Untitled - Ministerstwo Rozwoju Regionalnego

should provide for contracts of specified duration awarded by way of public
tender procedures, with minor exceptions determined by safety reasons or negligible
value of the services.
The prepared draft new regulation evolved with time towards diluting the
restrictions concerning employment of public-owned carriers. In its 2005 version,
the draft provides a new regulatory framework for public transport which
determines the possible solutions in respect of urban transport organization systems.
The purpose of the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council
COM (2005) 319 on public passenger transport services by rail and by road is
to define the scope of intervention by authorities in the public passenger transport
sector in accordance with the Community laws.
The draft regulation defines the conditions on the basis of which competent
public authorities, when imposing obligations to provide public services or
awarding a contract to provide them, compensate the service providers for the
incurred costs or grant the exclusive right to provide the services.
The following rules of contracting public services are formulated in the draft
Regulation COM (2005) 319 3 :
– a contract is required for exclusive right to provide public services or compensation
(irrespective of its nature) to be granted;
– the provision of public services at prices according to maximum tariffs defined
by public authorities for all passengers or for some passengers categories
may also be subject to contract award;
– the public authorities of the member states may exclude from the scope of
the Regulation the rules of compensating carriers for providing public
services at prices stipulated in the maximum tariffs for pupils, students,
apprentices and persons with reduced mobility on condition that the
competent EU authorities are notified thereof.
The corrected draft Regulation COM (2005) 319 forms the regulatory framework
determining the urban transport operations providing public utility services.
Pursuant to the draft regulation, public authorities may choose the solution
concerning the organization of their public transport. The public authorities
may decide whether they will provide the urban transport services through
their undertakings or whether they will commission the task to an independent
operator or operators. The creation of such legal possibilities is the European
Commission’s response to the European Parliament’s request to respect the
freedom of choice of territorial units. In the contract executed with the operator,
local governments may define the tasks for operators and finance those tasks 4 .
3 Draft Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council COM (2005) 319 on public passenger
transport services by rail and by road, www.europa.eu.int
4 W. Starowicz, J. ¯urowska, Us³ugi publiczne w kolejowym i drogowym transporcie pasa¿erów – nowe
propozycje Rozporz¹dzenia Rady i Parlamentu Europejskiego. “Transport Miejski i Regionalny” 2005,
No. 9, p. 16.
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