The EU is working on a set of urgent measures to help companies and authorities in the aviation, railway, road and maritime sectors overcome the impact of Covid 19.
Member States' ambassadors have recently approved a mandate for the President of the Council to negotiate with the European Parliament four legislative proposals aimed at providing flexibility, easing administrative burdens and reducing financial costs for the transport industry.
"The transport sector is one of the hardest hit by this crisis, and any improvement measures are a priority for the Croatian presidency. The Council worked hard and was able to finalize its position on all these proposals within ten days. We will now work with the European Parliament to reach a speedy conclusion of the measures, to provide legal certainty for both operators and administrations, "said Oleg Butković, Croatian Transport Minister, President-in-Office of the Council.
The aviation proposal amends the licensing rules for air carriers in the event of financial problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to avoid unnecessary administrative burdens.
It also introduces a derogation from the procedures used by Member States to impose restrictions on traffic rights in order to deal with emergencies resulting from unforeseeable and unavoidable circumstances.
The derogation provides that a Member State may maintain a justified and proportionate temporary emergency measure for a period longer than 14 days, provided that the measure remains in force only as long as there are public health risks clearly related to Covod 19 The Commission may suspend this action at the request of any Member State involved or on its own initiative.
In addition, the new temporary rules on handling services will help airports continue to operate if a handling company goes bankrupt by introducing a direct procedure for selecting providers of such services. They will also help airports avoid complex offers, allowing contracts to be extended. The Council's mandate stipulates that this temporary legislation should be in force by 31 October 2020.
The text of the Council of the European Union includes several amendments to the Commission proposal to allow for differences in the spread of the pandemic to be taken into account.
Both the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament will have to agree on the final texts of these proposals.