Persbericht naar aanleiding van Raadsvergadering Vervoer, Telecommunicatie en Energietransport (en)

Met dank overgenomen van Raad van de Europese Unie (Raad) i, gepubliceerd op maandag 29 oktober 2012.

COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

PROVISIONAL VERSION

PRESSE 447

PRESS RELEASE

3196th

Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Transport Items

Luxembourg, 29 October 2012 President Mr Efthemios Flourentzou

Minister for communications and works of Cyprus

Rue de la Loi 175 B - 1048 BRUSSELS Tel.: +32 (0)2 281 6319 / 6319 Fax: +32 (0)2 281 8026 press.office(@,consilium.europa.eu http://www.consilium.europa.eu/Newsroom

PROVISIONAL VERSION

29.X.2012

Main results of the Council

The Council agreed a general approach on a recast of the 1993 regulation on the allocation of landing and take-off slots at EU airports with capacity problems. In order to optimise the allocation system against the backdrop of growing airport congestion, the new draft regulation will, in particular, allow airlines to sell and buy slots. It also introduces the possibility of charging for the late return of unused slots to the slots pool and enhances the independence of and cooperation between, slots coordinators. The compromise reached at the Council meeting allows member states to apply temporary restrictions to slots trading in duly justified cases, but gives the Commission the right to oppose such a decision.

The Council also agreed a general approach on two draft directives laying down the responsibilities offlag states, on the one hand, and port states, on the other, as regards the enforcement of the Maritime Labour Convention adopted in 2006 by the International labour Organisation (IIO). The goal of the Maritime labour Convention is to guarantee decent working and living conditions on board ships and to limit social dumping, thereby securing fair competition for shipowners who respect seafarers' rights.

The Council reached a political agreement on a new regulation on the tachograph used in road transport, essentially confirming the general approach agreed by the Council in June this year. The new draft legislation, which will replace the 1985 tachograph regulation, is designed to make fraud more difficult and to reduce the administrative burden, notably by introducing a satellite-linked "smart tachograph" as well as a number of new regulatory measures.

Moreover, the Council authorised the signing and provisional application of an agreement with the European Organisation for Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol i) establishing a new and stable framework for enhanced cooperation.

Finally, the Council held a debate on a proposed update of the common rules on periodic roadworthiness tests for motor vehicles, intended to improve road safety and protection of the environment. The results of the debate will give guidance for the ongoing work on this proposal.

Without discussion, the Council adopted a directive establishing a single European railway area, which modernises the regulatory framework for Europe's railway sector, contained in the three directives of the "first railway package " of2001.

PROVISIONAL VERSION 29 X2012

CONTTS1

PARTICIPANTS................................................................................................................................5

ITEMS DEBATED

AVIATION..........................................................................................................................................7

Tackling airport congestion by updating the rules on slots allocation.................................................7

Enhanced cooperation with Eurocontrol..............................................................................................9

SHIPPING..........................................................................................................................................10

Enforcing the Maritime Labour Convention......................................................................................10

LAND TRANSPORT........................................................................................................................12

Tachograph regulation.......................................................................................................................12

New rules on regular vehicle checks for roadworthiness..................................................................14

OTHER BUSINESS..........................................................................................................................16

Ministerial conference on the EU's Integrated Maritime Policy.......................................................16

Emissions trading in the aviation sector............................................................................................16

Aviation summit on the Single European Sky....................................................................................16

Cabin air incidents in aircraft...........................................................................................................17

Informal meeting of transport and telecommunications ministers....................................................17

World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS)...................................................................17

European Road Safety Day................................................................................................................18

Transport relations between the EU and Russia...............................................................................18

1 • Where declarations, conclusions or resolutions have been formally adopted by the Council, this is indicated in the heading for the item concerned and the text is placed between quotation marks

  • • 
    Acts adopted with statements for the Council minutes which may be released to the public are indicated by an asterisk; these statements are available on the Council's Internet site or may be obtained from the Press Office

PROVISIONAL VERSION 29 X2012

OTHER ITEMS APPROVED

TRANSPORT

— Single European railway area *.............................................................................................................................19

TRADE POLICY

— Anti-dumping - aluminium radiators - China........................................................................................................19

