News
BackThe European Commission can hardly wait for the liberalisation of the railway sector to take place. In only 15 years, it has already proposed the fourth railway package; this time, it has the liberalisation of passenger rail transport in its sight. Warning calls concerning the negative consequences for passengers and employees fall on deaf ears with the responsible Commission officials and Commissioners. This week, the Transport Committee of the European Parliaments has again deliberated on the Commission proposals.
The facts about the success of the previous liberalisation measures in rail transport speak for themselves. Since its opening, the already fully opened goods rail transport has seen its market share fall dramatically. If in 1998, the rail market share in the European Union 1998 was still at 19 percent, in 2010 it had shrunk to 16.2 percent. During the same period, the obvious favourite of Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas, transportation of goods by road, increased from 68.5 to 72,7 percent.
Now the attention has turned to passenger rail transport. The Commission intends to make tendering of passenger rail transport compulsory; society, which means the public sector is no longer permitted to provide this transport service itself. Thus, golden days are waiting for private transport companies – they can cream off the profits on lucrative routes, whilst the public sector has to make do with the loss-making lines. However, things could become significantly more complicated for passengers: there is no guarantee that the train timetables of the various private transport operators will be coordinated, i.e. if a passenger has to change trains he might be faced with long waits on a regular basis. Also, no regulations for rail tickets have been provided for, i.e. if a passenger has to use the services of several rail companies, he has to buy the equal number of train tickets. There are no plans to issue a single ticket for the entire journey.
The Commission proposal will also make the situation worse for rail employees. When it comes to bidding for rail transport lines, those companies will benefit, that have the lowest personnel costs. Operators will try to limit wages and working conditions to an absolute minimum.
This package is certainly not concerned with expanding the rail transport network or to provide more quality or cheaper train tickets.
Approval by People’s Party, Conservatives, Liberals and Greens
However, the discussion in the European Parliament shows support for the proposal. In particular the European People’s Party, the Liberals, the European Conservatives and the Greens are in favour of liberalising passenger rail transports. The issue of wage dumping was almost brushed to one side by the German Green Michael Cramer when he commented that 23 Member States had regulations on minimum wages for employees or collective bargaining agreements in any case. Hence, in his opinion future problems for employees do not exist. However, even a representative of the European Conservatives remarked that one had to consider the pay for staff.
Criticism by Social Democrats and European Left
In contrast, in particular the group of the European Left and the European Social Democrats criticised the foray by the Commission. Sabine Wils of the Left made it clear that her group would reject the Commission proposal. She also criticised the Green MEP Cramer concerning his comment about the non-existence of wage dumping: the regulation would mean that in future personnel would only be paid the minimum wage and the prospect of a higher salary is excluded. The Social Democrat MEPs Saïd El Khadraoui and Ismail Ertug demanded the incorporation of social standards and collective bargaining agreements. Apart from that, there had to be at least a core network comprising 10 to 100 million railway kilometres resp. a third of the railway network, where contracts could be awarded directly. A demand, which is at least partly accepted by rapporteur Mathieu Grosch of the European People’s Party: he would be in favour of the option to award contracts directly for up to 35 million rail kilometres. However, many of his faction colleagues were not convinced.
The vote in the Transport Committee on the Fourth Railway Package has been scheduled for the end of November; the vote by the European Parliaments for January 2014.
Now the attention has turned to passenger rail transport. The Commission intends to make tendering of passenger rail transport compulsory; society, which means the public sector is no longer permitted to provide this transport service itself. Thus, golden days are waiting for private transport companies – they can cream off the profits on lucrative routes, whilst the public sector has to make do with the loss-making lines. However, things could become significantly more complicated for passengers: there is no guarantee that the train timetables of the various private transport operators will be coordinated, i.e. if a passenger has to change trains he might be faced with long waits on a regular basis. Also, no regulations for rail tickets have been provided for, i.e. if a passenger has to use the services of several rail companies, he has to buy the equal number of train tickets. There are no plans to issue a single ticket for the entire journey.
The Commission proposal will also make the situation worse for rail employees. When it comes to bidding for rail transport lines, those companies will benefit, that have the lowest personnel costs. Operators will try to limit wages and working conditions to an absolute minimum.
This package is certainly not concerned with expanding the rail transport network or to provide more quality or cheaper train tickets.
Approval by People’s Party, Conservatives, Liberals and Greens
However, the discussion in the European Parliament shows support for the proposal. In particular the European People’s Party, the Liberals, the European Conservatives and the Greens are in favour of liberalising passenger rail transports. The issue of wage dumping was almost brushed to one side by the German Green Michael Cramer when he commented that 23 Member States had regulations on minimum wages for employees or collective bargaining agreements in any case. Hence, in his opinion future problems for employees do not exist. However, even a representative of the European Conservatives remarked that one had to consider the pay for staff.
Criticism by Social Democrats and European Left
In contrast, in particular the group of the European Left and the European Social Democrats criticised the foray by the Commission. Sabine Wils of the Left made it clear that her group would reject the Commission proposal. She also criticised the Green MEP Cramer concerning his comment about the non-existence of wage dumping: the regulation would mean that in future personnel would only be paid the minimum wage and the prospect of a higher salary is excluded. The Social Democrat MEPs Saïd El Khadraoui and Ismail Ertug demanded the incorporation of social standards and collective bargaining agreements. Apart from that, there had to be at least a core network comprising 10 to 100 million railway kilometres resp. a third of the railway network, where contracts could be awarded directly. A demand, which is at least partly accepted by rapporteur Mathieu Grosch of the European People’s Party: he would be in favour of the option to award contracts directly for up to 35 million rail kilometres. However, many of his faction colleagues were not convinced.
The vote in the Transport Committee on the Fourth Railway Package has been scheduled for the end of November; the vote by the European Parliaments for January 2014.