Chapter II, Section 2, Section C, Article 16 · Commission Regulation (EU) 2026/562

Contents

Article 16Aid for interoperability#

1.Investment aid schemes supporting investments in assets contributing to uninterrupted traffic flows between national networks or transport modes shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 93 of the Treaty and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) of the Treaty, provided that the conditions laid down in this Article and in Chapter I of this Regulation are fulfilled.

2.The aid must be granted to owners of vehicles for rail or inland waterways transport, transport operators and transport organisers for the purpose of performing the investments referred to in paragraph 3 in the sustainable land transport sectors.

3.The eligible investment projects shall be the following:

(a)The European Train Control System (ETCS), the Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS), including when combined with the Global System for Mobile Communications – Railway (GSM-R), and Automated Train Operation (ATO) as part of the European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS), as described in Union secondary legislation^note;

(b)digital automatic coupling (DAC)^note;

(c)GSM-R equipment on a stand-alone basis;

(d)adaptation of rolling stock to different electrical systems;

(e)adaptation of rolling stock to different track gauges;

(f)adaptation of inland waterways vessels to serve seaports and of sea-going vessels to serve inland ports;

(g)adaptation of inland waterways vessels to changing navigability conditions, including low water conditions;

(h)automation of rolling stock and inland waterways vessels;

(i)adaptation of vehicles to transport Intermodal Loading Units;

(j)key technologies needed to implement RIS, such as the European RIS Environment, the Inland Electronic Chart Display and Information System, notices to skippers, the Inland Automatic Identification System and Electronic Reporting International;

(k)freight telematics applications and other freight software, insofar as they contribute to uninterrupted traffic flows between different modes of transport, in particular multimodal identification, tracking and traceability systems, and multimodal data exchange platforms, with the exception of investments in applications for passenger services such as systems which provide passengers with information before and during the journey, passenger reservation and payment systems, luggage management and management of connections between passenger trains and with other modes of passenger transport.

4.The eligible costs shall be all costs necessary for the implementation of the investment projects referred to in paragraph 3. Such costs shall include costs necessary for the purchase and installation of the relevant technology, project management costs, and delivery costs. Costs related to studies, testing and approval, and pilot and prototype installations for the implementation of the relevant technology in Technology Readiness Level 9^note shall also be eligible. Maintenance costs shall not be eligible. The assets financed with the aid shall be new or used. As regards interoperability investments related to the ERTMS, costs related to the integration of European Global Navigation Satellite System (EGNSS) functions within the ERTMS shall be eligible. Costs related to GSM-R equipment combined with FRMCS equipment shall also be eligible for support. Costs related to investments in stand-alone GSM-R equipment shall be eligible for support only if they are incurred until 31 December 2031.

5.The aid intensity must not exceed:

(a)90 % of the eligible costs for investment projects referred to in paragraph 3, points (a) and (b);

(b)50 % of the eligible costs for investment projects referred to in paragraph 3, points (c) to (k).

6.As regards interoperability investments in vehicles for rail or inland waterways transport or in an Intermodal Loading Unit or crane on board vessels whose acquisition is planned, the eligible costs shall be limited to the net extra costs for interoperability, provided that such costs are not already covered by any other form of aid, in particular aid under Articles 14 and 15. The net extra costs for interoperability shall be calculated as the difference between, on the one hand, the total cost of purchasing the vehicle for rail or inland waterways transport or the Intermodal Loading Unit or the crane on board vessels whose acquisition is planned and that is equipped with such investments, and, on the other hand, the total cost of purchasing the same vehicle or Intermodal Loading Unit or crane on board vessels or a similar asset without interoperability investments in the counterfactual scenario.

7.For at least five years after the grant of the aid, contractual arrangements for the transfer or use against payment (such as lease) of assets financed with interoperability aid must include a clause specifying that the investment contributing to the interoperability of the asset concerned was funded with State aid. The contractual arrangements must also specify the corresponding obligations laid down in paragraph 9, where applicable, and indicate the aid amount.

8.The investment must be implemented and finalised at least one year before the date the aided investment becomes mandatory at Union level.

9.The pieces of rolling stock benefiting from the supported investment must retain a valid registration status, evidenced by code 00 as defined in Appendix 3 of Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/1614^note, in the European vehicle register for at least five years after implementation of the investment.

