Brussels, 11/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - The liberalisation of cabotage was included in the various points on the Transport Council agenda on Monday 11 March. The Polish delegation, supported by Germany, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, called on the Commission to present a report on the liberalisation of this service, well before the formulation of legislative proposals, so as to leave member states time to reflect upon the matter. A declaration from the French, Italian, Belgian, Austrian and Danish delegations also highlighted the need to ensure appropriate application of the legislation in force, particularly with regard to the social chapter, before making any legislative revision. The European commissioner for transport, Siim Kallas, asserted that there was not as yet any defined timetable on the liberalisation of cabotage but that he would take into account the comments made by the different delegations. He also said that it was necessary, “to demystify the word cabotage, it is one of the elements in the current regulation (Ed: international transport market of goods by road) but other elements are even more problematic”. (MD/trans/fl)