GRB/SFR - Sector Vision for the Future of Reference Standards

This paper sets out the railway sector’s vision for how referenced standards within the Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSIs) should be managed in the future. The vision has been established together by the Group of Representative Bodies (GRB) and the CEN/CENELEC/ETSI Sector Forum Rail (SFR).

The proposal described in this paper aims to solve challenges faced in the sector today when applying TSIs and European standards during the conformity assessment process. The aim of the proposal is to introduce a process which allows the sector to benefit from regulatory stability while at the same time being able to apply the state-of-the-art standards.

The GRB and SFR ask the European Commission (EC) and the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) to consider this paper and to reflect on how the future regulatory framework for the railways can be adapted to work better for the sector and for society.