The European Parliament adopted, on Friday 15 May, as a matter of urgency, its position on four legislative proposals to support the transport sector, which has been hit hard by the Covid-19 crisis (see EUROPE 12477/5).
Two of these proposals may enter into force in the coming weeks, as MEPs have adopted positions similar to those of the EU Council.
They also supported (531 votes in favour, 141 against, 16 abstentions) a relaxation of European rules on port infrastructure charges until 31 October 2020 and supported (669 votes in favour, 11 against, 8 abstentions) an extension of the validity of certain certificates and licences.
This extension is intended to alleviate the current difficulties in completing some of the administrative formalities for renewing driving licences, technical inspections of motor vehicles and boatmaster certificates, for example.
The other two proposals, on the other hand, have been amended. On the extension of the deadline for transposing EU legislation on rail safety and interoperability, the Parliament said (644 votes in favour, 6 against, 38 abstentions) that it should be allowed until 31 October 2020.
As the Directive came into force in 2016, MEPs considered that its transposition was not directly affected by the Covid-19 crisis. The Commission, for its part, brought forward the date of 16 September 2020 - three months after the date initially required - and the EU Council the date of 31 December 2020.
Finally, as regards measures relating to the aviation sector, the Parliament's position (adopted by 641 votes in favour, 29 against and 17 abstentions) provides that carriers should be able to retain their operating licences for a period of one year and that groundhandling service providers should be able to extend their contracts until 2021 and again until 2022.
It is now up to the EU Council to finalise its position at first reading on these two proposals. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)