Management Board Meeting 54 on 25 November 2020

The minutes of the 53rd Management Board meeting of 17 June 2020

1. DECISION n° 243  of the Management Board of the European Union Agency for Railways adopting the Single Programming Document 2021

   This Decision refers to the adoption of the Single Programming Document 2021. The document takes the opinion of the European Commission into account, according to article 25.2 (c) of the Agency Regulation, as well as the outcomes of the consultation process in the course of 2020.

2. DECISION n° 244  of the Management Board of the European Union Agency for Railways amending DECISION n° 161 of the Management Board of the European Union Agency for Railways adopting the policy on monitoring the performance and decision-making of National Safety Authorities (NSAs) adopted on 29 November 2017

   This Decision amends MB Decision n°161/2017 and defines a targeted scope for the NSA monitoring. As in 2019 and 2020, the amendment was needed to ensure a balanced budget for SPD 2021.

3. DECISION n° 245  of the Management Board of the European Union Agency for Railways amending MB Decision n° 189 and n° 213 on the practical modalities relating to recovery of costs incurred by the Agency for its assistance to Member States, candidate countries and stakeholders on training and other appropriate activities

   This Decision provides the Agency with the possibility to recover costs when engaging at the request of the Commission, Member States, candidate countries or the networks, in training and other appropriate activities concerning the application and explanation of railway safety and interoperability legislation and related products of the Agency such as registers, implementation guides and recommendations (Art. 43 of the Agency Regulation). The amendment extends the validity until 16 June 2022.

4. DECISION n° 246  of the Management Board of the European Union Agency for Railways adopting the budget and establishment plan 2021

   This Decision refers to the adoption of the budget 2021 and the establishment plan 2021, based on communication COM(2020) 300 of 27/07/2020 on the DRAFT General budget of the European Union for the financial year 2021. The Commission foresaw for the ERA 2021 budget an EU contribution of 25.70 Mio€ with 151 TAs.

5. DECISION n° 247  of the Management Board of the European Union Agency for Railways adopting the statement of estimates 2022 and endorsing the Single Programming Document 2022

   This Decision provides a forecast of the expenditure and revenue for 20221. There is, however, not yet enough information in order to estimate the volume and complexity of the projects for vehicle authorisation, safety certification, which will continue to increase in 2022-2023. The Agency will be able to provide more accurate estimates for 2022 and amend the SPD draft accordingly before its adoption by the Management Board in November, based on the progress of work in 2021.

6. DECISION n° 248  of the Management Board of the European Union Agency for Railways appointing a reporting officer for the appraisal of the Executive Director

   This Decision appoints Mr Hinne Groot as reporting officer for the annual appraisal exercise of the Agency’s Executive Director until the end of 2021. The Director for Land Transport, Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport had already been appointed in this capacity.

7. DECISION n° 249  of the Management Board of the European Union Agency for Railways extending the derogation from the application of Annex to the Decision n° 141 on the implementation of Telework, as a measure pertaining to the Corona virus

   In anticipation of the re-entry of staff members to the Agency building in Valenciennes, the Agency has been preparing a plan to be put in place as soon as the lockdown is lifted, guaranteeing the safety and well-being of its staff.This Decision extends MB Decision n° 224 until the end of 2021.

8. Amended DECISION n° 162  of the Management Board of the European Union Agency for Railways adopting rules for the prevention and management of conflicts of interest in respect of the members of the Management Board of the European Union Agency for Railways

   Decision n° 162 describes rules in relation to Declarations of Interest for MB members. Article 9 has been updated to reflect the current reality on the composition of the Conflicts of Interest Review Panel.

9. DECISION n° 250  of the Management Board of the European Union Agency for Railways adopting the roadmap of the Data and Digitalization Phase 2 – linked data mainstreaming

   This Decision foresees that linked data becomes the default setting for any future development of the databases, registers and specifications for data exchange mandated by the EU legal framework, under its remit. Broader application of this concept beyond the realm of ERA is certainly to be expected.  Phase 1 of the Data and Digitalization had been approved in November 2019.

10. DECISION n° 251  of the Management Board of the European Union Agency for Railways appointing a member of the Executive Board

    In its meetings of 25 November 2020, the Board appointed Mr Samuel Bonnier (France) as  member for the Executive Board.

Agreed to meet on 18 March 2021 by videoconference