The Secretary of State for Transport (Mr Patrick McLoughlin)
I will attend the first Transport Council of the Irish presidency (the presidency) taking place in Brussels on Monday 11 March.
There will be an introductory discussion on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the interoperability of the rail system within the European Union (recast) (part of the fourth railway package). The UK is keen to hear the range of views and will then need to further consider the impacts through consultation with our stakeholders.
There will be an exchange of views on a proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure and on a communication from the Commission on “Clean Power for Transport: A European alternative fuels strategy”, making up the clean power for transport package. The UK strongly supports the transition to cleaner transport and has the ambitious vision of almost every car and van reaching zero CO2 emission levels at the tailpipe by 2050.
While I recognise that alternative fuels infrastructure is an area that can benefit from support, I am not convinced that setting rigid, mandatory targets for the deployment of technology-specific infrastructure is an effective way of building consumer confidence in new technology.
A progress report will be provided on a proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on occurrence reporting in civil aviation amending Regulation (EU) No. 996/2010 and repealing directive 2003/42/EC, Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1321/2007 and Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1330/2007. I fully support this proposal and welcome the progress that has been made.
Under any other business, the Commission will provide information on the aviation emissions trading scheme (ETS) and on the EU-Brazil comprehensive air transport agreement.