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THE EU’S FIRST CZECH PRESIDENCY
Publication date: 15 January 2009
Prague takes charge of transport policy in Brussels: Energy, the internal transport market and road safety are the main focus.
The Czech Presidency of the European Union marks a number of political and historical milestones in both European and Czech history. 2009 marks the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Iron Curtain. It is the fifth anniversary of the EU's largest enlargement in 2004 which also saw the entry of the Czech Republic as a Member state. Moreover, January to June 2009 is the Czech Republic’s first term of office as President of the EU and only the second presidency held by a 2004 accession Member State – Slovenia was the first last year.
With energy as one of its central themes, the Czechs are keen on reaching a broad international consensus on how to face climate change. The enhancement of energy efficiency is another key point with the Presidency set to discuss specific consumption-related measures, including labelling for tyres.
The Czechs also promise to give a lot of attention to the internal transport market. The Presidency says it will primarily support measures leading to “equal conditions” in the EU transport market and to the optimisation of the use of individual modes of transport. When looking at the ‘Green Transport Package’, the Presidency will focus on the charging of the infrastructure, with the aim of incorporating external costs within the charges for the use of transport infrastructure. The Presidency will focus intensively on discussing the proposal for the Directive on the charging of heavy goods vehicles (the ‘Eurovignette’ Directive), with a view to reaching an agreement among member states.
Another major initiative that the Czechs will see through is the Commission's Action Plan for the Deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) in Europe. FIA's General Assembly, in October 2007, came out clear in support of intelligent transport systems. The Presidency will work towards adoption of Council conclusions and launch debates on a proposal for the Directive on implementing ITS.
The Czechs have promised, if the Commission finally submits its Action Plan on Urban Mobility in this first half of 2009, to discuss conclusions of the Council on this initiative. The Plan would aim at reducing the negative impact of freight road traffic on the environment.
Other priorities for the Czechs with an indirect on car drivers include the proposal to amend the Marco Polo II Programme Regulation that grants financial assistance to shift freight traffic from the road to more environmentally friendly and safer transport modes. The Czechs will open discussions on completing the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) setting the direction for future work. A green paper on the TEN-T network is set to be published in this first half of 2009.
Road safety is also central. The Czechs recognise that we need an “enhancement” of the Europe-wide effort to improve road safety. They promise first discussions on the future orientation of EU road safety policies. The final adoption of the new European Road Safety Action Programme for 2011-2020 is planned for the second half of 2009 or the first half of 2010. The Presidency wants to reach consensus between Member States on the Commission's proposal amending the Directive on the organisation of the working time of persons performing mobile road transport activities.
Another important, but perhaps technical, issue for clubs could be “judicial cooperation”. The French Presidency was unable to get agreement on a draft directive aimed at facilitating the cross-border prosecution of traffic offences. Member States agree that non-prosecution of cross-border offences jeopardises safety but most continue to have problems with the legal principle behind such judicial cooperation in criminal matters. The Czechs, too, are not keen on the Commission proposal, so the matter could remain at a total standstill.
The Czech Presidency is very supportive of the European Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan). This is crucial for the transport sector in the future. This plan aims to boost research and uptake of a range of promising new energy technologies. One of the key EU technology challenges mentioned is that of making second generation bio fuels competitive and sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels. The concentration on alternative and low-carbon energy to provide electricity should also give a boost to electric cars. Notable other key goals are those of achieving breakthroughs in the cost-efficiency of energy storage technologies – useful for car batteries – as well as developing technologies and creating the conditions to enable industry to commercialise hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
Key Dates during the Czech Presidency are for the Transport Councils on 30 March and 11 June. An informal transport Council will also take place on 29 and 30 April.
For more information contact: The FIA European Bureau
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