Abstract
The EU has been pushing through its legal regulation a gradual liberalization of the market with public transport for a long time. In the first stage, the market with public transport services by bus was opened.
The market with railway transport controlled by national incumbents has evaded liberalization for a long time but now, after the adoption of the fourth railway package in 2016, it will experience a revolution in the form of opening to broad competition as of December 2023. At first glance, it would seem that the legal regulation has achieved its goal and the market with public bus and railway transport will really be liberalized soon.
However, did we really achieve this goal? It appears that the current legal regulation motivates public authorities to avoid public tenders when looking for providers of transportation services. Notably, some regions in the Czech Republic decided to give up public tenders and to ensure the provision of public services in bus transport by their subordinate organization.
The new European Commission will face a challenge to analyze these tendencies and to tackle them in order to ensure a truly liberalized market with public transportation.