L 12222 Official Journal of the European Union 11.5.2011 COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 445/2011 of 10 May 2011 on a system of certification of entities in charge of maintenance for freight wagons and amending Regulation (EC) No 653/2007 (Text with EEA relevance) THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, 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 (1), and in particular Article 14a thereof, Having regard to the Recommendation of the European Railway Agency of 8 July 2010 on a System of Certification for Entities in Charge of Maintenance, Whereas: (1)  Directive 2004/49/EC aims to improve access to the market for rail transport services by defining common principles for the management, regulation and super- vision of railway safety. Directive 2004[49/EC also provides for a framework to be put in place to ensure equal conditions for all entities in charge of maintenance for freight wagons through application of the same certification requirements across the Union. (2)  The purpose of the certification system is to provide a framework for the harmonisation of requirements and methods to assess the ability of entities in charge of maintenance across the Union. (3)  Without prejudice to the responsibility of railway under- takings and infrastructure managers for the safe operation of trains, the entity in charge of maintenance should ensure that the freight wagons for which it is in charge of maintenance are in a safe state of running by means of a system of maintenance. Taking into account the wide variety of design and maintenance methods, this system of maintenance should be a process-oriented system. (4)  Infrastructure managers need to use freight wagons to transport materials for construction or for infrastructure () O] L 164, 30.4.2004, p. 44. maintenance activities. When they operate freight wagons for this purpose, infrastructure managers do so in the capacity of a railway undertaking. The assessment of the infrastructure manager’s capacity to operate freight wagons for this purpose should be part of its assessment for a safety authorisation under Article 11 of Directive 2004/49/EC. Inspections and monitoring undertaken before the departure of a train or en route are generally performed by operational staff of the railway under- takings or infrastructure managers, following the process described in their safety management system in accordance with Article 4(3) of Directive 2004/49/EC. The railway undertakings or the infrastructure managers should ensure, through their safety management system, the control of all risks related to their activity, including the use of contractors. To this end, a railway undertaking should rely on contractual arrangements involving entities in charge of maintenance for all wagons it operates. This could be a contract between the railway undertaking and the entity in charge of maintenance or a chain of contracts involving other parties, such as the keeper. These contracts should be consistent with the procedures outlined by a railway undertaking or an infra- structure manager in its safety management system, including for the exchange of information. In accordance with Directive 2004/49/EC, a certificate for an entity in charge of maintenance (ECM certificate) is valid throughout the Union. Certificates issued by bodies in third countries appointed under equivalent criteria and meeting equivalent requirements to those contained in this Regulation should normally be accepted as being equivalent to the ECM certificates issued in the Union. The assessment by a certification body of an application for an ECM certificate is an assessment of the applicant’s ability to manage maintenance activities and to deliver the operational functions of maintenance either by itself or through contracts with other bodies, such as main- tenance workshops, charged with delivering these functions or parts of these functions. A system of accreditation should provide a tool for managing risks by assuring that accredited bodies are competent to carry out the work they undertake. Furthermore, accreditation is regarded as a means to secure national and international recognition of ECM certificates issued by accredited bodies.