Commission Report 2002 (Hungary)

Chapter 9: Transport Policy

Legal alignment in the road transport sector has continued, in particular as regards the control of driving time restrictions. New legislation on taxation with a view to respecting the minimum levels foreseen by the acquis has not yet been adopted, and Hungarian legislation has not yet been fully harmonised with the acquis on weights and dimensions. Administrative capacity in the road sector, which was also addressed in the Action Plan, has been improved by an increase of staff in the General Transport Inspectorate (GTI) and by training provided by the GTI in different sectors, but needs further strengthening. Administrative capacity should also be further improved in inland waterways. Alignment in the railway sector, as required by the Accession Partnership, has been continued, but the restructuring of MÁV has been proceeding rather slowly. Staff of the Railway Authority has been increased by three in accordance with the Action Plan. Alignment with the air transport acquis has continued, but further efforts are needed, notably concerning market access. Progress was made in all sub-sectors as regards the setting up of the required administrative and management bodies and the strengthening of the existing ones, notably the GTI, as was also required by the Action Plan. However, the progress achieved is not sufficient to be able to cope with the challenges of accession, in particular administrative capacity in the rail and air transport sectors needs to be further strengthened. The Accession Partnership priorities in this sector have thus been only partially addressed. Regarding the Action Plan, implementation of the measures has started, but needs to be accelerated.