Transport Council (Hansard, 20 March 1997)

§ Sir George Young

The Transport Council met in Brussels on 11 March. My noble Friend the Minister for Aviation and Shipping represented the United Kingdom.

The Council agreed a common position on a draft directive to continue for another four years the present arrangements harmonising the start and end dates of summer time throughout the Community. The UK asked for a statement to be entered in the Council minutes recording our preference for a recommendation. The Council and Commission agreed a joint declaration on the need for a study of the effects of summer time.

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The Council reached political agreement, by qualified majority, on a draft regulation to continue Community funding for combined transport projects aimed at encouraging the transfer of traffic from road to more environmentally friendly modes of transport. The UK said that it would vote against the text when formally adopted, on the basis that the regulation was not an effective way of achieving this aim. Germany also opposed the measure. This was the only item on which the question of a vote arose.

The Council also reached political agreement on an amendment to directive 92/14 on aircraft noise. Its main effect is to update the list of aircraft from developing nations exempted until 2002 from the phase-out of some noisier aircraft. A provision allowing noisier aircraft to be banned from two of the three Berlin airports—Tempelhof and Tegel—was agreed.

The Council agreed terms of reference for a high-level group of officials to consider possible Community involvement in the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation—EUROCONTROL—and in a European aviation safety authority. The group will make a progress report to the June Transport Council.

The Council held an orientation debate on proposals for the introduction of a new digital tachograph. The issue was remitted to the Committee of Permanent Representatives—COREPER—for further consideration.

The Council held a further orientation debate on a draft directive on taxation and road user charges for heavy goods vehicles, and received a report from the Commission on proposals aimed at taking forward the Community's negotiations with Switzerland on transport issues. Conclusions were agreed instructing COREPER to pursue discussions on the draft directive, noting that agreement should be reached in conjunction with the conclusion of land transport negotiations with Switzerland.

The Council agreed a resolution calling on member states introducing new electronic fee collection systems for road pricing to use the technical standards developed by CEN—the European standardisation body.

The Council was invited to comment on a draft resolution, to be considered further by the ECOFIN Council, calling on the Commission to study the effects on the transport sector of levying a duty on aviation fuel.

The Commission gave progress reports on transport research, public-private partnerships for trans-European network projects and trans-European rail freight freeways.

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