European rail safety is based on the application of European and national regulatory texts and certificates which are issued by organizations carrying out conformity assessment. However, for supporting the regulatory framework, there is a long tradition of cooperation between stakeholders mainly ensured by international organisations such as Union International des Chemins de Fer (UIC), standardization bodies (CEN, CENELEC, ISO) and European co-operation for accreditation Sharing and exchanging on understanding of the requirements to be verified at lower level and reaching a common way of working and common conclusions are key points and fundamentals for pushing the cooperation between the conformity assessment bodies. After more than 12 years of cooperation, organized by the European Railway Agency, with those conformity assessment bodies (accredited, recognized or designated by their member state), different results and achievements have been concluded where the focus has always been the same: safety first while ensuring economic sustainability. These objectives have been pursued diligently through the application of regulatory texts and with the application of some recommendations for use by the conformity assessments bodies The article presents the different cooperations, which are either voluntary or compulsory, their implementation difficulties, the progress that has enabled greater collaboration and the understanding of regulatory text. It focusses also on the keys for success in terms of competencies, leadership, trust in the system, flexibility and the role of animation taken by the Agency, These cooperations allow a common approach within Europe and bring robustness to the European railway regulatory system and could be examples to improve the safety culture between the different railway stakeholders.
