Brussels, 08/12/2008 (Agence Europe) - A highly technical Council awaits EU transport ministers who are to meet in Brussels on Tuesday 9 December. Due to the many points of disagreement which still divide member states, the French EU Presidency has discarded the idea of coming to general guidelines on the subject of the proposed revised Eurovignette directive (EUROPE 9699). Work will continue under Czech Presidency and a report drafted by the French Presidency will be put to the scrutiny of Coreper. The Council will seek to reach general guidelines on the draft regulation amending four existing regulations on air traffic management (Single Sky 2 package) as well as partial general guidelines on the proposal for a regulation extending the competences of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Transport ministers are to meet from 10 a.m., under the chairmanship of French Secretary of State for Transport Dominique Bussereau. During lunch, they will tackle the question of recovery measures for the transport sector during this period of economic crisis.
Eurovignette. Many questions remain outstanding on this draft revised directive, presented by the European Commission in July this year, which authorises member states to include in tolls paid by heavy goods vehicles an amount corresponding to the cost of atmospheric pollution (except CO2), noise pollution and congestion. The current financial crisis has made agreement within the Council still more difficult. Some delegations say the directive would place too heavy a charge on the road transport sector. In addition to the traditional divide between peripheral states such as Spain, which is hesitant about increasing tolls, and the so-called transit states such as Germany and Belgium which take a completely different stance, delegations should reach an agreement on: - attribution of toll receipts: a large number of delegations (mainly Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) would have preferred toll proceeds to be included in the national budget rather than to be used, as the Commission suggests, to finance the transport sector; - inclusion of the congestion cost: some delegations believe this would entail significant costs or discrimination compared to the other road users; - the method for calculating fees, as well as the legal base of the text and the scope of the directive: the European Commission's proposal provides for application to be extended to the whole road network and not only to roads in the trans-European transport network, which is to the displeasure of many delegations. After the interim report to be made by Council, work will be continued under the Czech EU Presidency. The Council should adopt, however, conclusions on making transport environmentally-friendly. This report should confirm the Council's attachment to the environmental viability of the transport sector. As no agreement was found at the last Transport Council, the conclusions had been withdrawn from the agenda.
The Council will then note a report on the state of progress of work concerning the proposal for a directive to facilitate crossborder application of sanctions in the field of road safety presented by the Commission in March 2008 (see EUROPE 9626), which did not meet with unanimous approval in Council. During a policy debate on 9 October during the previous Transport Council, a significant number of member states expressed doubt about the legal base of the proposal chosen by the Commission (see EUROPE 9759). The Council had undertaken to return to this subject during the December session.
Air transport. The Council will seek to reach general guidelines on the Single Sky II package on which there is already broad consensus. The question of the deadline for the creation of functional airspace blocks (FABs) remains to be settled (2012 according to the Commission's proposal) as well as the designation of service providers, for which modalities are challenged by the German delegation. The transport ministers should also reach a partial general guideline on another draft regulation presented by the Commission in January 2008 relating to extending the scope of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to airports, air traffic control and air navigation services. According to the indications of the French EU Presidency, the Council only reached agreement on extending these competences to air navigation. The European Parliament is expected to take a stance on this proposal in January 2009. The Council should also adopt two decisions authorising the Commission to open talks with Tunisia and Algeria for the establishment of Euro-Mediterranean agreements on air services. The Commission called for a mandate in Council for Tunisia in October 2008 and for Algeria in November 2008.
Maritime transport. The Council should adopt a resolution on the centre for providing indicative and follow-up data for long-haul vessels (LROT), which will complete the resolution adopted in October 2007 on the same subject (see EUROPE 9514). The draft resolution to be put to ministers will tackle matters concerning overseas countries and territories as well as the financing of information-sharing with third countries. (A.By./transl.jl)