Decision (EU) 2020/2228 on a European Year of Rail (2021)

What it is

PROPOSED ACT: Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure on an equal footing with the Council. BACKGROUND: in its Communication of 11 December 2019, the Commission set out a European Green Deal for the European Union and its citizens. In its resolution of 15 January 2020, the European Parliament welcomed this deal and called for the necessary transition to a climate-neutral society by 2050 at the latest. Transport accounts for a quarter of the Union’s greenhouse gas emissions, and still growing. To achieve climate neutrality, a 90% reduction in transport emissions is needed by 2050. The Committee on Transport and Tourism adopted the report by Anna DEPARNAY-GRUNENBERG (Greens/EFA, DE) on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on a European Year of the Railways (2021). The committee recommended that the European Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the Commission proposal as follows. Members recalled that, even in European countries virtually paralysed by the global health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, railways and urban rail systems have continued to ensure the movement of goods and basic services. They expressed their support of the proposal for the ‘European Year of the Rail 2021’ while calling on the Commission to be more ambitious. - promote rail as the backbone of sustainable, innovative, intermodal, safe and affordable transport and as an efficient logistic network, capable of guaranteeing essential services, even during unexpected crises; - promote the role of rail in reaching the Union’s climate neutrality objective as soon as possible and by 2050, including by reaching out to the wider public, especially to people with disabilities and reduced mobility, as well as to youth; - strengthen rail, including by improving the cross-border cooperation among infrastructure managers to facilitate better rail connectivity across borders, including cross-border charter trains; - develop and communicate a modal shift in tourism policy as a network that can connect rural areas and can boost, and create public awareness of, a European sustainable tourism; - contribute to the integration of the Union's internal market, while promoting the completion of the TEN-T, thus putting an end to bottlenecks mainly in cross-border areas, and to make transport more interoperable by offering comprehensive solutions for both passengers and goods; - support research and innovation in the railway sector, in particular through Shift2Rail, notably with a view to improving the quality of rail services and their decarbonisation; - strengthen rail transport in agglomerations and suburbs to promote climate-friendly door-to-door transport, including through an easily understandable system of passenger rights promoting social and economic inclusion; - promote the attractiveness of the railway profession, including by encouraging fair conditions of service and protection of employees against abuse; - highlight the value of trains,…

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