Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/764 of 2 May 2018 on the fees and charges payable to the European Union Agency for Railways and their conditions of payment (Text with EEA relevance)

This Regulation lays down the fees and charges payable to the European Union Agency for Railways (‘the Agency’) for the processing of applications pursuant to Articles 14, 20, 21, and 22 of Regulation (EU) 2016/796, including for the use by an applicant of the one-stop shop (‘OSS’) provided for in Article 12 of that Regulation for the submission of applications to the Agency), and for the provision of other services in accordance with the objectives for which the Agency has been established. It also specifies the method to be used for calculating those fees and charges and conditions for payment.

This Regulation also establishes procedures to ensure transparency, non-discrimination and other basic principles of European law in relation to the costs of the national safety authorities (‘NSAs’) for processing the national part of the applications for which the Agency is responsible pursuant to Articles 14, 20, and 21 of Regulation (EU) 2016/796.

This Regulation shall not apply to the fees and charges levied in relation to the following activities of the NSAs:

1. processing of applications for single safety certificates pursuant to Article 10(8) of Directive (EU) 2016/798⁽¹⁾ and the related pre-engagement process provided for in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/763⁽²⁾,

2. processing of applications for vehicle authorisations for placing on the market or type authorisations of vehicles pursuant to Articles 21(8) and 24(1) of Directive (EU) 2016/797⁽³⁾ and the related pre-engagement process provided for in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/545⁽⁴⁾;

3. issuing an opinion on the request for ERTMS track-side equipment approval in accordance with the last sub paragraph of Article 19(3) of Directive (EU) 2016/797;

4. delivering temporary authorisations for on-site tests pursuant to Article 21(3) and (5) of Directive (EU) 2016/797.

The Agency shall levy fees:

1. for the submission of applications through the OSS to the Agency, if those are not included in the fixed fees for the processing of applications;

2. for the processing of applications submitted to the Agency, including for the issuing of estimates referred to in Article 4 or where an application is subsequently withdrawn by the applicant;

3. where the Agency renews, restricts, amends or reviews a decision issued in accordance with Directive (EU) 2016/798 or Directive (EU) 2016/797.

The Agency may levy fees where it revokes an authorisation for placing on the market due to a subsequently established non-compliance with essential requirements of a vehicle in use or a vehicle type in accordance with Article 26 of Directive (EU) 2016/797, or because a holder of a single safety certificate no longer satisfies the conditions for the certification in accordance with Article 17(5) and (6) of Directive 2016/798.

The applications referred to in paragraph 1, first subparagraph, points (a) and (b), shall cover:

1. authorisations for the placing on the market of vehicles and of vehicle types in accordance with Article 20 and 21 of Regulation (EU) 2016/796 other than those specified in point (b) of this paragraph;

2. authorisations for the placing on the market of a vehicle or a series of vehicles which is in conformity with an authorised vehicle type pursuant to Article 25(1) of Directive (EU) 2016/797;

3. single safety certificates in accordance with Article 14 of Regulation (EU) 2016/796;

4. decisions for approval of the interoperability compliance of an ERTMS track-side equipment solution with the relevant TSI in accordance with Article 22 of Regulation (EU) 2016/796;

5. pre-engagement applications in accordance with Article 22 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/545 and Articles 2(3) and 4(5) of Commission Implementing Regulation 2018/763;

6. appeals referred to in Article 58 of Regulation (EU) 2016/796 in accordance with Article 7 of this Regulation.

The Agency shall levy charges for the provision of services other than those referred to in paragraph 1, requested by an applicant or any other person or entity.

The Agency shall publish a list of services on its website.

The amount of fees for the use of the OSS for submitting to the Agency applications referred to in Article 2(2), points (a), (c), (d) and (e) shall be a fixed amount specified in table A of point 2 of the Annex. That fixed fee shall be due for payment at the time of the submission of the application.

The amount of fees for processing applications referred to in Article 2(2), points (a), (c), (d) and (e), including for performing the activities referred to in Article 2(1), first subparagraph, point (c) and second subparagraph, shall be the total of the following:

1. the number of hours spent by Agency staff and external experts, on the processing of the application multiplied by the hourly rate of the Agency specified in point 1 of the Annex;

2. the amount of fees levied by the Agency shall be supplemented by the relevant amount submitted by the national safety authorities (‘NSAs’) resulting from the cost for processing of the national part of the application.

