3.12.2007 Official Journal of the European Union L3151 (Acts adopted under the EC Treaty/Euratom Treaty whose publication is obligatory) REGULATIONS REGULATION (EC) No 1370/2007 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 23 October 2007 on public passenger transport services by rail and by road and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) Nos 1191/69 and 1107/70 THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EURO- PEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu- nity, and in particular Articles 71 and 89 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1), Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (?), Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (3), Whereas: (1) Article 16 of the Treaty confirms the place occupied by services of general economic interest in the shared values of the Union. (2)  Article 86(2) of the Treaty lays down that undertakings entrusted with the operation of services of general eco- nomic interest are subject to the rules contained in the Treaty, in particular to the rules on competition, in so far as the application of such rules does not obstruct the per- formance, in law or in fact, of the particular tasks assigned to them. (1) 0] C 195, 18.8.2006, p. 20. () 0] C192, 16.8.2006, p. 1. () Opinion of the European Parliament of 14 November 2001 (O] C 140 E, 13.6.2002, p. 262), Council Common Position of 11 December 2006 (O] C 70 E, 27.3.2007, p. 1) and Position of the European Parliament of 10 May 2007. Council Decision of 18 Sep- tember 2007. 6) Article 73 of the Treaty constitutes a lex specialis in relation to Article 86(2). It establishes rules applicable to the com- pensation of public service obligations in inland transport. The main objectives of the Commission’s White Paper of 12 September 2001 ‘European transport policy for 2010: time to decide’ are to guarantee safe, efficient and high- quality passenger transport services through regulated competition, guaranteeing also transparency and perfor- mance of public passenger transport services, having regard to social, environmental and regional development factors, or to offer specific tariff conditions to certain cat- egories of traveller, such as pensioners, and to eliminate the disparities between transport undertakings from differ- ent Member States which may give rise to substantial dis- tortions of competition. At the present time, many inland passenger transport ser- vices which are required in the general economic interest cannot be operated on a commercial basis. The competent authorities of the Member States must be able to act to ensure that such services are provided. The mechanisms that they can use to ensure that public passenger transport services are provided include the following: the award of exclusive rights to public service operators, the grant of financial compensation to public service operators and the definition of general rules for the operation of public trans- port which are applicable to all operators. If Member States, in accordance with this Regulation, choose to exclude certain general rules from its scope, the general regime for State aid should apply.