Regulation (EU) 2016/796 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2016 on the European Union Agency for Railways and repealing Regulation (EC) No 881/2004 (Text with EEA relevance)

The practical arrangements for sending the documents referred to in paragraph 3 shall be discussed and agreed by the Commission and the Member States on the basis of a draft prepared by the Agency.

When the documents referred to in paragraph 3 are being sent, the bodies concerned may indicate which documents are not to be disclosed to the public for reasons of security.

The national authorities responsible for issuing the licences referred to in point (c) of paragraph 3 of this Article shall notify the Agency of each individual decision to issue, renew, amend or revoke those licenses, in accordance with Directive 2012/34/EU.

The Agency may include any public document or link relevant to the objectives of this Regulation in the public database, taking into account applicable Union legislation on data protection.

The Agency shall establish a network of the national safety authorities referred to in Article 16 of Directive (EU) 2016/798. The Agency shall provide the network with a secretariat.

The Agency shall support the investigating bodies in accordance with Article 22(7) of Directive (EU) 2016/798. To facilitate cooperation among the investigating bodies, the Agency shall provide a secretariat which shall be organised separately from the functions within the Agency relating to safety certification of railway undertakings and authorisations to place vehicles on the market.

The objectives of the cooperation between the bodies referred to in paragraph 1 and 2 shall be, in particular:

The Agency may establish a network of representative bodies from the railway sector acting at Union level. The list of those bodies shall be defined by the Commission. The Agency may provide the network with a secretariat. The tasks of the network shall be, in particular:

The networks and bodies referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 4 of this Article may comment on the draft opinions referred to in Article 10(2).

The Agency may establish other networks with bodies or authorities having responsibility for a part of the Union rail system.

The Commission may participate in the meetings of networks referred to in this Article.

The Agency shall contribute, at the Commission's request or on its own initiative subject to the procedure referred to in Article 52(4), to railway research activities at Union level, including by providing support to relevant Commission services and representative bodies. Such contributions shall be without prejudice to other research activities at Union level.

The Commission may entrust the Agency with the task of promoting innovation aimed at improving railway safety and interoperability, particularly the use of new information technologies, timetable information and tracking and tracing systems.

At the request of the Commission, Member States, candidate countries or the networks referred to in Article 38, the Agency shall engage 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.

The nature and extent of the activities referred to in paragraph 1, including the possible impact on resources, shall be decided by the Management Board and included in the Agency's programming document. The costs of such assistance shall be borne by the requesting parties unless otherwise agreed.

In so far as is necessary in order to achieve the objectives set out in this Regulation, and without prejudice to the respective competences of the Member States, the institutions of the Union and the European External Action Service, the Agency may strengthen coordination with international organisations on the basis of concluded agreements and develop contacts and enter into administrative arrangements with supervisory authorities, international organisations and the administrations of third countries competent in matters covered by Agency activities in order to keep up with scientific and technical developments and to ensure promotion of the Union railways legislation and standards.

The arrangements referred to in paragraph 1 shall not create legal obligations incumbent on the Union and its Member States, nor shall they prevent Member States and their competent authorities from concluding bilateral or multilateral arrangements with the supervisory authorities, international organisations and the administrations of third countries referred to in paragraph 1. Such bilateral or multilateral arrangements and cooperation shall be subject to prior discussion with the Commission and periodical reporting to it. The Management Board shall be duly informed of those bilateral or multilateral arrangements.

The Management Board shall adopt a strategy for relations with third countries or international organisations concerning matters for which the Agency is competent. That strategy shall be included in the programming document of the Agency, with a specification of associated resources.

The Management Board shall be composed of one representative from each Member State and two representatives of the Commission, all with a right to vote.

Board members and their alternates shall be appointed in light of their knowledge of the Agency's core business, taking into account relevant managerial, administrative and budgetary skills. All parties shall make efforts to limit turnover of their representatives on the Management Board, in order to ensure continuity of the Management Board's work. All parties shall aim to achieve a balanced gender representation on the Management Board.

