7.3.2008 Official Journal of the European Union L 641 (Acts adopted under the EC Treaty/Euratom Treaty whose publication is not obligatory) DECISIONS COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 20 December 2007 concerning the technical specification of interoperability relating to ‘safety in railway tunnels’ in the trans-European conventional and high-speed rail system (notified under document number C(2007) 6450) (Text with EEA relevance) (2008/163[EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu- nity, Having regard to Directive 2001/16/EC of 19 March 2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the interoperability of the conventional rail system, (!) and in particular Article 6 (1) thereof, Having regard to Directive 96/48/EC of 23 July 1996 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the interoperability of the high-speed rail system, (%) and in particular Article 6 (1) thereof, Whereas: (1) In accordance with Article 5(1) of Directive 2001/16/EC, and Article 5(1) of Directive 96/48/EC, each of the subsystems shall be covered by one TSI. Where necessary, a subsystem may be covered by several TSIs and one TSI may cover several subsystems. The decision to develop and/ or to review a TSI and the choice of its technical and geographical scope requires a mandate in accordance with Article 6(1) of Directive 2001/16/EC and Article 6(1) of 96/48/EC. (" OJ L 110, 20.4.2001, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Directive 2007/32/EC (OJ L 141, 2.6.2007). () OJ L 235, 17.9.1996, p. 6. Directive as last amended by Directive 2007[32/EC ) The first step in establishing a TSI is to have a draft TSI drawn up by the European Association for Railway Interoperability (AEIF) which was appointed as the joint representative body. The AEIF has been given a mandate to draw up a draft TSI for ‘safety in railway tunnels’ in accordance with Arti- cle 6(1) of Directive 2001/16/EC. The draft TSI has been examined by the Committee set up by Directive 96/48/EC on the interoperability of the trans- European high-speed rail system and referred to in Article 21 of Directive 2001/16/EC. Directives 2001/16/EC and 9648 EC and the TSIs do apply to renewals but not to maintenance-related replacements. However Member States are encouraged, when they are able to do so and where it is justified by the scope of the maintenance-related work, to apply the TSIs to main- tenance-related replacements. In its current version the TSI does not fully deal with all essential requirements. In accordance with Article 17 of Directive 2001/16/EC, and Article 17 of Directive 96/48| EC, technical aspects which are not covered are identified as ‘Open Points’ in Annex C of this TSI