The Council of the EU transport group meeting on 7 June in Luxembourg is expected to focus on the social aspects of the first "mobility" package. This has been a major stumbling block for a number of national delegations (see EUROPE 11028) but a rather modest progress report will also be submitted on this occasion involving railway passenger rights.
It should be recalled that this report was prepared by the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council and follows the European Commission proposal of 28 September last to revise and strengthen application of the 1371/2007 regulation on the rights and responsibilities of railway passengers (see EUROPE 11872).
The paper mentioned several working parties on “land transport” at the Council that took place between September and March. These helped the national experts to share their observations regarding the different articles in the proposal. The Bulgarian Presidency of the Council, however, whose worked particularly focused on the mobility packages, did not propose a first draft compromise.
This progress report discloses that several national delegations would like, above all, greater clarity regarding the different point in the proposal, particularly with regard to the concept of “force majeure”, the rights of disabled persons and reduced mobility, in addition to passenger information. Some states also had a number of questions on the feasibility of several of the Commission proposals, such as opportunities for travelling in a train with bicycles or assistance for persons with disabilities and reduced mobility.
The Bulgarian Presidency of the Council concludes that this progress report constitutes a good basis for future work. On the other hand, it considers that the possibility of obtaining a compromise will require, “a level of negotiating resources” that is currently unavailable, with political priorities currently focusing on road transport.
This question should not a priori form the subject of the debate during the transport ministers' meeting on 7 June.
The future Austrian Presidency of the Council will therefore be in charge of proposing the compromises. According to one European source, an initial text could be on the table in July.
Ongoing work in Parliament. At the European Parliament's transport committee, the draft report by Bogusław Liberadzki (S&D, Poland) has already been presented and debated (see EUROPE 11974, 11984) and the negotiations with the shadow rapporteurs are ongoing. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)