Brussels, 04/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - An extremely packed schedule awaits the transport ministers at their forthcoming Council, to be held in Luxembourg on 7-8 June. Starting on Thursday evening with maritime issues, the ministers will seek to reach political agreement on three of the seven documents which make up the maritime package. The EU27 will also deal with the regulation on corporate liability for companies providing passenger transport services by sea or inland waterways, in case of an accident. For the first time, the Council will also discuss the issue of rail interoperability and attempt to agree on an overall orientation on the proposal of the Commission, which aims to revise the regulation establishing common rules on air transport services (third aviation package). The decision on the strategy to be adopted to move forward with the Galileo project, which will be the subject of an exchange of views, will be postponed to the October Council.
Maritime transport: as anticipated, the Council will not tackle the entire package, but will concentrate on four of the seven proposals under this third package, which aim to reinforce maritime safety and prevent maritime pollution. The ministers will work towards a political agreement on the proposed directive on setting in place a Community system of traffic monitoring, in line with the overall orientation reached in June 2006 (see EUROPE 9209), but moving into line with the position of the Parliament as regards fitting out fishing vessels of more than 15 m with automatic identification systems (AIS), and the details for the use of this equipment. The Council also maintains its position on the directive on state port control, rejecting the majority of the amendments voted on by the Parliament last April (see EUROPE 9414). By adopting a political agreement, the Council will be taking position in favour of greater flexibility in these controls, particularly by providing the possibility for a ban on access to ports and moorings for vessels believed to be high risk under European jurisdiction to be removed. On the same day, and in a public debate for the first time, ministers will discuss the proposed directive laying down the fundamental principles governing accident investigations, aiming to identify the circumstances and causes of maritime incidents and accidents. A report on the state of play with work under way on the proposed regulation on the liability of transporters of passengers by sea or inland waterways in case of an accident will seek to clarify the differences of opinion which persist between the member states on setting limits to the scope of application of the directive (whether or not this regime should be extended to passenger transporters on inland waterways), the overall limitation of transporter liability and a timescale for the transposition of this directive. The Thursday evening session will finish with a guideline debate on the creation of a European data centre for long-range identification and tracking systems (LRIT), and with public deliberation to reach a general orientation on the proposed regulation concerning the ratification by the member states of the United Nations Convention on a code of conduct for maritime conferences. Before going on to discuss the issue of the Green Paper on urban transport, over lunch on Friday, the ministers will discuss Galileo, seeking to adopt a resolution to move forward with this dossier (see EUROPE 9437). However, the final decision on means of funding for this first satellite navigation system will not be taken until the Transport Council meets on 1-2 October 2007 (under the Portuguese presidency), diplomatic sources revealed this Monday, stating that “a range of issues are not yet ripe for a decision”, particularly “costs”, the division of “risks and revenue” and “all of this in relation to the timetable”, which provides for Galileo's is full operability in 2012 (see EUROPE 9424). During the morning, the ministers will try to reach a general orientation on the proposed directive on the internal transport of dangerous goods and, for the first time, discuss the proposed directive on the interoperability of the Community railway system, presenting the report on the state of work on this dossier. The Council is also to adopt conclusions on the European energy strategy for the transport sector (see EUROPE 9434).
Questions relating to aviation will be the focus of the afternoon's work. The ministers are to adopt a political agreement on the proposed regulation on common rules in the field of civil aviation and instituting the European Aviation Safety Agency. During the public deliberations, the Council will, for the first time, discuss the issue of the third aviation package, adopting the report on the state of progress with the work and reaching an overall orientation on the proposed regulation laying down common rules for the operation of aviation transport services. Lastly, the ministers are to adopt a formal resolution on the constitution of the joint SESAR enterprise (see EUROPE 9374) and conclusions on the inclusion of air transport in the system of trading in greenhouse gas emissions quotas (ETS). (aby)