Mauro Moretti, CEO of FS, elected Chairman of UIC Europe for the 2014-2015 term
The European Management Committee (EMC) and UIC Regional Assembly for Europe (RAE) held a joint meeting on 11 December at UIC Paris headquarters prior to the Executive Board meeting.
The meeting was chaired by Guillaume Pepy, President of SNCF, Chairman of UIC Europe, in the presence of UIC Director General Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, assisted by Simon Fletcher, UIC Coordinator for Europe.
EMC and RAE Governance
The first issue on the agenda was the governance of EMC and the UIC European region for the 2014-2015 term.
Chairman Guillaume Pepy, reaching his two-year term as chairman and chairing the EMC/RAE meetings for the last time, declared:
During my mandate, I had the great “privilege” to steer the Region during the big UIC crisis we passed through…it led to new statutes, a revised approach to project management, the creation of the opt-in process, the essential projects… It was a very challenging and interesting period. I keep in mind some nice souvenirs.
Now, our old UIC is in good health and dynamic. I would also like to underline the work done in our immediate neighbourhood, which is a particular priority for us. We boosted UIC’s role and its visibility with regard to other institutions.
Many thanks to all of you, for your support, feedback and friendship. Thank you Jean-Pierre (Loubinoux), and your team, you are doing a great job…
After a call for candidates launched by UIC HQ, the results were considered at previous EMC and EGoA meetings and a position was reached. The proposal submitted to the Assembly for ratification is the following:
Chairperson: Mauro Moretti (FS)
Vice Chair (UIC: B Guillemon (BLS)
Vice Chair (CER Chairman): C. Kern (ÖBB)
Vice Chair (EIM Chairman: G. Malm (Trafikverket)
Members with dual CER/UIC membership: R. Grube (DB) – G. Pepy (SNCF) – Mrs. I. David (MAV) – M. Queiro (CP) – R. Cobbe (ATOC) – A. Asmann (EVR),
Members with dual EIM/UIC membership): F. Cardoso dos Reis (REFER) – L. Lopez Ruiz (ADIF) – J. Rapoport (RFF)
Members (neither CER nor EIM): V. Yakunin (RZD)
4th Ex Board member (Central Europe): J. Kamowski (PKP).
The new composition has been unanimously accepted and Mauro Moretti, CEO of FS Italiane is declared elected as Chair of the UIC European Region for the period 2014-2015, with Bernard Guillement from BLS as Vice Chairman and the college of EMC members as in the list presented by Jean-Pierre Loubinoux.
The speech of Mr Mauro Moretti is available here:
http://uic.org/com/IMG/pdf/speech_m_moretti_emc_rae_11_december_2013.pdf
Strategic developments
The discussions and decisions of the UIC European Management Committee and Regional Assembly for Europe focused, among other topics, on the following strategic developments:
The Rail Technical Strategy for Europe (RTSE)
A small team of people led by Simon Fletcher, UIC Coordinator for Europe, achieved significant work to develop the “Challenge 2050” Vision document into a technical strategy for the European rail operating community. A first draft of the “Rail technical Strategy for Europe” (RTSE) was presented. The RAE Chairman insisted that this coordinated development still has to evolve and to provide a common expression of the rail community’s strategy for the future European railway system.
As Simon Fletcher reminded the audience, the RTSE is not a position paper but it is a clear statement of how the railway operating community intends to develop the technical messages that were included in “Challenge 2050”. The RTSE will also influence the development of the technical innovations that the sector needs in the years to come and which is not covered by Shift2Rail.
Finally, the objective is to publish the RTSE by the end of January.
Shift2Rail, a collegiate approach for the railway operating community
Chairman Guillaume Pepy stressed in his introduction that Shift2Rail is becoming something very important to the rail sector and that it is about to become reality. “We know that it will happen in 2014 and we also know that it will almost certainly be the only vehicle for future rail research and innovation in Europe. So we need to be there… Some companies have decided to get independently involved and others have indicated their willingness to be involved through the collegiate approach that the UIC is facilitating”
Simon Fletcher confirmed that Shift2Rail will be the only framework for future innovation and that even the final stages and project allocation of the first call under Horizon 2020 will be undertaken within the Shift2Rail framework. Therefore the college will continue to develop the railway operating community’s position with the Commission, but it is clear that if railways want to secure EU funds for future innovation it must be done within Shift2Rail.
In conclusion to the exchanges and after thanking the UIC team for what they had been able to do up to now, it was agreed that the work must continue in the open and inclusive manner in which it has been done thus far.
It was also agreed that the UIC teams should keep developing the railway operating community approach to Shift2Rail.
In the meantime on 16 December, the official legislative proposal regarding Shift2Rail was released by the European Commission (http://ec.europa.eu/transport/modes/rail/news/shift-to-rail_en.htm)
EC: 1st Call of the Horizon 2020 Research & Innovation programme
The European UIC Members were informed of the fact that the European Commission is formally launching the first call of the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. Apart from the point relating to Shift2Rail and where it fits in Horizon 2020, there are a number of other opportunities that this programme will bring to the sector.
As Jean-Pierre Loubinoux explained, there are three main topics:
- Intelligent infrastructure
- Smart rail services which include seamless multimodal travel and logistics services
- New generation of railway vehicles
RAE members will learn more about this new approach to the co-funded programme from the EC and how this programme will interface with Shift2Rail.
In conclusion the RCG and UIC HQ team was thanked for the work already achieved and the attention given to this issue. For further implication and influence, the Chairman encouraged members to be actively involved in the work of RCG, to show the European Commission that the railway operating community is determined and must be considered as a serious group of innovators.
