The training of drivers shall include a part relating to the licence and reflecting general professional knowledge as described in Annex IV, and a part relating to the certificate and reflecting specific professional knowledge, as described in Annexes V and VI.

The training method shall satisfy the criteria laid down in Annex III.

The detailed training objectives are defined in Annex IV for the licence, and in Annexes V and VI for the certificate. These detailed training objectives may be supplemented by either:

1. (a)

   the relevant TSIs adopted in accordance with Directive 96/48/EC or Directive 2001/16/EC. In this case, the Commission shall ensure consistency between the TSIs and Annexes IV, V and VI; or

2. (b)

   the criteria proposed by the Agency pursuant to Article 17 of Regulation (EC) No 881/2004. These criteria, designed to amend non-essential elements of this Directive by supplementing it, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 32(3).

Pursuant to Article 13 of Directive 2004/49/EC, Member States shall take steps to ensure that candidate drivers have fair and non-discriminatory access to the training needed to fulfil the conditions for obtaining the licence and the certificate.

Training tasks relating to general professional knowledge as provided for in Article 11(4), linguistic knowledge as provided for in Article 12 and professional knowledge relating to rolling stock as provided for in Article 13(1) shall be performed by persons or bodies accredited or recognised in accordance with Article 20.

Training tasks relating to infrastructure knowledge as provided for in Article 13(2), including route knowledge and operating rules and procedures, shall be performed by persons or bodies accredited or recognised by the Member State where the infrastructure is located.

With regard to licences, the general system for the recognition of professional qualifications established by Directive 2005/36/EC shall continue to apply to the recognition of the professional qualifications of drivers who are nationals of a Member State and have obtained their training certificate in a third country.

A process of continuous training shall be set up in order to ensure that staff competences are maintained, in accordance with point 2(e) of Annex III to Directive 2004/49/EC.