Dear Mr President,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am looking forward to talks with you and the possibility of discussing the priorities of the German Council Presidency in the transport sector.
We certainly all agree: Although transport is a partial aspect of European policy, it is always the overall European context which matters. We jointly bear the responsibility for legislation and, thus, for an important sphere of European integration.
For me as the President of the Council that means: Together we must assume our political responsibility in Europe. Only then will it be possible to achieve good results for the people in Europe.
Again and again, it was this Parliament, which has seen to the clarification and in some cases even the adjustment of important political issues. I am looking forward to our joint efforts to find viable and target-oriented solutions.
I am pleased to present to you the programme of the German Presidency. Our work will be based on the work undertaken by the preceding presidencies. And as the first “Trio Presidency”, we closely co-ordinate our activities with our Portuguese and Slovenian friends.
We are taking the helm at a time when the European Union has once again been enlarged. As an East German, former mayor and President of Eurocities, I definitely know how to feel as a citizen of a new Member State. Therefore, I consider it as self-evident that we in the European Union must direct our particular attention to the new Member States and give them special support.
We are aware of our great responsibility to jointly build a safe and stable European house.
And we want to do this in a way that people can understand and quite definitely experience that this European house is a good house for all of them,
a house which does not suit its manager but its occupants.
In that respect, we are all participating in the building up of a Europe which unfolds its effect within the Community in the same way as it holds a strong position in the international context.
I, myself, are very glad that I can make a contribution to achieve this aim.
Mr Chairman, in your letter to me you have already mentioned four subjects which are also of central importance to me:
I will set forth the individual subjects in more detail. But first of all, I would like to place our subjects in the context of our overall European policy.
Some days ago, the Federal Chancellor explained this policy in the European Parliament. Our common European policy will and must provide answers to key issues of our society:
Transport policy can provide more answers to these questions than some people might imagine. In its mid-term review of the White Paper, the Commission has come to a series of extremely interesting conclusions.
This review shows the dramatic development in the transport sector. The forecasts predict a massive traffic growth in the EU.
Consequently, the question on the agenda of economic policy is: How can we ensure that, despite this traffic growth, there are no transport bottlenecks curbing economic growth?
This enormous traffic growth did, in fact, not develop by chance. It is rather the logical result of the globalization of the economy and the result of the international division of labour.
I am not quite sure whether these correlations are as clear everywhere in the political sphere as they are in transport policy. Again and again, it comes as a surprise to many people when I mention
Economic success and traffic growth are closely interlinked. For this reason, it is the innovations in the transport sector which are an essential prerequisite to promote mobility, employment and environmental protection.
We need the very best conditions for transport if we want to achieve the ambitious targets set by the Lisbon Strategy.
I was amazed by the limited number of transport-related subjects included in the agenda of the Lisbon Strategy. I, therefore, propose to the Council of Ministers of Transport to elaborate conclusions for the Lisbon Strategy still by March.
I am sure that transport policy can make a good contribution in this connection. Let us here go still one step further. For this purpose, I want to mention another well-known figure:
Today already, transport accounts for over 70 % of all the petroleum consumed in the EU.
The figures speak for themselves.
We will, therefore, only meet these challenges if we make our transport system more efficient, more sustainable and safer. And one of the main reasons why this is necessary is that the transport growth we require for economic growth must not be allowed to destroy people’s quality of life.
Logically, our priorities can be derived from these requirements and also the files which have to be tackled first and foremost.
We will orientate the priority files of our presidency towards these objectives. I will now set forth the individual files.
Let me begin with rail transport. Considering the forecasts of a growth of 45% in the overall freight sector it becomes clear:
We urgently need a higher percentage of goods carried by rail. In view of the forecasts, this is still more important than further growth in the passenger sector. Since 1 January 2007, the free transport of goods by rail has been a reality in Europe. This is a major progress Council and Parliament can be proud of.
But there are still barriers in European rail transport which counteract our liberalization of freight transport by rail.
We must remove the barriers existing with regard to the train driver's licence and the mutual recognition of locomotives. We will not attract more freight to this transport mode unless all obstacles are removed.
For this purpose, it is still necessary to fulfil two preconditions:
The Commission has submitted adequate legislative proposals in this connection. I would very much appreciate it if Parliament could speedily discuss these proposals; I, as the President of the Council, will do all I can.
As regards the so-called third railway package, we firmly intend to come to an amicable agreement. The wise decisions you have taken last week in Parliament make it much more likely to reach a settlement concerning this package.
Here, I see sufficient scope for settlement in the mediation procedure. Parliament has, with regard to passenger rights, put forward some good ideas, which must not be rejected right from the start.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let me now give you an outlook for air transport.
As an important economic factor for Europe we must
SESAR is the technological way in which it will be possible to enable air navigation services to meet the capacity requirements resulting from the growing volume of air traffic while at least maintaining the level of safety. In order to more efficiently organize air navigation services we, therefore, intend to make further progress with the necessary measures for the implementation of the European technology project SESAR and we will adopt the founding regulation at the Council of Ministers of Transport in March during the first reading.
Less congestion in the airspace also means fewer emissions. This is thus a contribution to the economic and ecological strengthening of air transport.
In this context, I would also like to mention emissions trading.
