EU Transport Ministers will meet by videoconference on Wednesday 18 March at 11:00am to coordinate their action and discuss the appropriate measures to be taken to support the transport sector, which has been badly affected by the Covid-19 epidemic.
According to a note from the Croatian Presidency of the EU Council, copied to EUROPE, the ministers will be invited to present the measures envisaged and those implemented in their respective states to mitigate the effects of the virus.
In particular, they will discuss the need to create a platform to monitor the various measures adopted in the Member States.
The ministers are also expected to decide on the economic aid that can be implemented to support the sector and will address the issue of maintaining the movement of goods and the supply chain.
Aviation sector particularly exposed
As the epidemic is having a particularly strong impact on airports and airlines, the aviation sector, in particular, should be at the centre of the discussions.
In view of the "dramatic state of Italian airports", which have seen a 90% drop in passenger traffic in recent days, European airports are preparing for an almost total collapse of their traffic and revenues, stresses the President of the Airports Council International (ACI), Jost Lammers, in a letter sent the day before the meeting to ministers and Transport Commissioner Adina Vălean.
He calls on the latter to act in response and proposes a "European aviation rescue programme".
Similarly, in a letter addressed this time to just the Transport Ministers, the organisation Airlines for Europe asks for a comprehensive package of measures to be taken "to ensure that as many airlines as possible survive".
The organisation advocates a coordinated approach between Member States. It calls, inter alia, for the economic supply chain to continue, for ATC4 charges and aviation taxes to be postponed for a better recovery of the sector post-crisis, and for airlines to be able to benefit from direct support from European funds.
'Green lanes' on the agenda
The road sector will also be discussed. Commissioner Vălean's spokesperson told the press on Tuesday 17 March that there would be discussion of 'green lanes': priority lanes reserved for freight transport, as announced by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (see EUROPE 12447/6).
"The flow must not be interrupted", insists Julio Villaescusa, President of the European Road Transport Union, in a letter to the Commissioner (see EUROPE 12446/18).
In particular, he calls for the safety of drivers at loading and unloading points to be ensured and considers that the introduction of an EU-wide derogation from the provisions on driving times, breaks and rest periods "would be very useful". (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)