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EU Transport Council

I will attend the second Transport Council of the Slovenian presidency which takes place in Luxembourg on 13 June. In road transport, there were progress reports to the April Council on three current legislative proposals: the recast regulation on common rules for access to the international road haulage market; the regulation on common rules concerning the conditions to be complied with to pursue the occupation of road transport operator; and the recast regulation on common rules for access to the market for coach and bus services. The Council will aim to reach a political agreement on these proposals. These include new provisions for setting up national registers so that information about road haulage and coach companies operating within the EU can be exchanged between member states' authorities for enforcement purposes. The proposals also seek to clarify and simplify the rules for hauliers and coaches working outside of their home territory, including the rules on cabotage. The Government still have a reservations on some of these proposals and will be putting our case to the other members of the Transport Council. The Council will aim to reach a general approach on a recast directive on roadworthiness tests for motor vehicles and their trailers. The proposal is essentially a consolidation—as well as providing for a very minor update—of existing directives covering the periodic technical inspection of vehicles to verify that they are roadworthy. UK domestic legislation already makes equivalent provision to the two changes in the text. The Council will be asked to adopt conclusions following the Commission communication on multi-annual contracts for rail infrastructure quality. The aim of the communication is to promote the adoption through the Community of multi-annual funding agreements for rail infrastructure in order to provide a more stable and efficient financial environment for the delivery of improvements in rail infrastructure quality. We support the adoption of the Council conclusions. There will be a progress report and the Council will aim to reach a general approach on a directive on the promotion of clean and energy-efficient road transport vehicles. The UK Government supports the policy objectives behind the proposal, as well as the principle of using public procurement to help stimulate the market for cleaner and energy-efficient vehicles. We consider that the revised text submitted to Council is a significant improvement on the Commission's original and goes in the right direction of encouraging cost-effective green procurement without imposing an unacceptable burden on public authorities. However, we regret the lack of a formal impact assessment, and will want, with the Commission, to keep the costs and benefits of the proposed measures under review, as discussions progress. The Council will be asked to adopt a decision authorising the Commission to open negotiations towards an EU/Western Balkans transport treaty. The UK welcomes this opportunity to work towards improvement of the infrastructure of the Western Balkans and better transport links. In aviation, the Council will be asked to adopt decisions authorising the Commission to open negotiations on comprehensive air transport agreements with Australia and New Zealand. The UK can support the opening of negotiations with these countries and is content with the proposed negotiating mandate.