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

— Rights of persons with disabilities - EU-level framework.....................................................................................20

VIRONMT

— Sulphur content of marine fuels.............................................................................................................................20

— End-of-life vehicles...............................................................................................................................................20

EMPLOYMT

— Mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Denmark and Germany.................................21

APPOINTMTS

— Committee of the Regions.....................................................................................................................................21

ACTS ADOPTED BY WRITT PROCEDURE

Restrictive measures - Republic of Guinea...........................................................................................................21

PROVISIONAL VERSION

29.X.2012

PARTICIPANTS

The governments of the Member States and the European Commission were represented as follows:

Belgium:

Mr Olivier BELLE Bulgaria:

Mr Kamen KICHEV

Czech Republic:

Mr Jiff ZAK

Denmark:

Mr Henrik Dam KRISTS Germany:

Mr Peter RAMSAUER

Estonia:

Mr Juhan PARTS Ireland:

Mr Leo VARADKAR Greece:

Mr Konstantinos MOUSOUROULIS MrNikolaos STATHOPOULOS

Spain:

Ms Ana Maria PASTOR JULIAN Ms Carmen LIBRERO

France:

Mr Frederic CU VILLIER

Italy:

Mr Mario CIACCIA Cyprus:

Mr Efthemios FLOURTZOU Latvia:

Mr Aivis RONIS Lithuania:

Mr Rimvydas VASTAKAS

Luxembourg:

Mr ClaudeWISELER

Ms Michèle EISBARTH

Hungary:

Mr Oliver VARHELYI Malta:

Mr Austin GATT

Netherlands:

Ms Melanie SCHULTZ van HAEG-MAAS GEESTERANUS Mr Joop ATSMA

Austria:

Ms Doris BURES

Deputy Permanent Representative

Deputy Minister for Transport, Information Technology and Communications

Deputy Minister for Transport

Minister for Transport

Federal Minister for Transport, Building and Urban Development

Minister for Economic Affairs and Communications

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport

Minister for Maritime Affairs Secretary General

Minister for Public Works General Secretary of Transport

Minister with responsibility for Transport, Oceans and Fisheries, attached to the Minister for Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy

Deputy Minister for Infrastructure and Transport

Minister for Communications and Works

Minister for Transport

Deputy Minister for Transport and Communications

Minister for Sustainable Development and Infrastructure Deputy Permanent Representative

Deputy Permanent Representative

Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Communications

Minister for Infrastructure and the Environment State Secretary for Infrastructure and the Environment

Federal Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology

PROVISIONAL VERSION

29.X.2012

Poland:

MrMaciej JANKOWSKI Portugal:

Mr Pedro COSTA PEREIRA Romania:

Mr Valentin PREDA

Slovenia:

Mr Uros VAJGL

Slovakia:

MrFrantisekPALKO

Finland:

Ms Marja RISLAKKI Sweden:

Ms Catharina ELMSATER-SVARD

United Kingdom:

Mr Stephen HAMMOND

Deputy State Secretary, Ministry of Transport, Construction and Maritime Economy

Deputy Permanent Representative

Secretary of State within the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure

Deputy Permanent Representative

State Secretary at the Ministry of Transport, Construction and Regional Development

Deputy Permanent Representative

Minister for Infrastructure

Parliamentary under-Secretary of State for Transport

Commission:

Mr Siim KALLAS

Vice-President

The Governments of the Acceding States were represented as follows: Croatia:

Mr Sinisa HAJDAS DONCIC

Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure

PROVISIONAL VERSION 29 X2012

ITEMS DEBATED

AVIATION

Tackling airport congestion by updating the rules on slots allocation

The Council agreed a general approach on a recast of the 1993 regulation on the allocation of landing and take-off slots at EU airports. The slots allocation system, which is implemented at airports with a significant shortfall in capacity, is a tool for managing scarce capacity in a transparent and non-discriminatory manner. The revision is intended to tackle growing airport congestion

The revision aims to ensure that slots at congested airports are allocated to those carriers able to make the best economic use of them, thus providing for optimum allocation and use of capacity. To this end, a series of measures will be introduced:

- airlines will be allowed to sell and buy slots ("secondary trading");

- member states will have the possibility of introducing charges for carriers that return unused slots to the slots pool when it is too late for re-allocation;

