PUBLIC LIMITE EN COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION. Brussels, 23 November /07 LIMITE PV/CONS 48 TRANS 291 TELECOM 113 ENER 232

Transcription

1 Conseil UE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION Brussels, 23 November /07 LIMITE PUBLIC PV/CONS 48 TRANS 291 TELECOM 113 ER 232 DRAFT MINUTES Subject : 2821st meeting of the Council of the European Union (TRANSPORT, TELECOMMUNICATIONS and ERGY), held in Luxembourg on 1 and 2 October /07 1 LIMITE

2 CONTTS Page 1. Adoption of the agenda Approval of the list of "A" items... 4 TELECOMMUNICATIONS POSTAL SERVICES 3. Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 97/67/EC concerning the full accomplishment of the internal market of Community postal services... 4 TRANSPORT ISSUES SHIPPING 4. Establishment of a European Union Long Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT) Data Centre... 5 LAND TRANSPORT 5. Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on road infrastructure safety management Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the interoperability of the Community rail system Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2004/49/EC on safety of the Community's railways... 6 AVIATION 8. External relations (a) ICAO: results of 36th Assembly (Montreal, September 2007)... 7 (b) Draft Decision by the Council and the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States of the European Union, meeting within the Council, on authorising the Commission to open negotiations with Canada in the field of air transport Communication from the Commission on "An Action Plan for airport capacity, efficiency and safety in Europe" /07 2

3 INTERMODAL AND HORIZONTAL QUESTIONS 10. European Satellite Radio-Navigation Programmes... 8 (a) EGNOS (b) Galileo 11. Any other business (a) Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the selection and authorisation of systems providing mobile satellite services (MSS)... 8 (b) Green Paper on urban transport... 8 ANNEX /07 3

4 1. Adoption of the agenda 13023/07 OJ/CONS 48 TRANS 276 TELECOM 106 ER 220 The Council adopted the above agenda. 2. Approval of the list of "A" items 13202/07 PTS A 40 The Council approved the list of "A" items set out in 13202/07 PTS A 40. The Commission submitted a statement, as set out in the Annex to these minutes, on item 1 of the above document. The documents in item 12. should read as follows : Item 12. : 12815/07 ACP 155 COASI 118 PESC COR 1 (lt) 12708/07 ACP 152 COASI 115 PESC COR 1 (fr) TELECOMMUNICATIONS POSTAL SERVICES 3. Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 97/67/EC concerning the full accomplishment of the internal market of Community postal services (Legal basis proposed by the Commission: Articles 47(2), 55 and 95 of the EC Treaty) Political agreement (Public deliberation, pursuant to Article 8(1)(c) CRP) 14357/06 POSTES 1 MI 180 COMPET 282 CONSOM 95 SOC 479 CODEC /07 POSTES 6 MI 222 COMPET 256 CONSOM 104 SOC 333 CODEC 960 The Council reached a political agreement on the aforementioned proposal (the final text is annexed to 13424/07). It shall be subject to legal/linguistic editing with a view to the adoption of a common position /07 4

5 The Commission made two statements with regard to Article 2 of the amending Directive and the relevant recital 39a, and recital 19 (see Annex). TRANSPORT ISSUES SHIPPING 4. Establishment of a European Union Long Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT) Data Centre Adoption of Council Resolution 13030/07 MAR 65 V 468 ECOFIN 353 The Council unanimously adopted the above Resolution as set out in 13030/07. LAND TRANSPORT 5. Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on road infrastructure safety management (Legal basis proposed by the Commission: Articles 156 and 71 of the EC Treaty) General approach (Public deliberation, pursuant to Article 8(1)(c) CRP) 13874/06 TRANS 260 CODEC /07 TRANS 273 CODEC COR 1 + COR 2 + COR 3 The Council agreed on a general approach to a proposal for a Directive on road infrastructure safety management (12933/07). Pending the adoption of the opinion of the European Parliament at first reading, the Commission reserved its position. The United Kingdom maintained its parliamentary scrutiny reservation /07 5

