Brussels, 24/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - In the afternoon of Monday 27 June, the Luxembourg minister Lucien Luxembourg will chair the Transport Council in Luxembourg, with an agenda which is politically less complex than the Council in April where an political agreement on the Eurovignette was at stake (EUROPE 8933). The state of play on the driving licence directive and the conclusions on the setting in motion of a Community policy on external relations in the field of aviation are the biggest points. The other points will be the European action plan on road safety, the rights and duties of international rail transport passengers, the agreement on certain aspects of air services with Chile and the negotiations towards a general aviation agreement with the USA, and finally a Community licence for air-traffic controllers, which will probably be the subject of a political agreement.
Driving licence: the Luxembourg Presidency will present the state of play on the directive proposal to reshape directive 91/439/EEC. The stumbling block is the period for obligatory replacement of all national permits (existing and new) with a single European model. The Presidency and the European Parliament have worked constructively on a compromise text, but there seems to be an increasingly defined blocking minority, with Germany being particularly attached to its paper licence of unlimited validity. The Luxembourg Presidency is expecting that the issue will probably be resolved under the UK Presidency.
Road safety: there will be an exchange of views on the basis of a Presidency questionnaire on the European action plan for road safety up to 2010. The Member States will be invited to give their views on the actions undertaken by the Commission and give each other information on their own initiatives to reduce the number of people killed on the road.
Rights and duties of international rail transport passengers: the Council will note the state of play on a new regulation text presented by the Presidency, following an orientation debate held at the last Council. The text proposed improvements on the international standards (COTIF/CIV) regarding the rights of passengers in case of delays, missed connections and cancellations, and introduces measures on assistance for people with reduced mobility, but does not include the integrated ticketing proposed by the Commission.
External relations in the field of aviation: the Council conclusions on the Commission communication of March 2005 “Developing the agenda of the Community external aviation policy” are expected in order to define the new foundations for enhanced cooperation between the Member States and the Commission through an effective combination of “horizontal” agreements and bilateral negotiations. Following the “open skies” cases of 5 November 2002, which recognise exclusive Community competences for certain international air services (electronic booking systems, intra-Community tariffs and gaps in timetables), the Commission was authorised on 5 June 2003 by “horizontal” mandate of the Council to open negotiations with the relevant third countries in order to bring existing bilateral agreements into line with Community legislation.
Chile: the Council will attempt to approve the horizontal agreement concluded between the Community and Chile on certain aspects of air services.
EU-USA negotiations on an aviation agreement: the ministers will be able to express their views on developments in this dossier, following an intervention by Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot, who will give a report on the contacts with the US authorities to find ways to relaunch negotiations. The Commission's draft agreement was rejected by the Transport Council of June 2004.
Community air-traffic controller licence (public deliberation): a political agreement (with a view to the adoption of a joint position) is highly probably on the creation of a Community licence for air-traffic controllers. This proposal would harmonise the training conditions for controllers in a detailed way in order to increase professional mobility and air safety.
Other: Mr Barrot will report on the preparations for the introduction of a digital tachygraph in all new heavy goods vehicles over 3.5 tons by 5 August 2005. A one year moratorium was granted by the Commission to allow those in the industry to introduce the installation of these devices into their production chain.