- the independence of, and cooperation between, slots coordinators will be strengthened, and the transparency of the allocation process will be enhanced;

- the Single European Sky (SES) network manager will be associated with the allocation process, so that the impact of capacity allocation at a given airport upon the whole European air traffic network can be taken account of

The main outstanding issue that needed to be settled by ministers concerned the possibility for airlines to sell and buy slots. Some delegations requested the introduction of safeguards because of concerns about the possible negative impact of second trading on - economically less profitable -regional flights or about the potential speculative use of traded slots. Other delegations, however, as well as the Commission stressed the need for a uniform application of the system, pointing to the risk of market fragmentation. As a compromise acceptable for the majority of delegations, the text of the draft regulation tabled by the presidency () has been amended to allow member states to apply temporary restrictions where a significant and demonstrable problem with second trading occurs. Such restrictions must be transparent, non-discriminatory and proportionate, and they must be motivated and notified to the Commission, which has the right to oppose them. Member states will be obliged to comply with the Commission's decision, which also must be motivated

PROVISIONAL VERSION

29.X.2012

In addition, still within the framework of the secondary trading scheme, conditions have been slightly loosened as regards the use of re-timed slots received after an exchange of newly acquired slots, which is only allowed in order to improve the slot timings for the services concerned. It was agreed that such re-timed slots need not necessarily be operated during a full scheduling period

The compromise achieved also includes a number of changes to other parts of the draft regulation:

- Where the withdrawal of slots in the event of misuse would be disproportionate, the coordinator will have the alternative option to recommend the imposition of penalties

- The provisions on slots cancellation due to a public holiday were removed since they are considered superfluous

- Slight changes were also made to the provisions on the procedures for emergency coordination, on access to the coordinator's database, on information to be provided by air carriers and on the information to be provided by the coordinator to the airport managing body

As regards the changes proposed by the Commission to the current conditions for granting priority in slots allocation to carriers that already had the same slots in previous scheduling seasons ("historical slots"), the discussions in the Council's preparatory bodies had already shown that a large majority of member states are against those changes. At the Council meeting, the Commission reaffirmed its proposal to raise the minimum rate at which carriers must effectively have used the slots allocated from the current 80% to 85% and the minimum number of slots to be requested for the same time on the same day of the week ("slots series") from the current 5 to 15 for the summer season and 10 for the winter season. Most member states, on the contrary, prefer to keep the current system, pointing to the need for flexibility for airlines, notably in order to avoid empty flights being operated only in order to secure entitlement to the slots. However, it will be possible to increase the minimum number of slots required within the framework of local guidelines

The proposal, presented by the Commission in December 2011 (), is part of an "airport package" which also includes proposals on ground handling services and noise-related operating restrictions at airports. The package addresses two key challenges: capacity at airports and the quality of airport services

The European Parliament, whose approval is also required for the adoption of the regulation, has not yet determined its position on the proposal

PROVISIONAL VERSION

29.X.2012

Enhanced cooperation with Eurocontrol

The Council authorised the signing and provisional application of an agreement with the European Organisation for Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol) establishing a new and stable framework for enhanced cooperation ().

The agreement, which lists the areas of cooperation and defines the forms and mechanisms of cooperation, confirms Eurocontrol as the technical and operational arm of the EU in the development and implementation of its Single European Sky (SES) programme, while positioning the EU as the regulator of this programme. It also provides a framework for civil-military coordination of air traffic management and for pan-European coordination beyond the EU borders. Moreover, it will enable the EU to contribute to the ongoing reform of Eurocontrol's governance structure

In addition, the agreement aims to ensure synergies with, and avoid duplication of, the work of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in safety-related air traffic management matters and environmental issues

Eurocontrol is a civil-military intergovernmental organisation with 39 contracting parties from all over Europe, including all EU member states except Estonia. It plays a pivotal role in air traffic management (ATM) in Europe and provides expertise and technical assistance to the EU in this field. Last year, Eurocontrol was nominated as ATM network manager for the Single European Sky programme, which is designed to establish a safe and efficient air traffic management system at European level on the basis of a legal framework adopted in 2004 and 2009