Member States and the Commission shall appoint members of the Management Board and their respective alternates who shall replace the members in their absence.

The term of office of the members shall be 4 years and may be renewed.

Where appropriate, the participation of representatives of third countries and the conditions of such participation shall be established in the arrangements referred to in Article 75.

The Management Board shall elect, by a two-thirds majority of its members entitled to vote, a chairperson from among the representatives of the Member States and a deputy chairperson from among its members.

The term of office of the chairperson and deputy chairperson shall be 4 years and may be renewed once. If, however, their membership of the Management Board ends at any time during their term of office, their term of office shall automatically also expire on that date.

Meetings of the Management Board shall be conducted in accordance with its rules of procedure and convened by its chairperson. The Executive Director of the Agency shall participate in the meetings, except when his or her participation may lead to a conflict of interests, as decided by the chairperson, or when the Management Board is to take a decision relating to Article 70, in accordance with point (i) of Article 51(1).

The Management Board shall meet at least twice a year. It shall also meet on the initiative of the chairperson or at the request of the Commission, of a majority of its members, or of one-third of the Member States' representatives on the Board.

When a matter of confidentiality or a conflict of interest arises, the Management Board may decide to examine specific items on its agenda without the members concerned being present. This does not affect the right of the Member States and of the Commission to be represented by an alternate or by any other person. Detailed rules for the application of this provision shall be laid down in the Management Board's rules of procedure.

In order to ensure that the Agency carries out its tasks, the Management Board shall:

The Management Board shall adopt, in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 110 of the Staff Regulations, a decision in application of Article 2(1) of the Staff Regulations and of Article 6 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants delegating the relevant appointing authority powers to the Executive Director and laying down the conditions under which that delegation of powers may be suspended. The Executive Director shall be authorised to subdelegate those powers. The Executive Director shall inform the Management Board of such subdelegations.

The Management Board shall adopt the programming document containing annual and multi-annual programmes by 30 November each year, taking into account the opinion of the Commission, and shall forward it to the Member States, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission and to the networks referred to in Article 38. The annual work programme shall lay down the actions that the Agency is to perform during the coming year.

The programming document shall become definitive after final adoption of the Union general budget and, if necessary, shall be adjusted accordingly.

The Agency's annual work programme shall identify the objectives of each activity. As a general rule, each activity shall be clearly linked with the budgetary and human resources required to carry it out, in accordance with the principles of activity-based budgeting and management and the early impact-assessment procedure provided for in Article 8(2).

The Management Board shall, if necessary, amend the adopted programming document when a new task is assigned to the Agency. The inclusion of such a new task shall be subject to an analysis of the human and budgetary resources implications in accordance with Article 8(2), and may be subject to a decision to postpone other tasks.

The Agency's multi-annual work programme shall set out overall strategic programming, including objectives, expected results and performance indicators. It shall also set out resource programming, including the multiannual budget and staff. The European Parliament shall be consulted on the draft multi-annual work programme.

The Management Board shall be assisted by an Executive Board.

The Executive Board shall prepare decisions to be adopted by the Management Board. Where necessary, on grounds of urgency, it shall take certain provisional decisions on behalf of the Management Board, in particular on administrative and budgetary matters, subject to a mandate received from the Management Board.

The Executive Board shall be composed of the following members:

The term of office of members of the Executive Board shall be the same as that of members of the Management Board unless the Management Board decides that it is to be shorter.

The Executive Board shall meet at least once every 3 months and, where possible, not less than 2 weeks prior to the meeting of the Management Board. The chairperson of the Executive Board shall convene additional meetings at the request of its members or of the Management Board.

The Management Board shall lay down the rules of procedure of the Executive Board, shall be periodically informed of the work of the Executive Board, and shall have access to its documents.

The Agency shall be managed by its Executive Director, who shall be completely independent in the performance of his or her duties. The Executive Director shall be accountable to the Management Board for his or her activities.

