Webinar on the Liberalisation of Railways in the EU

>> Watch the Webinar Recording here <<

Declared as ‘European Year of Rail’, 2021 will be the first full year when the rules agreed under the Fourth Railway Package will be implemented throughout the EU Member States. These rules are designed to open up the domestic passenger services market and reduce costs and the administrative burden for railway undertakings operating across the EU.

More specifically, 14^th December 2020 is the date set for the opening up of the EU passenger railway market. To mark this important step in the path towards the liberalisation of railway services, the Transport Area of the Florence School of Regulation will bring together European Commission stakeholders along with some of the leading researchers who authored the recently published Handbook on Railway Regulation for a well-timed discussion on its main findings.

Despite numerous liberalisation attempts in recent years, the railway sector is still excessively complex, with regulations varying throughout the world. The Handbook on Railway Regulation gathers, for the first time, these various approaches and practices, using a historical and systematic approach to identify the main lessons for all countries.

The Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art in railway regulation with a particular focus on countries that rely heavily on railways for transportation links. The Handbook also considers the most pressing issues for those working in and with railway systems, and outlines future trends in the development of rail globally.

Keynote Speakers:

• Matthias Finger, Director of FSR-Transport, EUI and Co-editor of the Handbook on Railway Regulation 
• Elisabeth Werner, Director Land Transport, DG MOVE, European Commission
• Elzbieta Lukaniuk, Member of Commissioner Adina Vălean’s Cabinet in charge of Rail

Short Interventions followed by an open Discussion moderated by Prof. Juan Montero

• Zdeněk Tomeš, Professor, Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Administration, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic; Contributing Author of the Handbook on Railway Regulation, “Regulatory challenges of open-access passenger competition in the Czech Republic”
• Stéphane de La Rosa, Professor of Public Law, University Paris-Est Créteil, Paris, France; Contributing Author of the Handbook on Railway Regulation, “The ongoing Process of Liberalisation of the Railway Sector in France
• Juan Montero, Part-time Professor at FSR-Transport, EUI/ UNED, and Co-editor of the Handbook on Railway Regulation

SLIDES:

Matthias Finger – Florence School of Regulation Transport Area

Zdeněk Tomeš – Masaryk University