Brussels, 07/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - EU27 transport ministers have reached a “fair basis”, as European Commissioner Siim Kallas put it, for further work on the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and on the framework for governance of satellite navigation, in order to defend a strong position in talks underway on the multiannual financial framework 2014-2020. A general approach was reached on both these subjects but the approach remains partial as no amounts have yet been decided in the post-2013 Union budget. The Transport Council in Luxembourg on 7 June also came to a third general approach, that on noise pollution in airports, which is one of the three chapters of the airport package. The approach greatly limits the Commission's power but guarantees European interests are protected within the EU-US air agreement.
The Connecting Europe Facility is a very important initiative for member states as it will make €50 billion available to European transport, energy and telecommunications infrastructures, in order to better interconnect infrastructure, especially at borders. Although ministers were not able to discuss figures at their meeting, they were nonetheless able to define arrangements for the mechanism - enough to convince even the finance ministers. Kallas said that, of course, they do not yet have the money as that will be part of the next stage in the multiannual financial framework, although he did tell ministers that, in order to reach agreement on the amount, it is necessary to have something ready, projects to be tabled. Adjustments will naturally be made once the amount of funding is established (Germany and the United Kingdom insist on this).
During the discussions, many delegations (including Lithuania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Ireland and the Czech Republic) regretted the fact that road transport was not favoured by European subsidies under the CEF, in comparison with rail or inland navigation which are generally promoted. Their argument was taken up, however, as the partial general approach adopted by the Council now acknowledges a co-financing rate of up to 10% for road infrastructure, but solely if it is cross-border infrastructure. The “motorways of the sea” were also re-valued in the new text under the Danish Presidency, further to a request from Italy, backed by Spain, France, Greece, Portugal and Malta. Eligible projects such as the motorways of the sea may be co-financed at 30% by the Union, and no longer at 20%. Although discussion did not touch upon the sensitive subject of €10 billion from cohesion funds redirected towards the CEF, several delegations nonetheless pointed out that they did not agree (Portugal, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary and Poland).
The EU27 also adopted a general approach on the reduction of noise pollution in and around airports with traffic of more than 50,000 flights annually. The regulation proposed by the Commission aims to strike a balance between the interests of citizens who do not want noise, and the aviation sector that wants to step up the number of flights, something which would create jobs, Kallas said. Ministers, however, looked again at the Commission's proposal. The latter initially wanted to have the right to suspend national decisions aimed at protecting citizens from noise pollution by reducing the volume of airport traffic. The Council, however, preferred to restrict that authority, giving the Commission the right to simply notify a member state, which should ideally take that notification into account (albeit under no obligation). The stakes behind this last point were considerable: the wording had to be sufficiently balanced to maintain the confidence of the United States as, in order to move up a gear in the EU-US air agreement, Washington demands that Europe show proof of more coherence in the management of its air space. Kallas admitted that this was a legitimate wish on the part of Europe's American partner that Europe should not operate in a chaotic manner, as uncertainty is the worst thing possible. The power given to the Commission by the Council would be just enough to show proof of coherence and to draw more advantages from the EU-US air agreement. Italy, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium found this balance acceptable.
Transport ministers also agreed on a partial general approach regarding the regulation that will establish a framework for governance and financing of satellite navigation after 2013. Here too, delegations could not discuss amounts although several countries did recall the importance of having enough funding for EGNOS and Galileo during the new financial programme for 2014-2020. The Austrian proposal aimed at supporting SMEs' access to the use of satellite navigation services was retained. France, Spain and the Czech Republic explicitly gave their support to the initiative. Certain delegations expressed concern about the level of security of satellite navigation systems. The commissioner gave his assurance that the legislative proposals on this would be drafted in due course, and that it would be a matter of avoiding any conflict of interest. (MD/transl.jl)