Without prejudice to the powers of the Commission, the Management Board or the Executive Board, the Executive Director shall neither seek nor take instructions from any government or from any other body.

Upon being requested to do so by the European Parliament or the Council, the Executive Director shall report on the performance of his or her duties to the institution concerned.

The Executive Director shall be the legal representative of the Agency and shall adopt decisions, recommendations, opinions and other formal acts of the Agency.

The Executive Director shall be responsible for the administrative management of the Agency and for the implementation of the tasks assigned to it by this Regulation. In particular, the Executive Director shall be responsible for:

By decision of the Management Board, the Agency shall establish one or more Boards of Appeal which shall be in charge of the appeals and arbitration procedures referred to in Articles 58 and 61.

Each Board of Appeal shall be composed of a chairperson and two other members. They shall have alternates to represent them in their absence, or where any conflicts of interest arise.

The establishment and composition of Boards of Appeal shall be decided on a case-by-case basis. Alternatively, a Board of Appeal may be established as a permanent body for a maximum period of 4 years. In both cases, the following procedure applies:

Where the Board of Appeal considers that the nature of the appeal so requires, it may request the Management Board to appoint two additional members and their alternates from the list referred to in point (a) of paragraph 3.

On a proposal by the Agency, and after consulting the Management Board, the Commission shall establish the rules of procedure of the Boards of Appeal, including the voting rules the procedures for filing an appeal and the conditions for reimbursement of expenses of their members. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 81(3).

The Boards of Appeal may request the opinion of experts from the Member States concerned, in particular with a view to clarifying the national legislation concerned, during the initial examination phase of the procedure.

In the case of a permanent Board of Appeal, the term of office of its members and alternates shall be limited to 4 years and may be renewed once. In other cases, the term of office shall be limited to the duration of the appeal or arbitration.

Members of Boards of Appeal shall be independent from all parties involved in the appeal or arbitration and may not perform any other duties within the Agency. In their deliberations and decisions they shall not be bound by any instructions and shall be free from any conflict of interest.

Members of Boards of Appeal shall not be part of the Agency's staff and shall be remunerated for their actual involvement in a given appeal or arbitration.

Members of Boards of Appeal may not be removed from office during their term of office, unless there are serious grounds for such removal and the Management Board takes a decision to that effect.

Members of Boards of Appeal may not be removed from the list of qualified experts during their term of office, unless there are serious grounds for such removal and the Commission takes a decision to that effect.

Members of Boards of Appeal may not take part in any appeal or arbitration proceedings if they have any personal interest in the proceedings, if they have previously been involved as representatives of one of the parties to the proceedings, or if they participated in the taking of the decision appealed against.

Where a member of a Board of Appeal considers that it is not appropriate for him or her or any other member to take part in any appeal or arbitration proceeding, on any of the grounds referred to in paragraph 1 or for any other reason, that member shall inform the Board of Appeal, which shall decide on the exclusion of the person concerned on the basis of the rules adopted by the Management Board pursuant to point (s) of Article 51(1).

Any party to the appeal or arbitration proceedings may object, in accordance with the rules of procedure established pursuant to Article 55(5), to any member of the Board of Appeal on any of the grounds referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, or if that member is suspected of partiality. No objection may be based on the nationality of the member concerned.

An objection under paragraph 3 shall only be admissible if it is made prior to the start of proceedings before the Board of Appeal, or, where the information constituting the grounds for the objection becomes known after the proceedings have started, within the deadlines laid down in the Board of Appeal's rules of procedure. The Board of Appeal member concerned shall be notified of the objection and shall state whether he or she agrees to be excluded. If he or she does not agree, the Board of Appeal shall take a decision within the deadlines laid down in its rules of procedure or, where there is no response, after expiry of the deadline set for issuing a response.

The Boards of Appeal shall decide as to the action to be taken in the cases specified in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 without the participation of the member concerned. For the purpose of taking that decision, the member concerned shall be replaced on the Board of Appeal by his or her alternate. The Management Board shall be informed of the decisions taken by the Board of Appeal.

