Article XXII of the Rail Protocol provides that Regional Economic Integration Organisations which are constituted by sovereign States and which have competence over certain matters governed by that Protocol may sign, accept, approve or accede to it on condition that they make the declaration referred to in Article XXII(2). The Union has decided to approve the Rail Protocol and is accordingly making that declaration.

The Member States of the European Union are the Kingdom of Belgium, the Republic of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Estonia, Ireland, the Hellenic Republic, the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, the Republic of Croatia, the Italian Republic, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg, Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Poland, the Portuguese Republic, Romania, the Republic of Slovenia, the Slovak Republic, the Republic of Finland, the Kingdom of Sweden and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

However, this declaration does not apply to the Kingdom of Denmark, in accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of Protocol No 22 on the position of Denmark, annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

This declaration is not applicable to the territories of the Member States to which the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union does not apply (see Article 355 of that Treaty) and is without prejudice to such acts or positions as may be adopted under the Rail Protocol by the Member States concerned on behalf of and in the interests of those territories.

The Member States of the European Union have transferred competence to the Union as regards matters which may affect or alter the rules of Council Regulation (EC) No 44/200110, to be replaced as of 10 January 2015 by Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council11, Council Regulation (EC) No 1346/200012, Regulation (EC) No 593/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council13, Directive 2008/57/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council14 and Regulation (EC) No 881/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council15.

Furthermore, as far as data exchange between Member States of the European Union and the International Registry is concerned, the Union has made considerable progress by way of Commission Decision 2007/756/EC18, amended on 14 November 2012 by Decision 2012/757/EU. Under that Decision, the Member States of the European Union have implemented National Vehicle Registers, and duplication of data with the International Registry should be avoided.

The Union does not make a declaration pursuant to Article XXVII(2) concerning the application of Article VIII, nor does it make any of the declarations pursuant to Article XXVII(1) and (3). The Member States keep their competence concerning the rules of substantive law as regards insolvency.

The exercise of the competence which the Member States have transferred to the Union pursuant to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union is, by its nature, liable to continuous development. In the framework of those Treaties, the competent institutions may take decisions which determine the extent of the competence of the Union. The latter therefore reserves the right to amend this declaration accordingly, without this constituting a prerequisite for the exercise of its competence with regard to matters governed by the Rail Protocol.