Article 17

Framework agreements 1. Without prejudice to Articles 81, 82 and 86 of the Treaty, a framework agreement may be concluded with an applicant. Such a framework agreement specifies the characteristics of the infrastructure capacity required by and offered to the applicant over a period of time exceeding one working timetable period. The framework agreement shall not specify a train path in detail, but should be such as to seek to meet the legitimate commercial needs of the applicant. A Member State may require prior approval of such a framework agreement by the regulatory body referred to in Article 30 of this Directive. 2. Framework agreements shall not be such as to preclude the use of the relevant infrastructure by other applicants or services. 3. A framework agreement shall allow for the amendment or limitation of its terms to enable better use to be made of the railway infrastructure. 4. The framework agreement may contain penalties should it be necessary to modify or terminate the agreement. 5. Framework agreements shall in principle be for a period of five years. The infrastructure manager may agree to a shorter or longer period in specific cases. Any period longer than five years shall be justified by the existence of commercial contracts, specialised investments or risks. Any period longer than 10 years shall be possible only in exceptional cases, in particular, where there is large-scale, long-term investment, and particularly where such investment is covered by contractual commitments. 6. While respecting commercial confidentiality, the general nature of each framework agreement shall be made available to any interested party.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-10-29 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.