WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3043/97 by Amedeo AMADEO to the Commission. White Paper on railways
16. 4. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 117/135 › adoption of a change to restricted invitations to tender for PHARE (and TACIS) service contracts: the rules governing invitations to tender have been improved, with better information for tenderers and, in particular, disclosure of the composition of evaluation committees, and the promotion of greater diversity of contractors; › the new guidelines for PHARE prepared by the Commission in March, continuing with the improved integration of implementation structures for this programme into the partner countries’ ánormalí structures, more unbundling and decentralisation towards those countries and Commission delegations, whose staffing would be increased, the tapping of new sources of expertise alongside consultancies, such as twinnings of institutions and administrations; › updating of the DIS Manual and its planned introduction before the end of this year, so as to combine the new provisions on transparency of contracts in a single document which also lays down in detail the procedures for (decreasing) aid for the operating costs of PMUs and provides a model for the transfer of know-how in programme management, with the aim of an effective reduction in dependence on technical assistance in this area. The Commission expects that as a whole these steps will remedy the chief shortcomings identified in the section of the report by the Court of Auditors to which the Honourable Member refers. (1) OJ L 356, 31. 12. 1977. (98/C 117/182) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3043/97 by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission (1 October 1997) Subject: White Paper on railways The Economic and Social Committee has issued an opinion on the White Paper: a strategy for revitalizing the Communityís railways (COM(96) 421 final) (1). It is essential to sift through the directives and regulations and study their transposition into national laws. The actual implementation and achievements of these provisions used in the railways sector could thus be analysed so that Member States can learn from each otherís experience and future fields of application can be examined. Will the Commission examine in particular whether implementation in the individual Member States is converging or drawing further apart? (1) OJ C 206, 7. 7. 1997, p. 23. Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission (3 November 1997) The principal piece of Community legislation on the development of the railways is Directive 91/440/EEC on the development of the Communityís railways (1), which has had a considerable impact on the reorganisation of the railways in recent years and is the foundation of the Commissionís strategy to revitalise the Communityís railways set out in its white paper of 1996. However, the Commission fully accepts the importance of studying in each Member State exactly how the Directive has been implemented and what results it has given. It has therefore launched a wide-ranging study on the implementation and results of the Directive and intends to present a report to the Council and the Parliament early next year. As for the implementation of the Directive in national law, the Commission has found that three Member States have not yet implemented the article on access rights and has opened proceedings under Article 169 of the EC Treaty against them. (1) OJ L 237, 24. 8. 1991