An appeal may be brought before a Board of Appeal against a decision taken by the Agency pursuant to Articles 14, 20, 21 and 22 or if the Agency fails to act within the applicable time limits, following completion of the interlocutory revision referred to in Article 60.

An appeal lodged pursuant to paragraph 1 shall not have suspensory effect. However, upon request by the parties involved, the Board of Appeal may decide that the appeal in question is to have suspensory effect, if it considers that circumstances, such as impact on safety, so permit. In such a case, the Board of Appeal shall provide a statement of reasons for its decision.

Any natural or legal person may appeal against a decision of the Agency addressed to that person, or of direct and individual concern to that person, pursuant to Articles 14, 20 and 21, or if the Agency fails to act within the applicable time limits.

The appeal, together with the statement of grounds thereof, shall be filed in writing in accordance with the rules of procedure referred to in Article 55(5) within 2 months of notification of the measure to the person concerned, or, if the person is not notified of the measure, within 2 months of the day on which it came to the knowledge of that person.

If the Agency considers the appeal to be admissible and well founded, it shall rectify the decision or failure to act referred to in Article 58(1). This shall not apply where the decision appealed against affects another party involved in the appeal proceedings.

If the decision is not rectified within 1 month after receipt of the appeal, the Agency shall forthwith decide whether or not to suspend the application of its decision and shall refer the appeal to one of the Boards of Appeal.

The Board of Appeal shall decide within 3 months of the appeal being filed whether to grant or refuse that appeal. When examining an appeal or acting as arbitrator, the Board of Appeal shall act within the deadlines laid down in its rules of procedure. It shall, as often as necessary, invite the parties to the appeal proceedings to file, within specified time limits, observations on its notifications or on communications from other parties to the appeal proceedings. Parties to the appeal proceedings shall be entitled to make oral representations.

As regards arbitration, the Agency shall take its final decision in accordance with the procedures referred to in Article 21(7) of Directive (EU) 2016/797 and Article 10(7) of Directive (EU) 2016/798.

Where the Board of Appeal finds that the grounds for appeal are founded, it shall remit the case to the Agency. The Agency shall take its final decision in compliance with the findings of the Board of Appeal and shall provide a statement of reasons for that decision. The Agency shall inform the parties to the appeal proceedings accordingly.

Actions for the annulment of Agency decisions taken pursuant to Articles 14, 20 and 21, or for failure to act within the applicable time limits, may be brought before the Court of Justice of the European Union only after the appeal procedure within the Agency in accordance with Article 58 has been exhausted.

The Agency shall take all necessary measures to comply with the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Estimates of all the revenue and expenditure of the Agency shall be prepared for each financial year, corresponding to the calendar year, and shall be set out in the budget of the Agency.

Without prejudice to other resources, the revenue of the Agency shall consist of:

The expenditure of the Agency shall include staff, administrative, infrastructure and operational expenses.

Revenue and expenditure shall be kept in balance.

Each year, the Management Board, on the basis of a draft drawn up by the Executive Director in accordance with the principle of activity-based budgeting, shall produce a statement of estimates of revenue and expenditure for the Agency for the following financial year. That statement of estimates, which shall include a draft establishment plan, shall be forwarded by the Management Board to the Commission by 31 January at the latest.

The statement of estimates shall be forwarded by the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council together with the preliminary draft general budget of the Union.

On the basis of the statement of estimates, the Commission shall enter in the preliminary draft general budget of the Union the estimates it considers necessary for the establishment plan and the amount of the contribution to be charged to the general budget, which it shall place before the European Parliament and the Council in accordance with Article 314 TFEU, together with a description of and justification for any difference between the Agency's statement of estimates and the subsidy to be charged to the general budget.

The European Parliament and the Council shall authorise the appropriations for the contribution to the Agency. The European Parliament and the Council shall adopt the establishment plan for the Agency.