PROVISIONAL VERSION

29.X.2012

SHIPPING

Enforcing the Maritime Labour Convention

The Council agreed on a general approach on two draft directives laying down the responsibilities of flag states, on the one hand, and port states, on the other, as regards the enforcement of the Maritime Labour Convention adopted in 2006 by the International Labour Organisation (ILO)

The flag state draft directive () aims to ensure that member states discharge their obligation as flag states to monitor the compliance of ships flying their flag with the rules laid down in directive , which has incorporated a large part of the Maritime Labour Convention into EU law. The new directive is needed since the 2009 directive, which implements an agreement between the Union's social partners regarding that Convention, does not cover enforcement

As a result of the work in the Council's preparatory bodies, the Commission's proposal () was amended, notably to provide for a longer transposition deadline and to allow member states to apply a more flexible monitoring system to smaller ships under 200 gross tonnage not engaged in international voyages

Slovenia has misgivings about the legal basis chosen for the directive, which is not a social policy provision of the treaty, as was the case for the 2009 directive, but a transport provision, deemed more appropriate by the Commission. This delegation therefore abstained and issued a statement to explain its position (ADD 2).

The draft directive, which incorporates parts of the Maritime Labour Convention's enforcement provisions, requires flag states to establish inspection mechanisms to ensure compliance monitoring. It also stipulates that the personnel responsible for that monitoring must have the necessary professional competencies and independence. In addition, it provides for a complaints procedure

The port state draft directive () amends directive on port state control. The amendments concern in particular

- the inclusion of new documents to be checked, namely the "maritime labour certificate" and the "declaration of maritime labour compliance",

- the extension of inspections to cover other requirements of the Maritime Labour Convention,

PROVISIONAL VERSION

29.X.2012

- the handling of complaints, and

- the inclusion of a serious or repeated breach of the Maritime Labour Convention as a reason justifying the detention of a ship

Moreover, new rules on delegated and implementing powers conferred on the Commission are introduced to take account of the new procedures established by the Lisbon Treaty, which entered into force after the adoption of the 2009 directive

During the discussions in the Council's preparatory bodies, some changes were made to the Commission's proposal (). In particular, it was decided to remove the possibility of subjecting ships under the flag of a state that has not ratified a set of conventions to further inspections at any time, in addition to the regular inspections. Furthermore, the situation of member states that have not yet ratified the Maritime Labour Convention has been clarified, with the preamble to the directive specifying that they should make every effort to comply with procedures and practices under the Convention. In addition, the Council extended the list of conventions for which port state control has to be performed, by adding two conventions, namely the conventions on the control of harmful anti-fouling systems on ships and on civil liability for bunker oil pollution damage; this should contribute to further enhancing environmental protection in EU ports. Generally, the wording of the draft directive has been aligned more closely on the text of the Convention

The ILO's Maritime Labour Convention aims to guarantee decent working and living conditions on board ships and to limit social dumping, thus securing fair competition for shipowners who respect seafarers' rights. The Convention covers matters such as the minimum requirements for seafarers to work on board a ship; conditions of employment; accommodation, recreational facilities, food and catering; health protection, medical care, welfare and social security protection; as well as compliance and enforcement

PROVISIONAL VERSION

29.X.2012

LAND TRANSPORT Tachograph regulation

The Council reached a political agreement on a new regulation on the tachograph used in road transport (). The political agreement confirms the general approach agreed by the Council in June this year, while slightly adapting the wording of some parts to take account of amendments adopted by the European Parliament in the meantime

One delegation, however, pointed out that it could not support the text of the draft regulation because it would have wished a wider exemption from the obligation to use the tachograph for small and medium enterprises

The political agreement will be formalised in the form of a first-reading position after legal and linguistic checks have been carried out. In parallel, the Council will continue its informal negotiations with the European Parliament in order to seek agreement on a final text to be adopted jointly by the two institutions at second reading

The aim of the new draft legislation, which will replace the 1985 tachograph regulation, is to make fraud more difficult and to reduce the administrative burden by making full use of new technologies and introducing a number of new regulatory measures

The text agreed by the Council contains the following key elements:

As regards the use of technology:

- The current manual recording of the location of the vehicle will be replaced by automated recording through satellite positioning. To reduce costs, only free positioning services will be used

