Transportraad: rechten van passagiers van schepen veiliggesteld (en)

The EU ministers for transport reached an agreement on the proposal for a regulation on the rights of ship passengers at the ministerial meeting in Luxembourg. The Council also debated the future EU transport policy. The Council of Transport Ministers formally rejected the Parliament’s position on the telecom package. Swedish Minister for Communications Åsa Torstensson chaired the meeting.

The rights of ship passengers ensured

The Council reached a political agreement on the proposal for a regulation on ship passengers rights while journeying by sea and on inland waterways. The proposal contains provisions on information, assistance and compensation to passengers in the event that trips are cancelled or delayed. It also focuses particularly on the rights of passengers with disabilities or reduced mobility to information and assistance during journeys by sea and inland waterways. The proposal is part of the European work on improving passenger rights within the entire transport sector. Similar rules have previously been adopted in the areas of aviation and rail travel. This means that the Council now is ready to open discussions with the European Parliament on a final regulation.

EU transport policy beyond 2010

The ministers discussed the EU's transport policy beyond 2010, based on the Commission's communication on future transports: "A Sustainable Future for Transport: Towards an integrated, technology-led and user friendly system". The discussions focused on three priorities for transport policy over the next decade: user-friendliness, innovative technology and better integration of different modes of transport. The ministers’ discussion is part of the work to draw up the EU’s future transport policy. The discussions showed that there is broad support for the Commission’s view of the challenges facing transport policy. Some Member States made special mention of the economic crisis and climate change as factors that transport policy must take into account. Other aspects mentioned by the Member States included regulatory simplifications to improve competitiveness, regional differences and funding of infrastructure investments. In 2010, the Commission plans to publish a white paper on the future EU transport policy. The goal of the European transport policy is to create a sustainable transport system that can live up to society's needs and demands – both economic and social but also environmental.

Transport Community between the EU and the Western Balkans

The Council reached a decision on a complementary negotiation directive on road transport ahead of the negotiations on a Transport Community between the EU and the countries of the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, FYROM, Montenegro and Serbia as well as Kosovo) The directive aims at creating an integrated market for infrastructure and land transport, inland waterways and sea transport. The aim is also to align the countries’ legislation in this area with EU legislation. This can help contribute to the economic growth in the region and facilitate for the countries of the Western Balkans that want to become members of the EU.

Simpler for ships travelling between EU ports

The ministers received a report on a proposal for a directive aiming at simplifying documentation checks for ships and goods travelling between EU ports.

Ships travelling between EU ports and that temporarily leave the EU’s customs territory on their way to the destination port must go through the same documentation checks as ships arriving from ports outside the EU. This constitutes a disadvantage for short sea shipping within the EU.  By facilitating customs procedures and documentation checks, both time and money can be saved, which could serve to make marine transports more attractive. A number of Member States are positive to the proposal. Some of the Member States without ports wished to be exempted from the directive as this would create unnecessary administrative burdens for them.

Liquids in hand baggage: What happens to the rules after 2010?

The Commission was informed on how to proceed with the rules on restrictions on liquids in hand baggage during flights.  The current rules will cease to apply in April 2010. For the rules to continue to apply after April 2010, a new decision by the Council and the Parliament is required. The technology to make it practically possible to carry out mechanical checks of liquids does not yet exist. It is the Commission’s hope that this should be possible by 2014. Until then, some sort of transitional provisions are required. Work on this issue will continue in the Aviation Security Committee.

Aviation agreements EU/USA/Norway/Iceland

The Council agreed on a political standpoint on the agreement to extend the 2007 Aviation Agreement between the EU and the USA so as to include Iceland and Norway. The agreement will now go through a final examination before being formally adopted at a future Council meeting. An approval of the agreement means that EU airlines can operate flights between Iceland/Norway and the USA. Conversely, it also means that Icelandic and Norwegian airlines can operate flights between the EU and the USA.

Compatible traffic control systems

The Council decided to give the Commission the mandate to open negotiations with the US civil aviation authority on a memorandum of cooperation on research and development within the area of civil aviation. The objective is to ensures that the European air traffic management system SESAR can function together with the American new system, Next Gen.

Telecom package rejected

The Transport Council formally rejected the Parliament’s standpoint on the telecom package. This means that the issue now must be submitted to a conciliation procedure.  This means that a conciliation committee will be convened within six to eight weeks to reach a compromise proposal.