On Tuesday 1 December, the European Parliament Committee on Transport unanimously approved (all 49 votes in favour) the provisional agreement reached in early November between the European Parliament and the Council of the EU (see EUROPE 12601/11) on the European Commission proposal to make 2021 the European Year of Rail (see EUROPE 12439/7).
All that now remains is for the plenary to support the agreement, so that the Council of the EU can adopt its position at first reading.
In a joint statement, German Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer, whose country currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU, and his Portuguese counterpart Pedro Nuno Santos – who will be chairing the Transport Council from 1 January – both welcomed the vote.
Scheuer stressed European ministers’ willingness to make the rail “a convincing alternative to intra-European flights and long hours on the motorway”.
Nuno Santos stressed the importance of investing in rail to support economic recovery in the EU, tackle global warming and facilitate greater social cohesion. He finished by saying that he “firmly believes that railways will be the core of our future transport networks”. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)