- Remote communication from the tachograph providing basic information on compliance will allow for early detection of possible manipulation or misuse, thereby enabling officers to target roadside checks better and avoid unnecessary checks. However, there will be no obligation for member states to ensure that their inspection authorities are equipped with the instruments required for remote early detection of this kind

- In addition, the tachograph may be equipped with an interface facilitating its integration into Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), subject to certain conditions

12

PROVISIONAL VERSION

29.X.2012

The draft regulation also contains safeguards for protection of personal data: recording of vehicle position will be limited to the starting and ending place of the daily working period; access to data will be restricted to control authorities; and the explicit consent of the driver will be required for access to personal data through an external ITS device

The "smart tachograph", i.e. the application of the new satellite-linked technology, will become mandatory 40 months after the technical specifications for the new tachograph have been established, probably in 2017 or 2018

The regulatory changes include stricter requirements for workshops responsible for installing and calibrating tachographs. In order to reduce the administrative burden, the exemption from the obligation to use tachographs, which member states may grant to certain users - mainly small and medium-sized enterprises - will be extended: for those users, the new draft regulation introduces an exemption for transport operations within a radius of 100 km, whilst hitherto the exemption has been limited to 50 km in certain cases

The regulatory measures will apply two years after the publication of the regulation in the Union's Official Journal, with the exception of the rules on the approval and control of workshops and the use of driver cards, which will be applicable one year earlier

The text agreed by the Council does not retain the Commission's proposal to incorporate a microchip with the driver card functionalities into the driving licence for professional drivers, since the majority of delegations have doubts as to whether the benefits of such a merger would justify the costs it entails

The Commission has a number of misgivings about the text as amended by the Council (see statement in ADD 1). Apart from the deletion of the merger of the cards, it considers the date of introduction of the "smart tachograph" to be too late and it is also concerned about the possibility of issuing cards to drivers who reside in territories of the member states where the EU treaties do not apply (that is, the Faeroe Islands and Greenland)

The Commission presented its proposal in July 2011 (). The European Parliament established its first-reading position on the proposal in July 2012

PROVISIONAL VERSION

New rules on regular vehicle checks for roadworthiness

29.X.2012

The Council held a debate on a proposal for a regulation updating the common rules on mandatory periodic roadworthiness tests for motor vehicles (). The debate, which was based on a presidency paper (), focused on the degree of harmonisation of vehicle testing to be achieved through the new rules as well as on the list of vehicles to be checked regularly and the frequency of the checks. The purpose of the debate was to give guidance to the Council's preparatory bodies for the ongoing work on the Commission's proposal

The Council generally showed a positive attitude towards the Commission's initiative to further harmonise the common rules on vehicle checks. A large number of ministers considered that such a legislative initiative can usefully contribute to achieving the goals of increased road safety and improved environmental protection

Many member states, however, had misgivings about the legal form of the proposed legislation and would prefer a directive rather than a regulation; they considered that a directive, which leaves more room for manoeuvre to take into account the specificities of the member states, would be more appropriate to achieve an improved degree of harmonisation and adequate implementation. One delegation did not see the need for an initiative such as proposed by the Commission at the current stage, pointing to the high costs involved and questioning the benefits in terms of road safety

A majority of member states voiced concerns about the lists of vehicles to be tested, with a large number of delegations questioning the extension of the checks to two- or three-wheeled vehicles, tractors or light trailers. Moreover, many delegations were not convinced by the proposal to increase the frequency of tests

The update proposed by the Commission is intended to improve road safety, and in particular to contribute to the EU target of halving the number of road fatalities by 2020. It also aims to improve environmental protection by reducing vehicle emissions linked to poor maintenance

Compared with the current rules under the 2009 directive which defined minimum standards for periodic roadworthiness tests, the Commission proposes to extend the scope of checks to include motorcycles and scooters as well as light trailers (under 3.5 tons), and to increase the frequency of testing for older vehicles. In addition, new requirements should be introduced in particular for test equipment, skills and training of testing personnel and supervision of testing centres

