Brussels, 11/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - During the Council on Friday 13 March in Brussels, European Transport Ministers will debate the railway package and transport's contribution to growth.
On the question of the railway package, the Latvian Presidency of the Council would like political orientations provided by ministers, before sending this dossier to the workgroup. The discussion will be organised around three points: independence of the infrastructure managers, the role of the control bodies and access to rolling stock. According to the European Commission proposal, infrastructure managers must be subject to very strict requirements on their independence, which has provoked a lot of criticism from several member states. The Presidency is proposing to outline two different levels of requirements for essential functions and the managers' other functions. This will directly impact on the work of the control body, in charge of monitoring the appointments or retirement of the members from the management bodies. According to the Presidency, several member states are concerned by the dangers of excessive regulation. Finally, the non-discriminatory access to rail rolling stock, which Latvia believes “is needed to ensure an effective opening up of the markets”, could constitute a financial risk to the states. The Presidency considers the rail package a priority and is hoping that the Transport Council will obtain a general approach on this dossier in June.
“Ministers will also share ideas on ways in which transport policy can boost EU competitiveness, growth and jobs in the EU”. Similar discussions are expected to be carried out in other Council groupings, before the General Affairs Council debate on 17 March and the European Council on 19 March. The Presidency has sent a document containing approximately 10 or so pages to the Transport Council affirming that “Transport is a key to the EU economy. (…) This can only happen with a well-functioning sustainable transport network and efficient transport services, connecting all EU regions to the EU market and the global partners”. The text demands that the European infrastructure network is completed, if necessary with the assistance of the “Juncker plan”. With regard to digital technology questions, it emphasises that “A wave of innovation is about to revolutionise the transport sector, driven broadly by employing new energy sources, modern electronics and information and communication technology (ICT)”.
In miscellaneous points, a point of information from the French and German delegations on the question of public airlines in the Gulf States is included. A dialogue began on the subject at the end of 2012, prompted by Commissioner Siim Kallas, who was in charge of transport at the time, but this has not yet achieved any results. France and Germany are going to request the continuation of discussions and the possible preparation of an agreement.
The Presidency will introduce two points of information: on the conclusions from the Riga conference on drones (see EUROPE 11269) and the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Riga at the end of April. The Commission will present two communications: on the Energy Union and flights over war zones by civilian aircraft. The latter was raised as a question during the October 2014 Transfer Council. It was also discussed at the beginning of February during the conference organised by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) at which the European Commission participated. The conference concluded the need to develop an information sharing system on conflict zones. (Jean Comte)