The examinations and examiners intended for the purpose of checking the requisite qualifications shall be determined:

1. (a)

   for the part relating to the licence: by the competent authority when laying down the procedure to be followed to obtain a licence in accordance with Article 14(1);

2. (b)

   for the part relating to the certificate: by the railway undertaking or the infrastructure manager when laying down the procedure to be followed to obtain a certificate in accordance with Article 15.

The examinations referred to in paragraph 1 shall be overseen by competent examiners, accredited or recognised in accordance with Article 20, and shall be organised in such a way as to avoid any conflict of interest.

Infrastructure knowledge evaluation, including route knowledge and operation rules, shall be performed by persons or bodies accredited or recognised by the Member State where the infrastructure is located.

The examinations referred to in paragraph 1 shall be organised in such a way that any conflict of interests is avoided, without prejudice to the possibility that the examiner may belong to the railway undertaking or infrastructure manager issuing the certificate.

The choice of examiners and examinations may be subject to Community criteria established on the basis of a draft prepared by the Agency. These measures, 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). On imperative grounds of urgency, the Commission may have recourse to the urgency procedure referred to in Article 32(4).

In the absence of such Community criteria, the competent authorities shall establish national criteria.

There shall be theoretical and practical examinations at the end of the training course. Driving ability shall be assessed during driving tests on the network. Simulators may also be used for examining the application of operational rules and driver performance in particularly difficult situations.