14

PROVISIONAL VERSION

29.X.2012

The proposal provides that, as under the current regime, cars should be checked for the first time no later than four years after the date of first registration, with a second inspection taking place at the latest two years after. The minimum frequency of the subsequent checks, however, should no longer be two years but annual. This revision is considered necessary as data show that the number of serious accidents due to technical failure increases substantially after five years. Furthermore, vehicles with high mileage, namely 160 000 km on the first regular roadworthiness test, should be subject to annual checks for security reasons. The same intervals should apply also to motorcycles and scooters. The inclusion of this category of vehicles in the inspection scheme is considered necessary, since motorcycle riders are the group of road users with the highest safety risks

The proposed regulation, presented by the Commission in July 2012, is part of a "roadworthiness package" that also includes proposals for regulations on roadside inspections of commercial vehicles () and on the registration documents for vehicles ().

15

PROVISIONAL VERSION 29 X2012

OTHER BUSINESS

Ministerial conference on the EU's Integrated Maritime Policy

The presidency briefed ministers on the informal ministerial conference on the EU's Integrated Maritime Policy, which took place in Limassol (Cyprus) on 7 and 8 October. The discussions at the conference on identifying the marine and maritime activities considered crucial drivers for growth and jobs as well as the supporting measures to be taken at EU and national level and on the future development of the Integrated Maritime Policy. The conference adopted the "Limassol Declaration", which promotes a marine and maritime agenda to support the Europe 2020 strategy (). The adoption of the declaration coincides with the publication of the Commission's communication on the Blue Growth initiative, which formed the main supporting document for the conference ().

Emissions trading in the aviation sector

The Commission informed ministers on the Union's preparations for the meeting of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to be held from 29 October to 16 November in Montreal, where the issue of measures to tackle greenhouse gas emissions from international aviation will be discussed (). The EU considers that a global framework for market-based measures, build on the principle of non-discrimination, is the best way forward. If such a framework can be agreed in the foreseeable future, the EU would be able to use the flexibilities provided for by its emissions trading legislation to take account of global approaches without compromising the goals of its own emissions trading scheme (ETS)

The Commission also updated ministers on recent developments as regards the opposition by non-EU countries to application of the EU's emissions trading scheme (ETS) to their airlines

Aviation summit on the Single European Sky

The presidency informed the Council on the aviation summit jointly organised by the Cyprus presidency and the European Commission in Limassol on 11 and 12 October, which discussed the progress made in the implementation of the Single European Sky (SES) and the next steps to be taken (). The debate focused on four issues: the air traffic management performance scheme; the functional airspace blocks; the SESAR (SES air traffic management research) programme, which is the technological pillar of the SES; and an update of the SES regulatory framework to be presented by the Commission. It was stressed at the conference that renewed efforts need to be made in order to complete all components of the SES

PROVISIONAL VERSION

29.X.2012

Cabin air incidents in aircraft

The German delegation expressed its concerns about the increasing number of incidents with contaminated cabin air, in particular oil smell, in aircraft (). It considers that this issue should be addressed at EU level and therefore urged the Commission and the European Air Safety Agency (EASA) to take action

The Commission set out that recent studies had not found evidence for such incidents being a real safety problem, but that it would continue to monitor this issue

Informal meeting of transport and telecommunications ministers

The presidency briefed the Council on the results of the informal meeting of transport and telecommunications ministers, which took place in Nicosia on 17 July (). At that meeting, ministers discussed how two central EU policies, the Digital Agenda for Europe and the EU transport policy, can best be integrated. The aim is to fully use the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) in order to contribute to a safer and more efficient movement of people and goods through the transport networks. The main aspects highlighted were the opening up of public data resources and the development of ITS to address multimodality issues, such as journey planers and integrated ticketing

The conclusions drawn by the presidency on the results of the informal meeting were also presented to the Vienna ITS World Congress held in October

World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS)

The Austrian delegation informed the Council about the results of the ministerial round table held in the framework of the 19th ITS World Congress, which was organised in Vienna from 22 to 26 October and discussed the latest trends and policies in Intelligent Transport Systems. The international round table, which took place on the opening day of the congress, focused on the discussion of best practice examples and the needs and challenges for the development and implementation of ITS. It concluded with a joint statement on a common approach for safer, more efficient and environmentally friendly transport systems and increased political commitment to integrating ITS into national transport policies ().

