{"id":58091,"date":"2015-06-18T09:12:05","date_gmt":"2015-06-18T09:12:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=c05b7b616981ae5252d18cad49e7d65f"},"modified":"2015-06-18T09:12:05","modified_gmt":"2015-06-18T09:12:05","slug":"statement-to-parliament-eu-transport-council-18-june-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=58091","title":{"rendered":"Statement to Parliament: EU Transport Council: 18 June 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

I attended the second Transport Council under the Latvian Presidency (the Presidency) in
\nLuxembourg on Thursday 11 June.<\/p>\n

The council adopted a general approach on the proposed directive laying down technical
\nstandards for inland waterway vessels. There was broad support from Member States and the
\nCommission for both the text and the related creation of the European Committee for Inland
\nNavigation Standards (CESNI<\/abbr>). The Commission indicated that it would now attempt to capitalise
\non this success by looking to harmonise other standards in the inland waterway sector, including
\ntraining for crew.<\/p>\n

The Presidency appreciated the support of all Member States and the Commission in their efforts
\nto reach agreement with the European Parliament on the complex technical pillar of the \u2018Fourth
\nrailway package\u2019.<\/p>\n

On the market pillar, however, the Presidency was clear that more time was needed. I welcomed
\nthe improvements to date to address concerns on over-regulation but pressed that more needed
\nto be done to ensure that competition could flourish and rail continued to be an attractive
\ninvestment. In highlighting the success of the UK\u2019s liberalised and competitive rail market, I
\ninvited other Member States to visit the UK to learn from our experience. The main point of
\ncontention was the nature of possible exemptions from competitive tendering with the
\nCommission supporting an exemption based on performance criteria while some Member States
\ncalled for an exemption based on their share of the EU<\/abbr> rail market being less than one per cent. I
\nstrongly pressed that any exemptions to competitive tendering had to be based on objective
\ncriteria and fully justified.<\/p>\n

On \u2018Air passenger rights\u2019, the Presidency presented their progress report.
\nI underlined the UK\u2019s strong support for the improvements in air passenger rights whilst
\nreinforcing our position that the balanced and proportionate trigger points of 5\/9\/12 hours should
\nbe maintained, a view strongly echoed by some Member States. I also voiced strong concerns on
\nthe proposed inclusion of a compensation scheme for missed connecting flights, highlighting the
\nnegative impacts for both passengers and airlines. Two Member States called for a lower trigger
\npoint of 3 hours with another suggesting anything other than including 3 hours in line with
\ninterpretative case law from CJEU<\/abbr> rulings was a step backwards in passenger rights. There was
\nno discussion on the application of the regulation to Gibraltar Airport.<\/p>\n

Under any other business, the Commission presented the conclusions of their interim evaluation
\non road safety, taking stock of progress towards the 50% reduction in fatalities by 2020. With
\nregards to next steps the Commission indicated that it was considering proposing a target for
\nreducing serious injuries.<\/p>\n

On the Trans-European Network\u2013Transport (TEN-T<\/abbr>) and Connecting Europe Facility (CEF<\/abbr>), the
\nChristophersen-Bodewig-Secchi report which looks at making the best use of the new EU<\/abbr>
\nfinancial schemes for transport infrastructure projects, was presented. The authors called for
\nurgent action to ensure the success of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI<\/abbr>) for
\nthe transport sector and presented 12 recommendations for bringing private capital to the
\ntransport sector. The Commissioner invited Member State views on these recommendations
\nahead of the TEN-T<\/abbr> days set to take place in Riga on 22 and 23 June.
\nThe Presidency presented the outcome of the third Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM<\/abbr>) Transport
\nMinisters\u2019 meeting where ASEM<\/abbr> member countries made a strong commitment to fostering closer
\ncooperation in the field of transport connectivity.<\/p>\n

The Commission updated the Council on the Shift2Rail research and innovation programme. The
\nCommission regretted the delay in the recruitment of the Executive Director but considered the
\nremainder of the programme was on track. I joined several Member States in thanking the
\nCommission for the update and encouraging all efforts to ensure an accelerated deployment of
\nthe programme.<\/p>\n

The Luxembourg Minister for Sustainable Development and Infrastructure presented the work
\nprogramme of their upcoming Presidency stating their focus would remain on the \u2018Fourth railway
\npackage\u2019 and achieving a general approach on the market pillar by the October Transport
\nCouncil. He invited Ministers to an Informal Council on 7 October focussing on cycling, followed
\nby the formal Council on 8 October where there would be a policy debate on the Commission\u2019s
\nreview of its transport white paper. At the December Council there would be a policy debate on
\nsocial conditions in road transport.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Overview of the EU Transport Council meeting held on Thursday 11 June 2015.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58091"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=58091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58091\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=58091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=58091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=58091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}