Representatives of the European Parliament and the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union hope to conclude on 7 February the interinstitutional negotiations ('trilogues') on support for the implementation of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) core network through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), in the event that a Brexit without agreement should take place.
This is what emerged from the first trilogue held on Wednesday 30 January, following the agreement between Member States on their negotiating position a few hours earlier (see EUROPE 12183). MEPs had already spoken on the issue on 10 January in the Parliament’s ‘transport committee’ (see EUROPE 12169).
This discussion echoes the European Commission's proposal of 1 August to review the identification of links with Ireland eligible for CEF funding. Regulation 1316/2013 on the CEF provides, inter alia, that aid may be granted to support maritime transport links between Ireland and the United Kingdom; the aim here is to limit the negative impact of the United Kingdom's exit from the EU on Ireland in the event of no agreement.
The identification of ports eligible for CEF support is one of the main points that still needs to be discussed. The negotiating mandate granted to the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU includes only ports in the TEN-T core network, while the Parliament, under the impetus of French MEPs, also wants to include ports that are not part of the core network, but part of the comprehensive network, for example the ports of Brest or Roscoff. The Commission disagrees with the latter position. It would appear that the inclusion of ports in the comprehensive network is not legally possible to date.
Among the other significant points of the discussion, the co-legislators will have to consider the Parliament's recommendation to create an emergency fund for adjustment to Brexit, in order to support transport stakeholders and local authorities.
In addition, the Parliament could accept the Member States' recommendation to make certain infrastructure security investments eligible.
The second trilogue political meeting, scheduled for 7 February, could be the last. The meeting, the day before, of the Committee of Permanent Representatives in the EU (‘Coreper') should be important in view of this upcoming negotiation meeting. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)