On Tuesday, 12 July, the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU presented the priorities of its mandate concerning the transport and tourism sector to the members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Transport.
Against a backdrop of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU will thus focus part of its work on revising the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) and extending certain corridors to Ukraine.
“I see the extension of the TEN-T policy as a very useful instrument for bringing the candidate countries closer to the Union. That’s why I’m very pleased that the Commission will [soon present] the amended TEN-T proposal to extend the European transport corridors to Ukraine and Moldova” (see EUROPE 12987/29), emphasised Czech Minister of Transport Martin Kupka.
An important part of the Czech Presidency’s work at the head of the EU Council will inevitably be dedicated to the transport-related components of the ‘Fit for 55’ package.
As regards that subject, the Czech minister expressed his desire to start discussions with the European Parliament on the deployment of infrastructure for alternative fuels “as soon as possible”—a matter on which the EU Council has already decided its position (see EUROPE 12964/2).
“Now, we are ready to start the trilogues. I really hope that the Parliament will adopt its mandate soon. When preparing, you can draw inspiration from the Council position; it represents a good baseline for negotiations”, added Mr Kupka.
Moreover, interinstitutional negotiations will also be able to begin on ‘ReFuelEU Aviation’, which is meant to boost supply and demand for sustainable fuels in the aviation sector. It will, however, be necessary to wait for the European Parliament to adopt its position before the trilogue negotiations on increasing the use of renewable and low-carbon fuels in maritime transport (‘FuelEU Maritime’) can start. MEPs on the European Parliament’s Committee on Transport are expected to vote on Jörgen Warborn’s report in October (see EUROPE 12984/24).
As a reminder, the Council of the EU had, for its part, settled on its position on 2 June after a long day of negotiations (see EUROPE 12964/3).
Furthermore, the Czech minister also announced that he would like to “progress in the negotiations” on the matter of the ‘Single European Sky’ (see EUROPE 12971/8) starting in September and focus on the digitalisation of transport, notably by undertaking the revision of the Intelligent Transport Systems Directive (see EUROPE 12956/19). (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)