Brussels, 16/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - The main success of the Transport Council held on Thursday 16 June in Luxembourg was the adoption, by the required majority, of the general agreement to recast the railway package. The agreement in question opens the way to a more competitive, and more efficient, European railway area which allows better access to rail infrastructure markets and related services by strengthening national control bodies, and by improving investment possibilities in the rail sector.
Thursday's Council was the last under Hungarian chairmanship. Siim Kallas, Transport Commissioner, was pleased with the agreement although it does not reflect all the Commission's hopes for the future. In his view, the new rules resulting from recasting of the railway package will directly benefit passengers and companies that will have greater choice, and a better quality service. It was therefore a success for the Hungarian Presidency that was able to reach a railway agreement. The ball is now in the court of the European Parliament, which must approve the proposals. The rail sector, on the other hand, speaking through the voice of the Community of European Railways (CER), expressed disappointment at the lack of ambition shown by the Council and the Commission, which showed proof of this lack of ambition by not imposing clearer rules, and is now turning to the Parliament which seems more inclined to have large-scale recasting. It is nonetheless expected that the text will be adopted at first reading early next year.
The Council also gave its support to inland waterway navigation as an environmentally-friendly means of transport, and adopted conclusions on its promotion. Conclusions urge the Commission to examine the NAIADES programme (Navigation and Inland waterway Action and Development in Europe), that will end in 2013, and the PLATINA support platform that will expire in 2012, to ensure that initiatives are set in place for a smooth transition from NAIADES I to a possible NAIADES II.
The Council also adopted general guidelines concerning the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and changes to its regulation. Among other things, the agency's intervention will be extended in the event of pollution caused by oil or gas installations, and not only pollution from ships.
Finally, the Council gave its go-ahead to the EU's membership of the Convention concerning International Carriage by Rail (COTIF), in order to foster international rail transport and the interoperability of the same. The effective signing of the convention will be held on the sidelines of an extraordinary session of the general assembly of the intergovernmental organisation for international rail transport (OTIF) in Bern, on 23 June 2011.
Furthermore, the Council held the long-awaited discussion on the White Paper on the future of transport, published by the Commission in March, which presents a long-term strategy via an energy efficiency plan comprising 10 objectives to reduce CO2 emissions by 60% by 2050 compared to 1990 levels, and a roadmap for a low carbon single European transport area, setting out about 40 initiatives for achieving the goals set. Member states were invited to take a stance on the Commission's intentions. Most of them welcomed the strategy but many delegations also noted that the aims were very ambitious. Fears on this subject therefore related to the effect that such objectives could have on competitiveness, and on the way they will be funded, as it is certainly not a question of reducing mobility. Furthermore, some member sates pointed out specific regional characteristics and the Commission did not hesitate to confirm that the principle of subsidiarity prevailed in many cases, as, for example, in public transport and urban mobility.
The Presidency therefore concludes that the balance sheet for transport is relatively good with a number of agreements in recent months, with Eurovignette and the recasting of the rail package in the lead.