Road charging rules and air traffic management system were the main topics of the video conference o

A video conference of EU transport ministers, which replaced the formal meeting of the Council traditionally held in Brussels, took place on 8 December. The Czech Republic was represented by Jan Sechter, the Deputy Minister. No specific decisions could be adopted due to the informal nature of the meeting. Nevertheless, the ministers discussed important current issues such as road charging, air traffic management system or anticipated strategy for sustainable and smart mobility.

Ministers started their meeting, chaired by the German federal minister of transport and digitalisation Andreas Scheuer, with a political discussion on Eurovignette directive, a draft revision of EU road charging rules. The draft introduces a new classification for charging heavy trucks according to CO₂ emission standards thus fulfilling the polluter pays principle. The draft also changes charging of passenger vehicles, light commercial vehicles and buses. Majority of the ministers appreciated inclusion of the option to determine on a national level whether to apply time-based or performance-based charging. The discussion between member states are nearing an end. The next step is to adopt Council position on the Committee of Permanent Representative, which takes place on 18 December. Subsequently, the presidency can initiate negotiations with the European Parliament on the final regulation.

The ministers also discussed the proposal of Single European Sky, i.e. rules for air traffic management in the EU. This legal framework should clearly define the roles of individual players (member states, European Commission, EUROCONTROL, EU Aviation Safety Agency and providers of air navigation services), lead to an effective use of the airspace and finally to the sustainable air transport. Similarly to a number of other member states, the Czech Republic expressed a critical position to many proposed measures, e.g. to the economic certificate itself or the infrastructure of the system on EU and national level. The comments are summarised in the Joint statement of the Visegrad Group. Now, it is up to Portugal as the incoming presidency of the EU Council, which will take over the responsibilities from Germany on 1 January 2021, to try to prepare a Council position on the Commission proposal based on the comments from member states.

The ministers also discussed the new mobility approach focussing on sustainable and digitalised transport. This approach should comply with the new strategy for sustainable and smart mobility, which was published by the European Commission on 9 December 2020.

Furthermore, the German presidency presented achievements in negotiations over legislative proposals concerning the rail transport, in particular adoption of the regulation on passenger rights. It also informed the ministers about the closure of negotiations over the proposal to proclaim 2021 a European Year of Rail. The Polish minister then presented the joint Visegrad Group statement on the upcoming revision of the TEN-T network.

Both joint statements on TEN-T and Single European Sky are available below.