Between the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and environmental challenges, transport ministers from the EU Member States will hold an informal meeting on Monday, 21 February, and Tuesday, 22 February, in Le Bourget during which they will review the main ongoing and upcoming issues.
Over the course of these two days, the competent ministers will discuss four topics: decarbonisation of transport, innovation in the sector through the development of new technologies, modal shift, and attractiveness [of transport jobs].
Specifically, the discussions will focus in particular on several components of the ‘Fit for 55’ package (see EUROPE 12764/10), such as the deployment of alternative fuel infrastructures for vehicles within the EU (AFIR) (see EUROPE 12883/8), sustainable fuels and energies in the aviation (ReFuelEU Aviation) (see EUROPE 12878/17) and maritime (FuelEU Maritime) (see EUROPE 12892/33) sectors, and even intelligent transport systems (ITS) (see EUROPE 12855/36).
With regard to the AFIR, the informal meeting is expected to be an opportunity for transport ministers to look into deploying infrastructures for alternative fuels. Member States’ positions on this issue will have to be discussed, since some of them have already asked for more flexibility due to geographical constraints or low population density (see EUROPE 12807/6).
The ministers present at the National Air and Space Museum of France [Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace] in Le Bourget will also discuss issues inherent to the completion of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T).
This will lead the ministers to exchange views on the subject of modal shift and the rail sector, seeing as the EU’s Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy predicts that rail freight traffic will double and high-speed rail traffic will triple by 2050.
Balance between attractiveness and working conditions
In other respects, this meeting will also be an opportunity to discuss Member States’ positions on alternative fuels for aviation. Positions diverge on this issue. Incidentally, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands had signed a joint letter on Tuesday, 1 February, in which they argued that Member States should be able to impose more ambitious rules on blending targets for sustainable aviation fuels (see EUROPE 12881/10).
Moreover, the discussions will also focus on the issue of social conditions for employees in the aviation and maritime sectors as well as practices such as ‘pay to fly’, which forces pilots pay for their flying hours. The competent ministers will consider what balance to strike between improving working conditions, maintaining competitiveness, and increasing the attractiveness [of jobs in these sectors].
Finally, the subject of innovation will be at the centre of discussions as well. The ministers will notably review the regulatory provisions needed to encourage innovation and the measures to be taken to facilitate deploying intelligent transport systems on a large scale. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)