Negotiations between the Council of the EU and the European Parliament on the revision of the Regulation on the development of the trans-European transport network (TEN-T) are at a standstill. On Monday 26 June, the negotiators met for the second time and, despite 10 or so technical committee meetings, only Articles 1, 2 and 10 were agreed.
According to Parliament’s co-rapporteur, Dominique Riquet (Renew Europe, French), who summed up the situation for his colleagues on the Committee on Transport and Tourism on Tuesday 27 June, “the results are disappointing”, because “the Swedish Presidency has not taken any action on the subject”.
The stalemate persists on the three points that have been discussed. Firstly, Parliament wants to “defend the development of the core network by prioritising cross-border areas”, whereas the EU Council refuses to prioritise the core network and does not want binding measures.
Secondly, Parliament wants network maintenance to be revised as a “horizontal objective”. “It’s a common-sense, safe, practical and economical measure”, defended Mr Riquet.
Thirdly, the EU Council wants exemptions to be possible if Member States consider that the development of the TEN-T “is not compatible with [their] own objectives or [their] fiscal capacities”.
The next trilogue is scheduled for Monday 4 September.
To read the EU Council’s summary: https://aeur.eu/f/7uq (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)