14.6.2007 Official Journal of the European Union L 153/9 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 653/2007 of 13 June 2007 on the use of a common European format for safety certificates and application documents in accordance with Article 10 of Directive 2004/49/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and on the validity of safety certificates delivered under Directive 2001/14/EC (Text with EEA relevance) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Directive 2004[49/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on safety on the Community’s railways and amending Council Directive 95/18/EC on the licensing of railway undertakings and Directive 2001/14/EC on the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and the levying of charges for the use of railway infra- structure and safety certification (Railway Safety Directive) (%) and in particular Article 15 thereof, Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 881/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 establishing a European Railway Agency (Agency Regulation)(?) and in particular Article 7 thereof, Whereas: (1)  Directive 2004/49/EC on safety on the Community’s railways elaborates the provisions for the safety certi- ficates of railway undertakings. Article 10 of this Directive states that in order to be granted access to a railway infrastructure, a railway undertaking must hold a safety certificate. The purpose of the safety certificate is to provide evidence that the railway undertaking has established its safety management system and can meet requirements laid down in Technical Specifications for Interoperability, established under Council Directive 96/48[EC of 23 July 1996 on the interoperability of the trans-European high-speed rail system (%), Directive 2001/16/EC of 19 March 2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the interoperability of the trans-European conventional rail system (), and other Community legislation, and in national rules in order to control risks and operate safely on the network. (") OJ L 164, 30.4.2004, p. 44, as corrected by OJ L 220, 21.6.2004, p. 16. (® OJ L 164, 30.4.2004, p. 1, as corrected by O] L 220, 21.6.2004, p. 3. () OJ L 235, 17.9.1996, p. 6. Directive as last amended by Directive 2004/50[EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (O] L 164, 30.4.2004, p. 114, as corrected by OJ L 220, 21.6.2004, p. 40). ( O] L 110, 20.4.2001, p. 1. Directive as amended by Directive 2004/50/EC. 2 Member States should make efforts to assist applicants wishing to enter the market as railway undertakings, and in particular they should provide information and act promptly for requests for safety certification. For railway undertakings operating international services it is important that the procedures for safety certification are similar in different Member States; therefore common parts of the safety certificate shall be harmonised in order to provide for a common template. To this end Article 15 of Directive 2004/49/EC provides for the harmoni- sation of safety certificates. Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 881/2004 states that the Agency shall draft and recommend a harmonised format for safety certificates, including an electronic version, and a harmonised format for applications for safety certificates including a list of the essential details to be provided. In accordance with Article 33 of Directive 2004/49/EC, Member States shall bring into force its provisions by 30 April 2006. Hence from this date safety certificates shall be awarded in accordance with the provisions of Directive 2004/49/EC. This makes it necessary to take early action to harmonise the approach to safety certi- ficates such that Member States may apply a harmonised approach as soon as possible. Article 10 of Directive 2004/49/EC makes provisions for the safety certificate to comprise of two parts: one part confirming acceptance of the railway undertaking’s safety management system which shall be accepted throughout the Community (Part A), and the second part confirming the provisions adopted to meet the specific national requirements necessary to operate on the relevant network (Part B). The harmonised safety certificate appli- cation and guidelines contained within this Regulation provide guidance for railway undertakings and national safety authorities on what should be contained within an application for each part of the safety certificate. In accordance with Article 10(6) of Directive 2004/49/EC national safety authorities shall inform the Agency of the safety certificates issued in accordance with the provisions of Article 10(2)(a) of the same Directive (Part A Certificates). However the Agency, in accordance with Article 11(1)(b) of its Regulation (EC) No 881/2004, shall keep a public database of all safety certificates issued in accordance with Article 10 of Directive 2004/49/EC. This obligation requires the Agency to publish both Part A and Part B Certificates.