On Tuesday 10 July, the Austrian Minister for Transport, Norbert Hofer, informed MEPs at the European Parliament's transport committee that he wanted to establish a general approach on the social and market aspects of the first mobility package during the EU Transport Ministers’ meeting in December.
During a presentation of the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the EU’s priorities for the transport sector, Mr Hofer acknowledged to the MEPs that “we are going to do everything” to reach some general approaches on this area. The Austrian Transport Minister was, first of all, keen to thank the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council for its work on these key aspects in the first mobility package: posting of truck drivers, driving/resting time, cabotage.
It should be recalled that no agreement was possible on these dossiers during the Council transport meeting on 7 June (see EUROPE 12036). Mr Hofer highlighted “the complexity and political sensitivity of these dossiers” as demonstrated by the rejection of the amended reports by the MEPs meeting at their plenary session on 4 July (see EUROPE 12055).
With regard to his proposal to organise a “conclave”, mentioned during the ministerial meeting in June, Mr Hofer explained that this involved “bringing the different member states around the table in an effort to understand them and bring them closer together”. Although he did not provide assurances that this attempt would be successful, he did, however, express his wish “to at least try” this method.
The Austrian Presidency of the Council will therefore have to be able to overcome the opposition between western European countries and those in central, eastern and peripheral Europe, if this general approach is to be obtained by the end of the year.
Road tolls. Mr Hofer also said that he wanted to develop some “fruitful solutions” on the interoperability of electronic road toll systems (see EUROPE 12026), which is still part of the first mobility package. This is despite the fact that the first trialogue on the subject will take place on Wednesday 11 July.
He also asserted that he wanted to make progress with the revision of directive 1999/62/EC (the so-called Eurovignette directive), a dossier upon which the MEPs have already reached their position (see EUROPE 12026). Mr Hofer acknowledged that there were “major differences of opinion” and added that it would be “difficult to progress swiftly”.
Second and third mobility package. The Austrian minister also mentioned his goal to reach a ministerial level agreement in December on the revision of the “combined transport” directive, by including it in the second mobility package (see EUROPE 11900). The former Bulgarian Presidency of the Council was unable to submit a progress report in June, despite the fact that MEPs adopted their position on the subject on Tuesday 10 July (see other article).
Mr Hofer also stated that the discussions had begun in the Council working parties on the measures presented by the European Commission as part of the third mobility package (see EUROPE 12022), particularly with regard to general vehicle security and infrastructure.
Unfair competition in aviation. Finally, Mr Hofer referred to the general approach obtained by ministers in the struggle against unfair practices by third country airlines, last June (see EUROPE 12036). Trilogues began at the end of last month and the Austrian Presidency of the Council and Parliament are hoping to reach an agreement by November (see EUROPE 12051). (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)