The Week in Strasbourg: Domestic Irish rail services could be opened up for competition by 2012 following a vote this week by the European Parliament to liberalise railways across the European Union.
MEPs voted in favour of a package of reforms of rail services, including deadlines for increased competition on both domestic and international routes, minimum standards of compensation for delayed journeys and common criteria for train-driver safety. Under the proposals, rail passengers who suffer a delay of 60 minutes or more would receive at least 25 per cent of their fare in compensation.
Those delayed for over 120 minutes would get 50 per cent, and 75 per cent compensation would be paid for delays of 180 minutes or more. Season ticket-holders would also receive proportionate compensation.
An Irish Rail spokesman told The Irish Times its compensation payments are already more generous than the minimum adopted by the parliament, with a refund of 50 per cent applying for delays of over 60 minutes and 100 per cent for delays of over 120 minutes.
The EU Commission had proposed opening up international rail services to competition by 2010, but made no proposals in relation to national services.
MEPs voted to introduce international competition from 2008 and national competition by 2012. However, legislators rejected commission plans to make freight services pay compensation for delays. They argued that it would increase costs for rail freight and distort competition with road transport.
The Community of European Railways, of which Irish Rail is a member, has argued that the principle of subsidiarity should apply, leaving national governments to decide their own rail policy. The Irish Rail spokesman said liberalising the network here would cause several practical difficulties because of higher entry costs, a different rail gauge and the small size of the market.
All 13 MEPs from the Republic were present in Strasbourg this week, although a few also spent time at the ploughing championships. The Irish presence was relatively low; none of the dozens of reports presented was written by Irish members, whose main contributions came in brief speeches from the floor.
Sinn Féin MEPs Bairbre de Brún and Mary Lou McDonald's press conference to mark IRA decommissioning was sparsely attended, perhaps because it clashed with a visit to the parliament by German chancellor Gerhard Schröder.
EU Commissioner for the Single Market Charlie McCreevy briefed the parliament on several occasions about the commission's ongoing programme of reform of financial regulations.
According to Fine Gael MEP Gay Mitchell, he amended one of these proposals, concerning a change in the liquidity requirements for banks, after representations made by the Irish Government about its possible effect on some banks in the International Financial Services Centre.
On Tuesday, Mr Mitchell accused Mr McCreevy and the commission of "washing its hands" over losses suffered by policyholders at Equitable Life insurance company after its near collapse in 2000.
Mr Mitchell claimed that more than one million Europeans, including 6,500 Irish policyholders, suffered cumulative losses of over €5 billion during the crisis. Mr McCreevy said that while he had sympathy for those policyholders who lost money, they had to pursue matters through their own national courts. The commission was not in a position to investigate because "it is not the way the commission can do things".
Fine Gael's Avril Doyle was one of a number of Irish MEPs to raise domestic concerns at the parliament. She warned that the EU's planned reform of sugar supports would "completely obliterate" the production of sugar beet and have "serious repercussions" for Ireland at a time when demand for the product was rising.
A new website - www.europarl.eu.int - provides a comprehensive and up to date account of all the European Parliament's activities.
