Among the files that the transport sector will closely follow during the next six months is the Eurovignette Directive, which will allow member states that so wish to introduce tolls reflecting the external costs generated from transporting goods by road. The Transport Council of 11 June broke the deadlock on this extremely sensitive issue, but the Swedes will have to relaunch work on it. In any case, they are among those who consider that the current economic crisis cannot serve as an excuse to delay discussion. As the European Parliament’s rapporteur – the Belgian Socialist Saïd El Khadraoui – was reelected , contacts between the two institutions should be re-established quickly on this key file in the transport sector.

‘INTELLIGENT’ TRANSPORT

Sweden’s horizontal priority in the transport sector is to develop an eco-efficient and sustainable transport system and so the Swedes will lay emphasis on intelligent transport systems (ITS), which, among other things, would reduce the sector’s impact on the environment. Asa Torstensson, the minister in charge of transport, will try to broker a political agreement on the directive’s proposal for deploying ITS in road transport, even if states remain divided on the need to create a Community legal framework in this area. A “high-level” meeting on new technologies in road transport is set to take place in Gothenburg, on 26 and 27 October. Torstensson will use the opportunity of an ITS congress in Stockholm, on 21 September, to invite her colleagues to a ministerial working dinner. The ministers will not confine themselves to discussing ITS since the meeting is on the more general topic of “the future of transport”.

It is no accident that it will be during the Swedish Presidency that discussions on the future of the Common Transport Policy will really get underway, with a view to a new white paper for the 2010-2020 period. The European Commission presented a communication, on 17 June, that is open to consultation until 30 September. The results will be presented at a conference in Brussels in October.

RECASTING RAILWAY PACKAGE

Other files that should progress under the Swedish Presidency include passenger rights in the bus, coach and maritime sectors, the financing of aviation security and the creation of a borderless maritime area. The Swedes hope to preside over the signature of a treaty creating a transport community with the Western Balkans, the aim of which is to establish an integrated market for infrastructure and land transport, inland waterways and maritime transport (air transport is already covered by another agreement).

But without doubt it is the rail sector that is expecting the most in the next six months. A recasting of what is called “the first European railway package”, which has been on the cards for a long time, could in fact be put forward by the Commission during the second half of 2009. The conditional is needed given the numerous delays that this file has seen during the last 12 months. The package to be re-examined contains several key directives for rail, defining rules on capacity allocation, charges for access to infrastructure, licensing and access to other member states’ rail markets. For now, it is impossible to predict what the recast will look like.

It seems to be accepted that the issue of reducing the noise of coaches will be addressed (noise limits could be combined with new rules on different rates to encourage the use of quieter materials) but a question mark remains over the more sensitive issues, such as everything related to provisions meant to guarantee non-discriminatory access to the market for different member states. Freight traffic is now fully liberalised in the EU and, as of 1 January 2010, international passenger traffic will follow suit. But new rail companies on the market frequently complain that the rules to ensure undistorted competition are not respected – such as infrastructure managers really being independent from the old rail companies and true independence of monitoring bodies aimed at guaranteeing non-discriminatory access or rules that prevent cross-financing – and hope to see strengthened rules.

Still, Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani does not seem to want to give this file as much scope as some expect. His approach would rather be to regulate the access issues not by recasting but by infringement proceedings. Except that nothing is advancing there either. The infringement proceedings launched against 24 of the 27 member states a year ago, at the end of June 2008, have since stalled.

The preparatory work on the recasting of the first package will in any case develop in the coming months. The Commission is waiting for different reports from consultants (on issues such as separate accounting, corporate responsibility, noise and the responsibility of infrastructure managers), which will influence the content of the reform. And a surprise guest could make an appearance: the issue of liberalising national passenger traffic. The Commission could in fact bring forward, to the end of 2009, the publication of a study on opening national rail markets, originally planned for the end of 2012 (according to article 10.9 of Directive 2007/58/EC). Some think that Tajani would be influenced here by Italy and Germany, wanting to invest in the French market... and hostile to the revision of the first package.

The Swedes hope to preside over the signature of a ‘transport’ treaty with the Western Balkans