The key subject of the ICAO Assembly (2nd half of 2007) will be the question as to the inclusion of aviation in emissions trading. We will, together with the Commission and the Member States, make our contribution to see to it that EU Member States take a common stance on this important issue.
Even if the Council of Ministers of Transport does not have lead responsibility, I will put the subject of aviation emissions trading on our agenda. In this regard, too, I rely on your support.
Following the events at Heathrow, we will have to continue to focus on aviation security issues.
For the time being, we will concentrate on our efforts to finally conclude the new Aviation Security Regulation. The revision is mainly in the interest of industry and will contribute to improve legislation.
Here, I am hoping for a narrowing of differences between Council and Parliament in the second reading. I would like to appeal to you not to bring about the failure of such important security issues because of your demands on funding.
The agenda of the Council also includes the discussion of the revision of the 3rd liberalization package. After
14 years of successful market liberalization in the aviation sector, an update of the legal framework is necessary. It is our special concern to create a better transparency of tariffs for the users. We hope to achieve a general orientation until the Council meeting in June, and I hope that here, too, we are acting in agreement with you.
The extension of the functions of EASA by the sectors of air transport operations, pilot’s licenses and third country aircraft is an important contribution to the further improvement of safety in Europe. Our aim is, therefore, to finally adopt the Regulation on the extension of the functions of EASA and we are confident to achieve this aim with your support.
Now let me talk about maritime transport: Shipping is the crucial mode of transport in our globalized economy. If this mode is to operate in a manner that is not only economical but also sustainable, it has to be safe and environmentally friendly. We support these aims.
Some of the proposals made by the Commission have already been taken up by the Finnish Council Presidency. The German Council Presidency will initially concentrate primarily on continuing deliberations that have already begun.
This includes first of all port state control and the vessel traffic monitoring and information system. For both projects, we have reached a general orientation under the Austrian and Finnish Presidency. Our intention is to achieve a political agreement on both issues in June.
The deliberations concerning the compensation for passengers involved in maritime and inland waterway accidents will also be continued by Germany. It remains to be seen whether it is possible to achieve a political agreement by June already.
If we have some time and capacities left, we might still start on the Directive on the investigation of accidents in the maritime transport sector.
Let me here and now express my admiration for your intention to conclude the first reading of all these proposals by April.
But I would still like to make some general remarks on the overall package. The large number of individual proposals which are not all directly and substantively related, makes it difficult to discuss them in the Council as one package and even more difficult to adopt them in common.
Dealing with these files one by one would allow the Council to concentrate on one issue and not get lost in the variety of proposals.
I know that some of you are highly supportive of package solutions. Therefore, I would like to appeal to those of you: It is important to very quickly implement the first decisions. In any future case, people will not understand why it takes us so long to enact legislation. We will convince nobody if we refer to tactical considerations in order to enforce a package.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let me please continue with two important technological innovation projects:
The setting up of the satellite navigation system Galileo is the most important European technology project which has to be further advanced. We fully support the Commission’s endeavours to bring the concession negotiations with the private-sector operator to a successful conclusion.
Ladies and Gentlemen, European transport policy, too, will have to deal much more intensively with energy policy issues.
You all know: In the European Union, transport accounts for 70% of the total oil consumption. Thus, the transport sector contributes considerably to the consumption of scarce energy resources and, moreover, causes 20% of the CO2 emissions. For this reason, we need a European fuel strategy.
The core elements of this strategy are:
First: A higher energy efficiency especially by means of innovative drivetrain technologies and second by alternative fuels. We will organize a high-level conference on these issues and will hold a ministerial meeting on the eve of the Council of Ministers of Transport in March, together with representatives from the automobile and petroleum industries.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the correlation between the transport sector and environmental, noise and safety issues is above all perceived by those of us living in the cities. But at the same time, transport services in our cities are a key factor of economic and social cohesion.
Therefore, I very much appreciate the initiative taken by Vice-President Barrot for a Green Paper on Urban Transport. Even if the Member States and above all the cities themselves have the capacity to act here they are, nevertheless, strongly affected by EU policy. As an example, I would like to mention the problems in connection with particulate matter.
But public short-distance transport, too, is partly governed by EU policy. In this connection, I would like to refer to the successor regulation of the Regulation 1191 on public passenger transport services.
The understanding reached at the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Transport in June 2006 was a great success. The European Parliament deserves the highest praise for this. With your essential proposals for amendment you have made a decisive contribution to ensure for our citizens the continued customer-friendly supply of public passenger transport services, be it by private-sector or local transport undertakings.
In view of this success, we are placing high hopes on this Parliament. It would be useful if the compromise which has now been reached with great difficulty after many years of wrangling was maintained, and we could, during our Council Presidency, adopt the Regulation by common consent.
There is quite a number of Member States who fear that the complete liberalization of passenger transport by rail, for which there is, at least at present, no majority in connection with the 3rd railway package, is to be introduced through the backdoor by means of Regulation 1191. Whoever attempts to do this, will run the risk of blocking any progress, both as regards the railway package and public short-distance transport.
Dear Mr President,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Many times, Council and Parliament have already proven their good will and forged – from conflicting positions – a compromise acceptable to both sides. Especially the transport sector is a sphere linking the Member States with each other and giving European citizens as well as undertakings a notion of a Europe without frontiers.
I am looking forward to co-operating with you in the future. Thank you very much.
