HC Deb 12 January 1987 vol 108 cc20-1W
Mr. Peter Bruinvels

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the achievements of the United Kingdom's presidency of the European Community Council of Ministers in respect of transport.

Mr. Moore

Substantial progress was made during the United Kingdom presidency on a number of important transport issues. The Council took a notable step forward in maritime transport by reaching agreement on four regulations which lay the foundations of a common shipping policy. These measures will liberalise the Community's international trades, establish a competition regime for shipping and enable the Community to take concerted action to combat protectionism from third countries and to counter unfair pricing practices particularly from state trading lines. The liberalisation of the Community's international trades is particularly significant. The regulation provides for the phasing out by the end of 1992 of unilateral cargo reservation laws and discriminatory cargo sharing arrangements in bilateral agreements, establishing freedom to provide services to and from, and between member states. The Council agreed furthermore to build on this achievment by moving straight to the development of further important measures aimed at both the harmonisation of state aids and ways of strengthening the ability of the Community shipping industry to face the challenge of the highly competitive international shipping market.

On air transport, significant progress was made on a package of measures for a three-year first step towards the 1992 target date for full liberalisation. We obtained unanimous support for our proposals on capacity and a substantial majority for our ideas on market access. A growing number of member states—seven so far—now recognise the importance of allowing cheaper fares. This is a considerable achievement and puts the Belgian presidency in a commanding position to complete a worthwhile first stage package.

On inland transport, the Council agreed to increase each member state's quota of Community road haulage permits by 15 per cent. in 1987. A proposal for a further increase of up to 40 per cent. for 1987 could not be adopted partly because the European Parliament had not issued an opinion, but adoption should be possible early in the Belgian presidency. The Council also agreed a regulation allocating 90 million ecu—about £66 million—to transport infrastructure projects in member states, including two in the United Kingdom. Directives were adopted to streamline procedures for goods traffic at intra-Community frontiers and to ease restrictions on certain combined transport operations. The Council also agreed a framework for future Community policy on

Accident record: A46 between Lincoln and Newark from November 1981 to October 1986
Lincolnshire Nottinghamshire
Old A46: City boundary to Lincoln bypass (opened 18 December 1985) A46 bypass to county boundary A46: Newark town boundary at A1 to county boundary
PIA's Casualties PIA'S Casualties PIA'S Casualties
F Se Sl F Se Sl F Se Sl
November 1981 to October 1982 20 0 7 14 17 0 8 21 5 0 1 7
November 1982 to October 1983 22 2 5 22 5 1 9 3 6 0 0 9
November 1983 to October 1984 9 1 0 10 10 0 2 12 9 0 2 11
November 1984 to October 1985 16 0 4 17 7 0 2 19 9 1 5 9
November 1985 to October 1986 11 1 3 11 17 0 5 18 12 1 11 14
Five years (60 months) 78 4 19 74 56 1 26 63 41 2 19 50

Key:

PIA—Personal injury accident.

F—Fatal.

Se—Serious.

Sl—Slight.