§ Mr. RookerTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will set out the contract dates for completion of each remaining section of the M40 motorway; and if he will list the main contractor for each section.
§ Mr. ChopeThe contract dates for completion of each remaining section of the M40 motorway and the main contractors are as follows:
haulage market. Agreement was also reached on a regulation to increase the maximum permitted length of road trains from 18.0 m to 18.35 m; and on a directive on combined transport which will give a useful stimulus to this mode of transport.
Other inland transport matters were also discussed, but without conclusions being reached. The Council briefly noted the Commisssion's recent proposals on vehicle tax harmonisation. On third country transit, the Commission reported that while the negotiations on third country transit with Yugoslavia were within sight of a successful conclusion, those with Austria and Switzerland had made much less progress. It was nevertheless agreed to continue bilateral negotiations with the Alpine countries for a further six months. The Commission also reported that its working group had reached agreement on guidelines for a high speed rail network. Ministers resolved that further work should be undertaken, including the commercial evaluation of possible network links. There was a brief discussion of road safety issues.
On air transport, measures were agreed on air cargo services and denied boarding compensation; there was some discussion of predatory practices; and the Commission reported on negotiations with Norway and Sweden. The air cargo measure covers scheduled and non-scheduled services conducted as purely cargo operations. It provides liberalised access to the air cargo market and is the basis for further measures to create a truly single market in this sector by 1992. The other agreed measure provides for the payment of minimum levels of compensation to passengers who are denied boarding on a flight onto which they were booked. On predatory practices I reiterated the United Kingdom's strongly held view that adequate measures must be put in place to prevent unfair practices by air carriers. The Commission's proposal will be brought back to the Council after further work has been done on it.
On shipping, the Commission was given a firm remit to prepare proposals for a two stage approach to cabotage liberalisation, in which the main phase would be completed by the end of 1993. The second phase, service between the mainland and islands and between islands, 291W would follow after an interval yet to be agreed. This was a major step forward and I hope that we make good progress on the detail under the next Presidency.
The Council also agreed in principle to a regulation facilitating the transfer of vessels from one member state's register to another to free shipowners from the costs and administrative procedures involved in a change of register within the Community. This is a useful measure which is very much in the spirit of the single market. Other shipping items included a progress report from the Commission on their package of proposals for the second stage of Community shipping policy; a discussion of the draft rules of procedure for the UNCTAD liner code review conference; and a discussion of negotiations with west and central African countries.