6 The Council took note of the following statements as set out in the Annex to these minutes. Joint statement by the Netherlands and Sweden Statement by the Czech Republic. 6. Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the interoperability of the Community rail system (Legal basis proposed by the Commission: Articles 156 and 71 of the EC Treaty) General approach (Public deliberation, pursuant to Article 8(1)(c) CRP) 17038/06 TRANS 348 CODEC /1/07 TRANS 271 CODEC 928 REV 1 The Council agreed on a general approach to a proposal for a Directive on the interoperability of the Community rail system (12822/1/07 REV1). Pending the adoption of the opinion of the European Parliament at first reading, the Commission reserved its position. France and the United Kingdom maintained their parliamentary scrutiny reservations. The Council took note of a joint statement by Cyprus and Malta (see Annex). 7. Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2004/49/EC on safety of the Community's railways (Legal basis proposed by the Commission: Article 71(1) of the EC Treaty) General approach (Public deliberation, pursuant to Article 8(1)(c) CRP) 17039/06 TRANS 349 CODEC /1/07 TRANS 272 CODEC 929 REV 1 The Council reached a general approach on a proposal for a Directive amending Directive 2004/49/EC on safety of the Community's railways (12824/1/07 REV1). Pending the adoption of the opinion of the European Parliament at first reading, the Commission reserved its position. France and the United Kingdom maintained their parliamentary scrutiny reservations /07 6

7 AVIATION 8. External relations (a) ICAO: results of 36th Assembly (Montreal, September 2007) Information from the Presidency and the Commission The Presidency and the Commission briefed the Council on the main results of the 36th Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, which took place in Montreal from 18 to 28 September (b) Draft Decision by the Council and the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States of the European Union, meeting within the Council, on authorising the Commission to open negotiations with Canada in the field of air transport Adoption 5276/07 AVIATION 16 RELEX 17 CDN 1 RESTREINT UE 12939/07 AVIATION 152 RELEX 653 CDN 21 RESTREINT UE The Council adopted a decision authorising the Commission to open negotiations on a comprehensive air transport agreement with Canada, aimed at establishing an open aviation area between the EU and Canada, opening market restrictions and achieving a high level of regulatory convergence. 9. Communication from the Commission on "An Action Plan for airport capacity, efficiency and safety in Europe" Adoption of Council conclusions 5886/07 AVIATION /07 AVIATION 157 The Council unanimously adopted conclusions on the above issue as they appear in 13161/ /07 7

8 INTERMODAL AND HORIZONTAL QUESTIONS 10. European Satellite Radio-Navigation Programmes (a) EGNOS (b) Galileo Presentation by the Commission and exchange of views 13241/07 TRANS 286 MAR 71 AVIATION 162 RECH The Council unanimously adopted conclusions on the European Galileo and EGNOS satellite-navigation programmes as set out in 13739/ Any other business (a) Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the selection and authorisation of systems providing mobile satellite services (MSS) Information from the Commission 12413/07 TELECOM 102 MI 193 CODEC /07 TELECOM 104 MI 210 CODEC 935 The Council took note of the Commission's information in its note (12897/07), which underlines the importance of the proposal and the Commission's readiness to provide all assistance so as to enable rapid progress to be made on this initiative by the next TTE Council. (b) Green Paper on urban transport Presentation by the Commission 13278/07 TRANS 287 V 480 TELECOM 111 RECH 252 The Council took note of the presentation by the Commission of the Green Paper "Towards a new culture for urban mobility" /07 8