The amount of fees for the submission and processing of respective applications and the issuing of authorisations referred to in Article 2(2), point (b) shall be a fixed amount specified in table B of point 3 of the Annex and includes the fee for using the OSS fee referred to in paragraph 1. That fixed fee shall be due for payment at the time of the submission of the application.

The amount of charges for services referred to in Article 2(3) shall be the number of hours spent by Agency staff and external experts multiplied by the hourly rate of the Agency specified in point 1 of the Annex.

At the request of the applicant, a 20 % reduction of the amount levied by the Agency for an application shall apply in case of micro, small or medium-sized enterprise. Such a request shall be made at application when fixed fees apply, and at the latest before the Agency issues an invoice in all other cases.

For the purposes of this Regulation, micro, small or medium-sized enterprise means an autonomous railway undertaking, infrastructure manager or manufacturer, established or having its seat in a member country of the European Economic Area and meeting the conditions laid down in Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC⁽⁵⁾.

The applicant shall provide evidence through the OSS proving that it qualifies as a micro, small or medium-sized enterprise. The Agency shall assess the evidence provided and decide to refuse the request for the status as micro, small or medium-sized enterprise in case of doubt or lack of justification.

The Agency shall, at the request of the applicant, issue a non-binding estimate of the amount of the fees and charges related to the application or request for services and provide information on when the invoices will be issued.

The NSAs which are involved in the processing of an application shall provide a non-binding estimate of their costs as referred to in Article 3(1)(b) to the Agency to be included in the estimate issued by the Agency.

During the processing of an application, the Agency and the NSAs shall monitor their costs. At the request of the applicant, when costs risk exceeding the estimate by more than 15 %, the Agency shall inform the applicant thereof.

Where the processing of an application or a service lasts longer than one year, the applicant may request a new estimate.

Where the issuing of estimates and any review thereof is requested, the deadlines set by Article 19(4) and Article 21(6) of Directive (EU) 2016/797 and Article 10(6) of Directive (EU) 2016/798 may be suspended for a maximum of 10 working days.

The Agency shall issue an invoice for the fees and charges due, within 30 calendar days of the date:

1. of its decision, except in case of decisions covered by the fixed fee regime or subject to Article 6(3);

2. of the decision of Board of Appeal;

3. when the service rendered ended;

4. of withdrawal of an application;

5. of any other event leading to cessation of processing of an application;

   With regard to fixed fees that become due for payment at the time of the submission of the application as referred to in Article 3(1) and (3) prior to the Agency’s processing the application, the Agency may agree a different due date with individual applicants, as well as enter into a special arrangement for invoicing.

The invoice shall provide the following elements, where applicable:

1. differentiation between fees or charges;

2. amounts subject to fixed fees;

3. where no fixed fees apply, the number of hours spent under the Agency’s responsibility and the hourly rate applied;

4. where relevant, the costs charged by the NSA responsible. These shall be specified in relation to tasks and time spent or in form of fixed rates applied by the NSA to the processing of the national part of the application.

The NSAs shall provide the Agency with a statement of costs for their contribution to be included in the invoice issued by the Agency, at the latest when the Agency requests it. The statement of costs shall detail how these costs have been calculated.

Payment of the fees and charges shall be denominated and payable in euro.

Where Article 6(3) applies to applicants, the Agency shall have the right to issue payment notices requiring partial payment for the parts of the application already processed. In the absence of the requested payment within a timeframe set by the Agency but not less than 10 calendar days, the Agency may suspend the processing of the application and inform the applicant thereof. The Agency shall resume the processing of the application in case the requested payment is made within 20 calendar days following the notification of the suspension. In the absence of the payment within 20 calendar days following the notification of the suspension, the Agency has the right to reject the application.

The Agency shall notify applicants of the decision and issue the invoice via the one-stop shop referred to in Article 12 of Regulation (EU) 2016/796.

The Agency may invoice interim amounts every 6 months.

Payment of the fees and charges shall be made by means of transfer to the Agency's bank account indicated for that purpose.

Applicants shall ensure that the Agency receives payment of the amounts due, including any bank charges related to that payment, within 60 calendar days from the date of notification of the invoice.

Where the applicant is a micro, small or medium-sized enterprise, the Agency shall take into account requests for a reasonable extension of the time limit for payment and payment by instalments.

NSAs shall receive reimbursement of cost incurred for processing the national part of the applications within the deadlines referred to in paragraphs 8 and 9.