The European Commission has launched a Call for Evidence to prepare the revision of the mandate of the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA).
This initiative aims to ensure that ERA’s mandate continues to contribute to the highest level of rail safety, security and sustainability in Europe, in line with the evolving important needs.
- The procedures for vehicle authorisation and safety certifications need to be further streamlined and improved and the effective delivery of ERA’s key policy-related tasks and responsibilities should be expedited. This should include, among others, a more effective removal of redundant national rules and oversight of the National Safety Authorities.
- The resources allocated to ERA need to keep pace with its growing workload, covering both the authorisation tasks and the policy tasks.
- It is important for ERA to be able to offer technical support to strengthen safety maturity across Europe, in line with the identified pressing needs. It is key to also ensure maximum transparency and an effective flow of information in the field of safety at EU level, for example by means of a technical solution to pro-actively share safety relevant data for better learning and accident prevention.
- ERA needs to be better equipped to promote innovation and support rail modernisation and digitalisation with clear and well-focused European specifications. These include, for example, the roll-out of the single European signalling and 5G-communication system (ERTMS and FRMCS) and systemic game-changers like digital automated couplers for freight trains.
- ERA should also take on new tasks stemming from the challenging geopolitical realities. Some specifically concern the future integration of the Western Balkans, Ukraine and Moldova, for example through providing support in aligning their national legislation with the EU technical acquis. Others involve supporting the EU Global Gateway initiative, resilience, facilitating cross-border military mobility, and developing European specifications for dual use of rolling stock.
The Call for Evidence and the accompanying public consultation are open from 5 December 2025 to 27 February 2026, in all official EU languages via the Commission’s "Have Your Say" portal. Stakeholders and citizens are invited to share their views on the key elements of the future mandate. Targeted consultations with national authorities, rail operators, infrastructure managers, manufacturers, sector associations and EU bodies will be organised by the Commission. A summary of all consultation activities will be published eight weeks after the consultation closes.