9 ANNEX STATEMTS TO THE COUNCIL MINUTES Ad item 2 Approval of the list of "A" items "A" item 1 (Council Conclusions on the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-07)). STATEMT BY THE COMMISSION "The European Commission welcomes the Council's adoption of Conclusions in view of the ITU World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-07), following the Commission's Communication [COM(2005)371] and notes with satisfaction that the Conclusions express overall support for the objectives to be achieved by WRC-07 as identified in the Communication. The European Commission is pleased to note that the draft Conclusions refer to the Presidency Conclusions of the European Council of December 2006 which call inter alia for "a coordinated approach for the use of spectrum becoming available as a result of digital switch-over". However, on one key issue the change of the regulatory status of the UHF band the European Commission believes that the Council Conclusions miss a unique opportunity to give an impetus to the whole of the wireless industry, as they do not seek actively to upgrade mobile services to the same status as broadcasting services in the UHF radio band. This would facilitate decisions being taken concerning the introduction in the EU of a range of new services. It would maximise the societal and economic potential of the UHF radio band arising from the digital dividend, where radio spectrum is becoming available following the transition to digital broadcasting. Furthermore, it would allow Europe to align itself with other regions of the world who have already taken this step. The European Commission regrets the fact that the Council Conclusions are not more ambitious in this respect, as proposed by the Commission Communication. They fail to support a strong negotiating position by the EU Member States at WRC /07 9 ANNEX

10 The European Commission therefore sees the risk of a serious delay in the regulatory decision to bring the status of the UHF band into line with new service development and market demand, and despite spectrum becoming available in this band. As a consequence, the Commission sees this as a missed opportunity to contribute to the Lisbon goals by triggering productivity gains through the introduction of innovation, and in particular in regard to broadband wireless services." Ad item 3 Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 97/67/EC concerning the full accomplishment of the internal market of Community postal services STATEMTS BY THE COMMISSION a) on Article 2 of the amending Directive and the relevant recital 39a: "The Commission recalls its position concerning the creation by Member States of correlation tables linking the transposition measures taken by the Member States with the directive, in the interest of citizens, Better Regulation and transparency and to assist the examination of the conformity of national rules with Community provisions. In this instance, the Commission does not stand in the way of an agreement at Council with a view to the successful conclusion of the interinstitutional procedure on this file. However, it expects this horizontal matter to be considered jointly by the institutions." b) with regard to Recital 19 : "The Commission confirms that in accordance with Recital 18 of Directive 97/67/EC and the consistent case law of the European Court of Justice (e.g. Case C-320/91 (Corbeau)), express and courier services constitute specific service that are characterised by being essentially different from universal postal services." 13384/07 10 ANNEX

11 Ad item 5 Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on road infrastructure safety management STATEMT BY THE NETHERLANDS AND SWED "The Netherlands and Sweden attach great importance to improve road safety, and both Member States have good road safety records. Both are however of the opinion, that subsidiarity principles should guide progress on improved road infrastructure safety for existing and planned roads within the T-network. In that respect the Member States should be free to choose methods to achieve this. There is insufficient proof that a Directive would improve safety records significantly more than alternative instruments. Therefore, instead of binding legislation, The Netherlands and Sweden would have preferred recommendations on road infrastructure safety or exchanges of best practices among Member States. Nevertheless, in the spirit to contribute to the objectives expressed by the Commission and the Member States on improved road safety within the entire Community, and due to the changes in the Commission's initial proposal done by the presidency which goes in the direction of the opinion expressed above, The Netherlands and Sweden accept the general approach on the directive. The Netherlands and Sweden remain strongly committed to improve road safety within the Community." STATEMT BY THE CZECH REPUBLIC "The Czech Republic is of the opinion that it is mainly the principle of subsidiarity that should be applied throughout the process of improving the road infrastructure safety for existing and planned roads within the T-T network and the Member States should therefore be free to choose instruments to achieve this. The Czech Republic considers recommendations or exchange of best practices to be appropriate in this respect. However, in the spirit of compromise and also taking into account changes introduced to the Commission's initial proposal, the Czech Republic can agree on the general approach on this directive." 13384/07 11 ANNEX

12 Ad item 6 Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the interoperability of the Community rail system JOINT STATEMT BY CYPRUS AND MALTA "Cyprus and Malta have no railway system or enterprise providing goods or services to the rail sector established within their territory. A detailed transposition and active implementation of this Directive is therefore not immediately feasible or cost-effective. In order to avoid an undue administrative burden and to ensure legal certainty Cyprus and Malta hold that this problem needs to be addressed by means of an appropriate provision within the operative part of the Directive under consideration. Towards this end Cyprus and Malta reserve the right to raise this issue during the negotiating process leading to the adoption of the Political Agreement." 13384/07 12 ANNEX