The budget shall be adopted by the Management Board, by a two-thirds majority of its members entitled to vote. The budget of the Agency shall become final following final adoption of the general budget of the Union. Where appropriate, it shall be adjusted accordingly.

For any property-related project likely to have significant implications for the budget of the Agency, Article 203 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (25) shall apply.

The Executive Director shall implement the budget of the Agency.

By 1 March following each financial year, the Agency's accounting officer shall communicate the provisional accounts to the Commission's accounting officer together with a report on the budgetary and financial management for that financial year. The Commission's accounting officer shall consolidate the provisional accounts of the institutions and decentralised bodies in accordance with Article 147 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012.

By 31 March following each financial year, the Commission's accounting officer shall forward the Agency's provisional accounts to the Court of Auditors, together with a report on the budgetary and financial management for that financial year. The report on the budgetary and financial management for the financial year shall also be forwarded to the European Parliament and the Council.

On receipt of the Court of Auditors' observations on the Agency's provisional accounts, pursuant to Article 148 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012, the accounting officer shall draw up the Agency's final accounts. The Executive Director shall submit them to the Management Board for its opinion.

The Management Board shall deliver an opinion on the Agency's final accounts.

The accounting officer shall, by 1 July following each financial year, forward the final accounts to the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission and the Court of Auditors, together with the Management Board's opinion.

The final accounts of the Agency shall be published.

The Executive Director shall send the Court of Auditors a reply to its observations by 30 September following each financial year. He or she shall also send that reply to the Management Board and to the Commission.

The Executive Director shall submit to the European Parliament, at the latter's request, all information necessary for the smooth application of the discharge procedure for the financial year in question, in accordance with Article 165(3) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012.

The European Parliament, on a recommendation from the Council acting by a qualified majority, shall, before 15 May of year N + 2, give a discharge to the Executive Director in respect of the implementation of the budget for year N.

The Staff Regulations and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, and the rules adopted by agreement between the institutions of the Union for giving effect to those Staff Regulations, shall apply to the staff of the Agency.

Without prejudice to point (j) of Article 51(1) of this Regulation, implementing rules adopted by the Commission to give effect to the Staff Regulations and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, including the general implementing provisions, shall apply by analogy to the Agency, in accordance with Article 110 of the Staff Regulations.

The Agency shall take appropriate administrative measures, inter alia, through training and prevention strategies, to organise its services in such a way as to avoid any conflict of interest.

The Executive Director shall be engaged as a temporary agent of the Agency under point (a) of Article 2 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants.

The Executive Director shall be appointed by the Management Board on the grounds of merit, documented administrative and managerial skills, and relevant knowledge and experience of the transport sector, from a list of at least three candidates proposed by the Commission, after an open and transparent selection procedure, following publication of the vacancy notice in the Official Journal of the European Union and elsewhere, as appropriate. Before the decision of the Management Board is taken, the observer referred to in point (x) of Article 51(1) shall report on the procedure.

The term of office of the Executive Director shall be 5 years. By the end of that period, the Commission shall undertake an assessment of the performance of the Executive Director and of the Agency's future tasks and challenges.

The Management Board, acting on a proposal from the Commission taking into account the assessment referred to in paragraph 3, may extend the term of office of the Executive Director once, for no more than 5 years.

The Management Board shall inform the European Parliament of its intention to extend the Executive Director's term of office. Within 1 month before any such extension, the Executive Director may be invited to make a statement before the competent committee of the European Parliament and to answer questions put by its members.

An Executive Director whose term of office has been extended may not participate in another selection procedure for the same post following such an extension of term of office.

The Executive Director may be removed from office only upon a decision of the Management Board acting on a request from the Commission or from one third of its members.

Where the necessary arrangements concerning the accommodation to be provided for the Agency in the host Member State and the facilities to be made available by that Member State together with the specific rules applicable in that Member State to the Executive Director, members of the Management Board, Agency staff and members of their families are not yet in place or not yet provided for in a written agreement, an agreement between the Agency and the host Member State on all these elements shall be concluded, in accordance with the legal order of the host Member State, and after the approval of the Management Board, no later than 16 June 2017. That agreement may take the form of a headquarters agreement.

