Brussels, 29/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - The Lithuanian Presidency has reportedly not been able to win as much as it had hoped from the member states on transport issues and the Transport Council on Thursday 5 December is not expected to reach agreement on changes to air passenger rights or the new regulation on the European rail agency. This rules out any hope of finishing work on the technical side of the fourth rail package this year or even during the current European parliament. The European transport ministers are expected, however, to agree on a general approach on a strategy to speed up market acceptance of alternative fuels.
The Lithuanian Presidency is promising a general approach on the roll-out of charging points for clean fuels, such as electricity, hydrogen and natural gas. In a report, the European Commission recommends national quotas for charging points to be built by 2020, but the Council of Ministers is expected to take a different approach. The delegations are expected to endorse no more than recommendations and the introduction of minimum charging-point infrastructure for 2030. Flexibility will therefore be the watchword with member states deciding on their own, non-binding, quotas. This differs from the negotiating mandate adopted by the European Parliament last week, which includes binding quotas, but halves the number of charging points recommended by the Commission and the 2020 deadline (see EUROPE 10971). Diplomats say that European governments are not for political intervention on infrastructure, but only on batteries. Ministers will discuss the industrial challenge of electric cars with Ivan Hodac, the secretary general of the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) over lunch.
As expected, no agreement will be reached at the December Transport Council on revision of the European Railway Agency regulation. The member states' reservations are still too great to grant the agency more powers to issue safety certificates and authorisations for rolling stock. The Lithuanian Presidency will have to make do with a progress report for the European delegations. A number of delegations have concerns about how fees will be calculated, the agency's responsibilities, division of labour with national safety authorities and membership of the agency's management board. It had been hoped that agreement would be reached on the technical arm of the fourth railway package before the end of the year because general guidelines had been agreed in recent months on directives on safety and interoperability.
Although the revision of air passenger rights was one of the Lithuanian Presidency's priorities, the country's transport minister, Rimantas Sinkevicius, will only be able to present a progress report. Delegations are reported to have made progress on carriers' liability for injury or death in the event of accidents or lost, damaged or delayed luggage, but still have doubts about missed connections and late arrivals (particularly for flights to other countries), what exactly constitute “extraordinary circumstances” that justify the non-payment of damages, and how late flights must be before compensation is due. The same diplomatic source says that a spat between Spain and the United Kingdom over Gibraltar is also delaying progress.
The Transport Council will give the go-ahead to the re-opening of negotiations with Brazil on a comprehensive air transport agreement replacing Brazil's current separate deals with 15 EU member states. Liberalisation of the respective markets would be very useful for the four million passengers who fly between the EU and Brazil each year.
The Transport Council will be given information by the European Commission about sensitive issues, like application of the European emissions trading system to aviation, ferry safety (following the Costa Concordia shipwreck) and changes to state aid rules for airport and airlines. The Commission will also provide information about the Galileo satellite navigation system, EGNOS and the Blue Belt maritime initiative. (MD/transl.fl)