The Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU, which took over from the Czech Republic on 1 January of this year, will give priority to the various parts of the ‘Fit for 55’ package and the revision of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) during its term.
Work will thus focus on the continuation of inter-institutional negotiations on issues such as the level playing field for sustainable air transport (‘RefuelEU Aviation’) (see EUROPE 13052/19), the deployment of alternative fuel infrastructures (‘AFIR’) (see EUROPE 13046/12) or the use of renewable and low-carbon fuels in maritime transport (‘FuelEU Maritime’) (see EUROPE 13047/10).
The Presidency of the EU Council also intends to push forward the negotiations on TEN-T (see EUROPE 13077/1) as the Member States had adopted their positions on 5 December 2022 at a meeting of the ‘Transport’ Council. Discussions on the subject are continuing in the European Parliament (see EUROPE 13080/12).
In addition, in its mandate’s programme, the Swedish Presidency of the EU Council also states that it is prepared, “if necessary, to take the work on the revision of the Intelligent Transport Systems Directive further” (see EUROPE 13051/38) and intends to continue working on the ‘Single European Sky’.
Finally, the Swedish Presidency of the EU Council is also preparing for discussions and debates between the Member States on several issues. In fact, the European Commission is expected to present several legislative proposals in the spring in the areas of rail, road and intermodality. These proposals should include a revision of the driving licence directive and a package on environmentally friendly freight transport.
Internally, discussions will also need to take place in the EU Council on the revision of the directives on flag State requirements, port State control and maritime accident investigation.
See the Presidency programme: https://aeur.eu/f/4p5 (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)