Meeting again by videoconference on Wednesday 29 April, the European Ministers of Transport called on the European Commission to urgently implement guidelines for each mode of transport, with a view to gradually relaxing containment measures (see EUROPE 12476/3).
The restoration of transport services will not take place without health measures to ensure the protection of workers and passengers and the reduction of the risk of infection in transport and hubs.
The European ministers agreed it was necessary that these measures be based on a health risk assessment and, above all, that they be harmonised at European level. They also are calling on the EU to coordinate with its international partners. The lack of a common approach, they said, could indeed “jeopardise the reestablishment of the connectivity”.
The European Commissioner for Transport, Adina Vălean, who attended the meeting, said that the recommendations detailed in the Commission's roadmap on lifting containment measures (see EUROPE 12467/2) would serve as a ‘starting point’ for the development of the guidelines requested by the ministers.
These guidelines, according to announcements made by the Commission, could be unveiled as early as mid-May (see EUROPE 12477/4).
Immediate measures. Ministers welcomed and called for the rapid adoption of the latest legislative proposals put forward by the Commission (see EUROPE 12477/5) to relieve the burden on companies in the sector.
Croatian Minister Oleg Butković, who chaired the videoconference, indicated that he intended “to work on those proposals with the European Parliament as expedient as possible”.
With regard to road transport, the need to maintain the ‘green lanes’ (see EUROPE 12452/14) was particularly stressed, “especially when the volumes of goods, passengers and private transport start to grow again”, the ministers said.
Like Luxembourg's François Bausch, some also stressed the importance of investing in rail projects in order to comply with the Green Deal requirements. At the end of the meeting, the chair of the European Parliament Committee on Transport, Karima Delli (Greens/EFA, France), said she would be discussing a roadmap for rail freight with stakeholders in the sector next week.
Finally, for air transport, mention was made, among other things, of the need to continue, despite the crisis, the work initiated with the aim of setting up the CORSIA emissions compensation scheme (see EUROPE 12449/26) and the Single European Sky (see EUROPE 12429/13).
Passenger rights. In addition, a large majority of States reiterated their call for a harmonised approach to passenger compensation (see EUROPE 12473/4) and supported the temporary setting up of a voucher system.
Several ministers also gave their support to the 12 States that issued a declaration on the same day in favour of relaxing European rules in this area (see other news).
Some, however, objected, so as “not to frustrate the legitimate expectations of passengers” said the Croatian Presidency.
Economic support and recovery. Another sensitive issue raised at this meeting was that of making State Aid granted, notably to airlines, subject to compliance with environmental criteria (see EUROPE 12475/5).
Luxembourg's Minister for Mobility and Public Works, François Bausch, in particular, invited his counterparts to “attach certain criteria to financial aid in order to make the sector more sustainable and efficient”.
Finally, the Ministers and Commissioner Vălean agreed that the discussions on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and the Recovery Fund (see EUROPE 12473/1) should take into account the needs of the sector, especially in terms of liquidity and investments necessary for the recovery of its various actors.
"Transport is the backbone of the economic system and restoring mobility will be, indeed, the key to restarting the economy”, said Vălean. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)