Representatives of the European Parliament and the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union hope to reach a political agreement on 11 February on the proposal for a revision of Directive 2009/33/EC to stimulate public procurement of clean vehicles at a second and possible final meeting of interinstitutional negotiations ('trilogues').
This is what emerged from the first trilogue held on Tuesday 29 January in the morning in Brussels. This meeting could take place after the States had defined their negotiating position on the matter on Friday 25 January (see EUROPE 12180), Parliament having already given its opinion in October (see EUROPE 12126).
Few substantive elements were discussed during this trilogue, which was essentially intended to lay the foundations for the work programme for the coming days.
Three policy issues were identified by the negotiators: the definition of a clean vehicle, minimum targets for the use of clean vehicles by public authorities and the transition period. On the latter point, while the European Parliament had expressed its support for a period of 18 months and the Council for a period of 30 months, it appears that Parliament has proposed to set it at 24 months, in line with the Commission's proposal in the context of the second ‘mobility’ package (see EUROPE 11900).
The Commission must now propose compromises, in a dossier that does not seem to be very sensitive in view of the other issues related to transport today. According to our information, three technical meetings are planned in advance of the next trilogue meeting on 11 February, where the negotiators therefore hope to conclude an agreement. However, it is not clear that they will be able to do so from that date. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)