Luxembourg, 17/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - The Transport Council in Luxembourg on Monday reached political agreement on opening port services up to competition (see above) and set out general guidelines for ferry safety. It failed to reach agreement on funding the Marco Polo programme following continuing disagreement about the ecopoint system (see above). The Council postponed the adoption without debate of the decision to set up the European Air Safety Agency (see EUROPE of 19 October 2001) until Tuesday's Telecommunications Council) along with its common position on the draft directive concerning the monitoring of traffic from the ERIKA 2 package (see EUROPE of 8 December 2001). According to French transport minister Gilles de Robien, the Council decided over dinner to extend air company insurance aid granted after the S-11 attacks for three months (starting from the end of June), saying that they were trying to be competitive compared with the US and there was almost unanimous agreement about the need to find a mutual fund system, hoping that the market would quickly respond to the new air companies' needs.
The main issues covered by the Council:
Maritime security. The Council adopted general guidelines, in the run-up to the European Parliament's opinion, on two draft directives. The first sets out stability requirements for ferries and extends the Stockholm Agreement measures (technical demands to improve ferry stability) to all European waters. Agreement on the guidelines was struck once Germany lifted its reservations about the non-compulsory nature of the Stockholm rules for ships from non Member States. The second directive lays down safety rules and standards for ferries and a timetable for scrapping old ferries.
Ecopoints. The Council failed to reach a general agreement on extending the ecopoints system for lorries travelling through Austria until 2004 (see EUROPE of 18 December 2001). Close sources suggested that Italy had make several offers but felt that if the problems were environmental problems, the ecopoints system had to apply to all lorries, including Austrian lorries. Austria wants the system to be kept as it is, explained the same source. Italy, Germany and Austria have decide to meet "at the highest level" in July to discuss the matter.
As we were going to press, the Council was preparing to discuss the following: the option of the Community joining Eurocontrol, reports on events in civil aviation, air statistics, seatbelts for children in land transport, the European Commission's White Paper on transport, the quests for the EU to join the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) and the IMO (International Maritime Organisation) and a draft Commission regulation to protect EU airlines from the unfair pricing practices of non-Member States like Switzerland and the US.
Concerning trans-European transport networks, before the issue was debated by the Council, de Robien said that France wanted the heads of states' list to be stuck to and that France was prepared to approve the list, but he didn't think agreement would be reached on the Single European Sky, adding that France had great reservations about it, wanting to be shown the value added of the system. He also mentioned the air traffic controllers' strikes (expected European-wide on Tuesday), noting that those responsible had informed him of their concerns and he had reassured them about the strength of France's position.