The host Member State shall provide the best possible conditions to ensure the proper functioning of the Agency, including multilingual, European-oriented schooling and appropriate transport connections.

The contractual liability of the Agency shall be governed by the law applicable to the contract in question.

The Court of Justice of the European Union shall have jurisdiction to adjudicate pursuant to any arbitration clause contained in a contract concluded by the Agency.

In the event of non-contractual liability, the Agency shall, in accordance with the general principles common to the laws of the Member States, make good any damage caused by its departments or by its staff in the performance of their duties.

The Court of Justice of the European Union shall have jurisdiction in disputes relating to compensation for damage as referred to in paragraph 3.

The personal liability of its staff towards the Agency shall be governed by the provisions laid down in the Staff Regulations or the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants applicable to them.

Regulation No 1 shall apply to the Agency. If necessary, the Management Board shall adopt appropriate rules for the implementation of that Regulation.

The translation services required for the functioning of the Agency shall be provided by the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union.

Without prejudice to Article 44, the Agency shall be open to participation by third countries, in particular by countries within the scope of the European Neighbourhood Policy, the Enlargement policy countries and EFTA countries which have concluded agreements with the Union under which the countries concerned have adopted and are applying Union law, or equivalent national measures, in the field covered by this Regulation, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 218 TFEU.

In accordance with the relevant provisions of the agreements referred to in paragraph 1, arrangements shall be made between the Agency and the third countries concerned, setting out detailed rules for participation by those third countries in the work of the Agency, in particular the nature and extent of such participation. Those arrangements shall include provisions on financial contributions and staff. They may provide for representation of the third countries concerned, without the right to vote, on the Management Board.

The Agency and the national safety authorities shall conclude cooperation agreements in relation to the implementation of Articles 14, 20 and 21, taking into account point (t) of Article 51(1).

The cooperation agreements may be specific or framework agreements, and may involve one or more national safety authorities. They shall contain a specified description of tasks and conditions for deliverables, lay down the time limits applying to their delivery, and determine the manner in which the fees payable by applicants are to be apportioned as between the Agency and the national safety authorities. Such apportionment shall take into account the framework model referred to in point (u) of Article 51(1).

The cooperation agreements may also include specific cooperation arrangements in the case of networks requiring specific expertise for geographical or historical reasons, with a view to reducing administrative burdens and costs to the applicant. Where such networks are isolated from the rest of the Union rail system, such specific cooperation arrangements may include the possibility of contracting tasks to the relevant national safety authorities when this is necessary in order to ensure efficient and proportionate allocation of resources.

In the case of those Member States whose rail networks have a track gauge that is different from that of the main rail network within the Union and share identical technical and operational requirements with neighbouring third countries, a multilateral cooperation agreement shall involve all the national safety authorities concerned in those Member States as provided for in Article 21(15) of Directive (EU) 2016/797 and Article 11(3) of Directive (EU) 2016/798.

The cooperation agreements shall be in place before the Agency carries out its tasks in accordance with Article 83(4).

The Agency may conclude cooperation agreements with other national authorities and competent bodies in relation to the implementation of Articles 14, 20 and 21.

The cooperation agreements shall be without prejudice to the overall responsibility of the Agency for the performance of its tasks as provided for in Articles 14, 20 and 21.

The Agency and the national safety authorities may work together and share best practices in relation to the implementation of Directive (EU) 2016/797 and of Directive (EU) 2016/798.

Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council (26) shall apply to documents held by the Agency.

The Agency shall publish its recommendations, opinions, studies, reports and outcomes of impact assessments on its website, without prejudice to paragraph 1 and after all confidential material has been removed therefrom.

The Agency shall make public the declarations of interests of the members of the Agency's management and administrative structure listed in Article 46.

