Luxembourg, Neighbours Agree to Establish Executive Council for Rail Freight Corridor

Luxembourg's Ministry of Mobility and Public Works has reported that Minister Backes recently participated in the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council (Transport configuration) in Brussels, Belgium.

The Council took place on Thursday 5 December 2024 and marked the first opportunity for Luxembourg's Minister for Mobility and Public Works to meet the new Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, Apostolos Tzitzikostas.

Passenger rights issues were at the centre of this ministerial meeting. In particular, the ministers agreed on their political position (general orientation) on two regulations on passenger rights, the first in the context of multimodal travel, and the second aimed at improving application across the EU in all modes of transport. As reported by the Luxembourg ministry, the proposed reforms are mainly aimed at improving and harmonising the application of the regulations throughout the European Union and at remedying certain dysfunctions and shortcomings.

Minister Backes spoke on both issues to support the compromise texts. She presented Luxembourg's position during the debate on passenger rights in aviation, the aim of which is to provide the future Polish Presidency with all the elements necessary to restart legislative work on this issue, which has been blocked in the Council for years. The minister stressed that passenger rights must be effective and take into account connectivity needs in general. She also noted the special attention that must be paid to people with reduced mobility in this regulation: "We must take the passenger's point of view and offer them a simple solution. Passengers must be informed of their rights and not have to take major steps to assert their rights. It is our duty to set clear and easily applicable rules, which are in the interest of all passengers."

The Council also approved a compromise text on the directive on disqualification of drivers, which is considered an important legislative proposal in the framework of the Vision Zero road safety strategy. This proposal for a directive provides, among other things, for the mutual recognition of driving licence withdrawals in the event of serious offences (speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, manslaughter or unintentional injury) committed in a Member State other than the driver's home country. Thus, driving bans of more than three months will no longer be limited to the national territory, but may apply at European level. Once the directive has been adopted at European level, the government will set up a working group to ensure effective implementation of this measure, which aims to strengthen deterrence against dangerous driving behaviour.

Under "Any other business", the Council took note of a progress report on the proposal for a directive on combined transport. The Hungarian Presidency informed the ministers about the state of play of a number of pending legislative dossiers in the field of transport and the incoming Polish Presidency informed the Council about its work programme for the first half of 2025.

A final point was of particular interest to Luxembourg, noted the ministry. The 27 Member States reacted at political level to a request made by the European Commission to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) which seeks to question the competence of Member States in relations with third countries regarding air traffic rights.

On the sidelines of the Council, Minister Backes exchanged views with several of her European counterparts in bilateral format. In particular, she signed with her German, Belgian and French counterparts a ministerial arrangement on the establishment of an executive council for the rail freight corridor of more than 5,500 km of track linking Germany and the Netherlands to Italy, via Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Switzerland, the aim of which is to facilitate rail freight operations from the ports of northern Europe to the Mediterranean.