified majority of 393 votes was needed in a second reading.

Despite member states' opposition, the parliament had been widely expected to back plans to set a date for competition on domestic lines after the assembly's own transport committee approved the deadline last month.

The parliament's surprise failure to back the 2017 deadline left the text's rapporteur "strongly disappointed".

"It's a failure for me sure, but what can I do," said German conservative Georg Jarzembovski.

One parliamentary source said: "If the vote had taken place on Wednesday instead of Thursday, the qualified majority would certainly have been found."

The failure to pass the text because of MEP absenteeism dealt a blow to the credibility of the parliament, which frequently demands that member states give it more respect, as the EU's only directly elected institution.

"The point is that nearly 200 MEPs were not here and it is a problem if this continues," Jarzembovski said.

He warned that if lawmakers kept failing to show up then it would be increasingly difficult to pass legislation in second readings because only minor opposition was needed to prevent a qualified majority from forming.

Low MEP turnout is frequent on the last day of the parliament's plenary sessions in Strasbourg, where the assembly meets for only three and a half days per month.

The rest of the time the parliament meets in Brussels, causing to MEPs to shuttle between Brussels and Strasbourg under an arrangement that is written into the EU's treaties but is unpopular among many lawmakers.

While the EU's other transport markets have been mostly opened to competition, rail remains largely dominated by national monopolies in most member states.

Supporters of competition say that it would bring down costs for consumers while improving services.

Ahead of the vote, Paolo Costa of Italy, a member of parliament's Liberal Democrat group, said: "Transport constitutes a core business of a European single market."

"After having liberalised the market in road, sky, sea and even goods transport, I do not understand why rail passenger transport should remain cut off from the rest of the transport network," he added.

Prior to the vote, further competition was widely supported in the parliament, with only Greens and left-wing parties opposed.

"This legislative package is a cornerstone for the construction of a veritable EU rail space," said EU Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot.

The euro-deputies also voted in favour of tougher passenger rights that would require railway companies to compensate passengers when they are responsible for trains running late.

The text calls for 25 percent of the ticket price to be refunded for trains 60 to 119 minutes late and 50 percent for all trains that arrive 120 minutes or more late.

MEPs approved a proposal that the rules be applied to all passengers and not only those on international lines, as member states had wanted.

They also approved plans to require appropriate certifications for all on-board crew involved with safety.