The Management Board shall adopt measures to ensure that the Agency provides efficient, user-friendly and easily accessible information on its website about railway interoperability and safety processes and about other relevant railway documents.

In order to facilitate the fight against fraud, corruption and other unlawful activities under Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999, the Agency shall by 16 December 2016 accede to the Inter-institutional Agreement of 25 May 1999 concerning internal investigations by OLAF and adopt the appropriate provisions applicable to all employees of the Agency, using the template set out in the Annex to that Agreement.

The Court of Auditors shall have the power of audit, on the basis of documents and on the spot, over all grant beneficiaries, contractors and subcontractors who have received Union funds from the Agency.

OLAF may carry out investigations, including on-the-spot checks and inspections, in accordance with the provisions and procedures laid down in Regulation (EU) No 883/2013 and in Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 (29), with a view to establishing whether there has been any fraud, corruption or any other illegal activity affecting the financial interests of the Union in connection with a grant or contract funded by the Agency.

Without prejudice to paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, cooperation agreements with third countries and international organisations, contracts, grant agreements and grant decisions of the Agency shall contain provisions expressly empowering the Court of Auditors and OLAF to conduct such audits and investigations in accordance with their respective competences.

The Commission shall adopt, on the basis of the principles set out in paragraphs 2 and 3, implementing acts specifying:

Fees and charges shall be levied for:

The amount of the fees and charges shall be fixed at such a level as to ensure that the revenue in respect thereof is sufficient to cover the full cost of the services provided, including the relevant costs resulting from the tasks assigned to the national safety authorities in accordance with Article 76(2) and (3). All expenditure of the Agency attributed to staff involved in the activities referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, including the employer's pro-rata contribution to the pension scheme, shall in particular be reflected in that cost. Should a significant imbalance resulting from the provision of the services covered by fees and charges become recurrent, the level of those fees and charges shall be revised. Those fees and charges shall be assigned revenues for the Agency.

The Commission shall be assisted by the committee established by Article 51 of Directive (EU) 2016/797. That committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011.

Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.

Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply. Where the committee delivers no opinion, the Commission shall not adopt the draft implementing act and the third paragraph of Article 5(4) of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.

No later than 16 June 2020 and every 5 years thereafter, the Commission shall commission an evaluation to assess, in particular, the impact, effectiveness and efficiency of the Agency and its working practices, taking into account all relevant work by the Court of Auditors as well as the views and recommendations of relevant stakeholders, including national safety authorities, representatives of the railway sector, social partners and consumer organisations. The evaluation shall address, in particular, any need to amend the mandate of the Agency and the financial implications of any such amendment.

By 16 June 2023, the Commission, in order to identify whether improvements are needed, shall assess the functioning of the dual system for vehicle authorisation and safety certification, the one-stop shop related thereto and the harmonised implementation of ERTMS in the Union.

The Commission shall forward the evaluation report together with its conclusions thereon to the European Parliament, the Council and the Management Board. The findings of the evaluation shall be made public.

On the occasion of every second evaluation, there shall also be an assessment of the results achieved by the Agency, having regard to its objectives, mandate and tasks.

The Agency replaces and succeeds the European Railway Agency established by Regulation (EC) No 881/2004 as regards all ownership, agreements, legal obligations, employment contracts, financial commitments and liabilities.

By way of derogation from Article 47, the members of the Administrative Board appointed under Regulation (EC) No 881/2004 before 15 June 2016 shall remain in office as members of the Management Board until the expiry date of their term of office, without prejudice to the right of each Member State to appoint a new representative.

By way of derogation from Article 67, all employment contracts in force on 15 June 2016 shall be honoured until their expiry date.

The Agency shall carry out the certification and authorisation tasks pursuant to Articles 14, 20 and 21 and the tasks referred to in Article 22 from 16 June 2019 at the latest, subject to Article 54(4) of Directive (EU) 2016/797 and Article 31(3) of Directive (EU) 2016/798.