17

PROVISIONAL VERSION

29.X.2012

European Road Safety Day

The presidency and the Commission informed ministers on the fourth European Road Safety Day organised in Nicosia on 25 July and aimed at increasing youth awareness on road safety (and ). The conference included workshops on the role of education and training, increased enforcement through establishing mutual respect between the police and young people, and risky behaviours such as alcohol or drugs use and speeding

Transport relations between the EU and Russia

The Commission briefed the Council on the increasing number of problems in the relations with Russia in the aviation, the road transport and the railway sectors (). The issues concern in particular the charges for the overflight of Siberia and discrimination in road charge fees and rail freight rates. The Commission asked member states to act together in the face of this situation

PROVISIONAL VERSION

29.X.2012

OTHER ITEMS APPROVED

TRANSPORT

Single European railway area *

The Council adopted1 a directive establishing a single European railway area (directive: 44/12, statements: ADD 1 REV3), following the approval by the European Parliament of the compromise reached in the negotiations between the two institutions

The draft directive is a recast of the three directives of the 2001 "first railway package", which launched a gradual opening-up of the railway sector to competition at European level. The purpose of the recast is to simplify, clarify and modernise the regulatory framework for Europe's railway sector so as to increase competition, strengthen market supervision and improve conditions for investment in the sector

For more information, see the press release on the agreement reached between the Council and the European Parliament in June ().

TRADE POLICY

Anti-dumping - aluminium radiators - China

The Council adopted a regulation imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty and collecting definitively the provisional duty imposed on imports of aluminium radiators originating in China

().

1 Austria, Germany and Luxemburg voted against, Estonia, Poland and Slovakia abstained

PROVISIONAL VERSION

29.X.2012

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Rights of persons with disabilities - EU-level framework

The Council set up an EU-level framework to promote, protect and monitor the implementation of the UN convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. This EU-level framework is a complement to the national frameworks and mechanisms and concerns the implementation of the convention in two areas: in EU legislation and policy and in the public administration of the EU institutions, for example in relation to their employees as well as in their interaction with citizens and the public

VIRONMT

Sulphur content of marine fuels

The Council adopted a directive amending directive /EC as regards the sulphur content of marine fuels (PE-CON)

Emissions from shipping due to the combustion of marine fuels with a high sulphur content contribute to air pollution in the form of sulphur dioxide and particulate matter, which harm human health and contribute to acidification. The directive aims therefore to reduce these emissions considerably and to provide a high level of protection for human health and the environment by rendering the most recent International Maritime Organisation (EVIO) rules on marine fuel standards mandatory in the EU, thereby amending Directive /EC

For more details see press release . End-of-life vehicles

The Council decided not to oppose the adoption of a Commission directive amending Annex II to Directive /EC on end-of-life vehicles ().

The Commission act is subject to the regulatory procedure with scrutiny. This means that now that the Council has given its consent, the Commission may adopt it, unless the European Parliament objects

20

PROVISIONAL VERSION

29.X.2012

EMPLOYMT

Mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Denmark and Germany

The Council adopted two decisions mobilising in total EUR 12.8 million under the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF), providing support for workers made redundant in Denmark and Germany

An amount of EUR 7.5 million is allocated to dismissed workers of the Danish major wind turbine producer, Vestas Group, which lost important market shares due to the raising competition from the lower-cost non-EU producers. Further EUR 5.4 million are made available for workers made redundant in the German printing machinery producer manroland. Similar to Vestas Group the company has lost significant market shares and suffered from sharp decline in sales due to the raising competition from the lower-cost non-EU producers

APPOINTMTS

Committee of the Regions

The Council appointed Mr Spyridon SPYRIDON (Greece) () and Ms Patricia FERGUSON, Mr Paul WATSON and Mr Trevor CUMMFNGS (United Kingdom) (), as members of the Committee of the Regions for the remainder of the current term of office, which runs until 25 January 2015

ACTS ADOPTED BY WRITT PROCEDURE Restrictive measures - Republic of Guinea

By written procedure ending on 26 October, the Council extended the restrictive measures against the Republic of Guinea until 27 October 2013. At the same time, it amended the arms embargo, allowing member states to authorise under certain conditions the export of explosives solely intended for use in mining and infrastructure investments

21