Representatives of the European Parliament and the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union are aiming to come to an agreement on Thursday 21 February in respect of possible road transport measures to be taken at EU level to counter the consequences of the United Kingdom potentially exiting from the EU without an agreement (no-deal Brexit).
This was the outcome of the first meeting of interinstitutional negotiations ('trilogues') between the two sides, which took place on Monday evening, 18 February, in Brussels.
This discussion echoes the European Commission's proposal of last 19 December, which suggested several measures, including sectoral measures, to be implemented in the absence of an agreement being reached between the United Kingdom and the EU on Brexit (see EUROPE 12163). The aim here is to allow carriers holding a British licence to operate between the United Kingdom and the European Union, subject to reciprocal measures being put in place by the British.
The European Parliament and the Member States' ambassadors to the EU ('Coreper') defined their negotiating positions on this subject on 13 and 15 February respectively (see EUROPE 12193, 12195).
The positions of the two institutions are divergent, which is why this first trilogue – which some hoped would be conclusive – could not reach a provisional political agreement.
Following a request from Dublin, the mandate handed down by Coreper to the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU specifically envisages extending the scope of the future text to include passenger transport, whereas the Commission's proposal originally only dealt with freight transport. In addition, Member States want operators to be able to carry out – for a limited period of time – more cabotage operations under the framework of freight transport than that which is authorised by the current Regulation 1072/2009 (three out of seven days).
According to our information, Parliament is open to extending the scope of the text to passenger transport and cabotage operations in respect of this strict passenger transport framework, but it does not wish to compromise on freight cabotage.
A subsequent trilogue is scheduled for 21 February and the parties hope it will be the last on the issue. In the meantime, the matter will have been the subject of further discussions at Coreper on Wednesday 20 February, where the issue of freight cabotage might well be the subject of some rather frank discussions. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)