3.12.2007 Official Journal of the European Union L 315/51 DIRECTIVE 2007/ 59/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 23 October 2007 on the certification of train drivers operating locomotives and trains on the railway system in the Community THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EURO- PEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu- nity, and in particular Article 71 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 (2), Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty, in the light of the joint text approved by the Con- ciliation Committee on 31 July 2007 (3), Whereas: (1)  Directive 2004/49/EC (4) of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on safety on the Commu- nity’s railways requires infrastructure managers and railway undertakings to establish their safety management systems in such a way that the railway system is at least able to achieve the common safety targets and comply with the national safety rules and safety requirements defined in the technical specifications for interoperability (TSIs) and that the relevant parts of the common safety methods are applied. These safety management systems provide, among other things, for staff training programmes and systems which ensure that staff competence is maintained and that duties are performed in the appropriate manner. (2)  Directive 2004/49/EC provides that, in order to gain access to railway infrastructure, a railway undertaking has to hold a safety certificate. (3)  Under Council Directive 91/440/EEC of 29 July 1991 on the development of the Community’s railways (%), licensed railway undertakings have had, since 15 March 2003, a right of access to the trans-European freight network for international rail freight services and , from 2007 at the (1) O] C 221, 8.9.2005, p. 64. () 0] C 71, 22.3.2005, p. 26. (%) Opinion of the European Parliament of 28 September 2005 (OJ C227E, 21.9.2006, p. 464), Council Common Position of 14 Sep- tember 2006 (O] C 289 E, 28.11.2006, p. 42), Position of the Euro- pean Parliament of 18 January 2007 (not yet published in the Official Journal), Legislative Resolution of the European Parliament of 25 Sep- tember 2007 and Council Decision of 26 September 2007. () OJL 164, 30.4.2004, p. 44. Corrected version in OJ L 220, 21.6.2004, p. 16. (°) OJ L 237, 24.8.1991, p. 25. Directive as last amended by Directive 2006/103/EC (O] L 363, 20.12.2006, p. 344). latest, will have a right of access to the entire network for domestic and international freight services. This gradual extension of access rights will inevitably lead to an increase in the movement of train drivers across national borders. The result will be a growing demand for drivers trained and certified for operation in more than one Member State. (4) A study carried out by the Commission in 2002 high- lighted the fact that the laws of the Member States on the certification conditions for train drivers differ considerably. Community rules for the certification of train drivers should therefore be adopted to overcome these differences while maintaining the present high level of safety of the railway system in the Community. (5)  Such Community rules should also contribute to the aims of Community policies on the freedom of movement of workers, freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services in the context of the common transport policy, while avoiding any distortion of competition. (6)  The aim of these common provisions should be above all to make it easier for train drivers to move from one Mem- ber State to another, but also to make it easier for them to move from one railway undertaking to another, and gen- erally for licences and harmonised complementary certifi- cates to be recognised by all railway sector stakeholders. To this end, it is essential that the provisions establish mini- mum requirements which applicants should meet to obtain a licence or harmonised complementary certificate. (7)  This Directive follows and is largely based on the historic joint Agreement concluded by the European Transport Workers' Federation (ETF) and the Community of Euro- pean Railways (CER) on certain aspects of the working conditions of mobile workers engaged in interoperable cross-border services (¢). (8)  Even if a Member State excludes from the scope of this Directive drivers exclusively operating on certain catego- ries of rail systems, networks and infrastructure, this should not limit in any way the obligation of that Member State to respect the validity of licences throughout the territory of the European Union or of harmonised complementary certificates on the relevant infrastructure. (%) OJ L 195, 27.7.2005, p. 18.