Brussels, 19/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - The Dutch Presidency of the Council of the EU was granted a mandate on Wednesday 18 May to negotiate with the European Parliament on a number of provisions of the legislative proposal framing port services at the interinstitutional trialogue meeting on Tuesday 24 May.
These are mainly what are known as points “B”, that is, on which there is general agreement on the substance but where improvement could be brought to the form, along with a few points “C”, which are politically sensitive.
Ahead of the Parliament-Council talks, it was decided to adopt an approach similar to that of the 4th rail package and to list the issues in accordance with their political sensitivity. Thus it was decided to divide the points for negotiation into three categories: category A which pose no problems either on form or content, category B which require slight tweaking on the form and, lastly, category C where compromise will have to be reached on issues of substance.
At the previous trialogue meeting, on 18 April, most of the points A, which relate, for example, to access to pilotage services, waste collection services on board vessels and fines that apply in cases of breach of rules, were discussed and, for the most part, agreed, according to a number of sources close to the matter. “It's a very wide package … which is a good sign”, we were told.
With the decision taken on Wednesday by member states' ambassadors to the EU (Coreper), the Dutch Presidency will be able to address mainly points B, including the definition of port services contracts, the definition of a sea port, and a few points C. These latter will form the negotiation's Gordian knot, so far apart are the Parliament and the Council on the substance, a source said. Parliament wants to open up the scope to include all organisation of port services while the Council wants to restrict the regulation solely to access to these services - issues related to social provisions, on consultations and the supervisory authority.
The European Parliament adopted its negotiating position in April. This position was felt by the main political groups to be balanced in that it takes account of the great diversity on the European port landscape (see EUROPE 11507). The adoption in March of the report by the Parliamentary committee did, however, bring one surprise: rapporteur Knut Fleckenstein (S&D, Germany) was not named as negotiator on behalf of Parliament though he was confirmed in this role when MEPs formally agreed their position in plenary session (see EUROPE 11475). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)