Background information

On 9 September 2022 the the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), together with the European Rail Freight Association (ERFA), called on the European Commission and Member States to develop a strategy to protect the European Union's modal shift targets and ensure uninterrupted, affordable energy supplies for rail transport. Both employers' organizations indicated that the ongoing crisis on European energy markets, caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, will also have a significant impact on rail transport, despite its energy efficiency. This could significantly limit not only freight transport but also access for EU citizens to passenger transport.

CER brings together 75 railway and infrastructure companies from the European Union, candidate countries (North Macedonia and Turkey), as well as from the Western Balkans, Norway and Switzerland. ERFA represents 30 rail freight carriers that operate across the entire European network.

Content of measure

The social partners indicate that the EU's Green Deal climate neutrality target foresees a greater role for railways, as set out in the modal shift targets in the EU's sustainable and smart mobility strategy. However energy accounts for around 10-20% of the cost base of railway companies and electricity prices for rail freight and passenger services doubled between 2021 and 2022, with prices up to ten times higher in some countries. In their view, rail operators will not be able to maintain their ticket prices and freight rates unless support measures such as energy price caps and state aid are introduced. They therefore call on the European Commission:

• to introduce energy price limits for rail transport in the emergency legislation;
• to introduce energy price caps for rail transport under emergency rules to tackle rising end-user energy costs.
• alternatively to reduce the costs of the railway undertaking through crisis subsidy schemes (for example, lower track access charges with full compensation to the infrastructure managers);
• to define railways as a strategic service that should be prioritized in terms of energy supply.

On the other hand, the Member States are called upon:

• to take immediate action to ensure that energy prices do not become unsustainable in the coming weeks;
• to ensure the adoption of a multimodal approach to support measures to avoid distortions of competition between the different modes of transport;
• to support industry initiatives to impose an energy price cap for strategic services such as rail transport and provide flexibility in implementation with respect to the different structures of competitive national energy markets.

Use of measure

n.a.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Applies to all workers	Sector specific set of companies	Applies to all citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
Employers' organisations	No special funding required

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	No involvement	Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative
Form	Not applicable	Direct consultation outside a formal body

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Only employers' organisations
• Main level of involvement: EU level

Involvement

It is a stand-alone initiative of two European sector employers' organizations. At present, there is no reaction from the European trade union sector organization (ETF).

Views and reactions

Employers' organizations support their own initiative. There is a lack of knowledge about trade union reactions.

Sectors and occupations

Sources

• 14 September 2022: Supply and Pricing of Energy Threaten Europe’s Modal Shift Objectives (www.cer.be)