Defined terms · 45

Show every defined term

access infrastructure
means any type of infrastructure necessary to ensure access and entry from land or sea and river by users to a rail or inland waterways multimodal transport facility or unimodal railway service facility or inland waterways facility, such as roads, rail tracks, channels and locks;
ad hoc aid
means aid not granted on the basis of an aid scheme;
adjacent market
means the market for a product or service situated directly upstream or downstream of the relevant market.
aid intensity
means the gross aid amount expressed as a percentage of the eligible costs, before any deduction of tax or other charges;
aid scheme
means any act on the basis of which, without further implementing measures being required, individual aid awards may be made to undertakings defined within the act in a general and abstract manner, and any act on the basis of which aid which is not linked to a specific project may be granted to one or several undertakings for an indefinite period of time and/or for an indefinite amount;
dedicated infrastructure
means infrastructure that is built for ex ante identifiable undertaking(s) and tailored to their needs;
equipment for sustainable multimodal transport
means equipment instrumental to sustainable multimodal transport, such as cranable semitrailers, with the exception of equipment used for the facilities;
equity investment
means the provision of capital to an undertaking, invested directly or indirectly in return for the ownership of a corresponding share of that undertaking;
European vehicle register
means a register pursuant to Articles 22(1) and 47(5) of Directive (EU) 2016/797 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
external costs of transport
means costs generated by transport users and not borne by them but by society as a whole, notably costs related to greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, injuries and fatalities, noise and congestion;
fiscal successor scheme
means a scheme in the form of tax advantages which constitutes an amended version of a previously existing scheme in the form of tax advantages and which replaces it;
freight terminal
means a structure equipped for transhipment and temporary storage of freight;
individual aid
means (i) ad hoc aid;
inland waterways facility
means a service facility (for example, a freight terminal, or a maintenance or storage facility) and its access infrastructure (including the physical or digital equipment necessary for its functioning), located within the Union and used to carry out inland waterways transport, with the exception of facilities or equipment that are related to the pursuit of non-transport activities;
inland waterways vessel
means a vessel for passenger or freight transport intended solely or mainly for navigation on inland waterways or in waters within or closely adjacent to sheltered waters, including vessels specially built to propel a pushed convoy;
Intermodal Loading Unit
means a container, swap body or semi-trailer/freight road motor vehicle or vehicle combination used for intermodal transport;
intermodal transport
means the movement of freight in one and the same intermodal loading unit by successive modes of transport without the handling of the freight itself when changing modes;
land transport
means the carriage of freight or passengers by rail, inland waterways and road transport;
multimodal transport
means the carriage of freight or passengers by at least two different modes of transport;
new commercial inland waterways freight connection
means a commercial connection that concerns new scheduled inland waterways freight operations between at least two freight terminals that have not been directly connected by scheduled inland waterways freight services for at least three years prior to the start of operations on the given connection;
new commercial rail freight connection
means a commercial connection that concerns new scheduled rail freight operations between at least two freight terminals that have not been directly connected by scheduled rail freight services for at least three years prior to the start of operations on the given connection;
new entrant
means a railway undertaking as defined in Article 3(1) of Directive 2012/34/EU that fulfils both of the following conditions:
non-transport activities
means commercial services not related to sustainable land transport, including ancillary services to passengers, freight forwarders or other service providers, such as the renting out of offices, shops and hotels;
operating losses
means a negative difference between the revenues and the operating costs incurred in respect of the connection concerned, as well as the operating costs of the works related to and preceding the launch of the new commercial connection.
port superstructure
means surface arrangements (such as for storage), fixed equipment (such as warehouses and terminal buildings) and mobile equipment (such as cranes) located in a port to provide of transport-related port services, as long as the superstructure in question is located in a multimodal transport facility with a rail or inland waterways connection;
private siding
means a privately owned and operated piece of rail infrastructure, including rail tracks and any other installations or equipment necessary to make it functional, connecting to the public rail network loading facilities that do not qualify as service facilities under Annex II to Directive 2012/34/EU, as well as any dedicated infrastructure serving a privately owned and operated piece of rail infrastructure;
quasi-equity investment
means a type of financing that ranks between equity and debt, having a higher risk than senior debt and a lower risk than common equity and whose return for the holder is predominantly based on the profits or losses of the underlying target undertaking and which are unsecured in the event of default.
rail or inland waterways freight terminal
means a freight terminal between two different rail systems or between at least two transport modes, one of which is rail or inland waterways, and its access infrastructure (including the physical or digital equipment necessary for its functioning), located within the Union„ such as freight terminals in inland or maritime ports, along inland waterways or in airports or multimodal logistics platforms, with the exception of facilities or equipment related to the pursuit of non-transport activities;
rail or inland waterways multimodal transport facility
means a service facility, including port superstructure and rail or inland waterways freight terminals, and its access infrastructure (including the physical or digital equipment necessary for its functioning), located within the Union and needed to provide rail or inland waterways transport in combination with other modes of transport, with the exception of facilities or equipment related to the pursuit of non-transport activities;
railway service facility
means a service facility (for example, rail freight terminals, or a maintenance or storage facility) and its access infrastructure (including the physical or digital equipment necessary for its functioning), located within the Union and referred to in Annex II to Directive 2012/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, with the exception of facilities or equipment related to the pursuit of non-transport activities;
railway undertaking
means a railway undertaking as defined in Article 3(1) of Directive 2012/34/EU;
rolling stock
means any of the following:
sea-going vessel
means a vessel other than those which navigate solely or mainly in inland waterways or in waters within, or closely adjacent to, sheltered waters;
short-sea shipping
means the movement of cargo and/or passengers by sea between ports situated in geographical waters of one or several Member States or between a port situated in waters of Member States and a port situated in waters of an adjacent third country having a coastline on the seas bordering waters of one or several Member States;
SMC
means an undertaking fulfilling the criteria laid down in Annex IV to this Regulation.
SME
means an undertaking that fulfils the conditions laid down in Annex I to this Regulation;
start of works
means the earlier of either the start of construction works relating to the investment or the first legally binding commitment to order equipment or, in the case of takeovers, the moment of acquiring the assets directly linked to the acquired establishment;
sustainable land transport
means the carriage of freight or passengers by rail, inland waterways or sustainable multimodal transport;
sustainable land transport sectors
means the railway sector, the inland waterways sector and sustainable multimodal transport in the land transport sector;
sustainable multimodal transport
means carriage of freight or passengers by at least two different modes of transport where at least one of the used transport modes is rail or inland waterways, or where multimodal transport combines land transport with short-sea shipping;
telematics applications for freight services
means applications such as information systems (real-time monitoring of freight and trains), marshalling and allocation systems, reservation, payment and invoicing systems, and applications that manage connections with other modes of transport and that produce electronic accompanying documents;
transport operator
means an undertaking carrying passengers or freight in the sustainable land transport sectors;
transport organiser
means an undertaking organising the transport of freight and thus making the choice between modes of transport;
undertaking in difficulty
means an undertaking in difficulty as defined in Article 2, point (18), of Regulation (EU) No 651/2014;
vehicle for rail or inland waterways transport
means: