The 42nd Regional Assembly Europe (RAE) was held in Paris and online on the afternoon of 2 July 2026, back-to-back with the UIC statutory meetings. It was chaired by Europe Vice-Chair Martin Frobisher, Network Rail, alongside François Davenne, UIC Director General and Sandra Géhénot, UIC Director Europe.

The meeting was an opportunity to review the work undertaken in the Region in Q1 and Q2 as well as some of the strategic priorities identified by European railway leaders for the 2026-2027 period.

As part of the governance agenda, the RAE was asked to note the completion of the regional representation at the UIC Executive Board (the strategic body of UIC). Members approved the nomination of Andreas Matthä, CEO of ÖBB, as the fourth representative of the European Region on the UIC Executive Board alongside Stefano Donnarumma (FS), Martin Frobisher (Network Rail) and Ivana Piňosová (ZSSK).

Regarding the work of the European Management Committee, significant progress has been made over the past year with the EMC repositioned as the strategic forum for the region. Though overall feedback is positive, the next stage in the EMC’s evolution will be to strengthen its role as a decision-oriented strategic body and to maintain a focused agenda centred on a limited set of system-critical priorities.

On the subject of member-partner relations, regular exchanges continue to be maintained with key stakeholders such as the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA), CER, EIM, and the Governance and Regulation Body (GRB), where UIC participates as an observer. The objective of these engagements is to gain a deeper understanding of members’ priorities, ensuring that UIC’s activities remain aligned with the needs of the sector. Strategic discussions are developing on how best to use UIC assets and how to improve technical coordination.
The recent UIC Day in Belgrade provided an opportunity for direct dialogue and knowledge sharing, and targeted bilateral exchanges were held with CP Portugal, Italo and Gysev, which resulted in fruitful discussions on, among others, freight enhancement, digitalisation, interoperability, passenger growth and electrification.

Project updates were given on the following key topics:

• FRMCS and Morane 2 specifications programme which is now in the last mile towards V3p. Key and significant milestones have been achieved and all actions are on track with a timely execution of the project plan.
• RERA Cyber (resilience project): cyber-related activities are being developed across UIC, notably a guideline to be easily integrated into the existing management system.
• SMGG (Station Managers’ Global Group): Presentation of the station mangers’ network with the aim of sharing knowledge and know-how, as well as being an international platform for best practice and exchange to improve station performance and passenger experience.
• Freight: the role of freight activities at UIC to provide technical, operational and innovative solutions that are market-oriented, safety-focused and reliable for logistics players.