Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether officials were instructed to vote against the technical pillar of the Fourth Railway Package at the European Union Transport Council Working Group meeting in June, whilst at the same time supporting the package; and if so, why.
A proposal for the technical pillar of the Fourth Railway Package was subject to endorsement by Member States on 30 June at a meeting of the Permanent Representatives Committee (COREPER). In line with Government policy, the UK delegation was unable to support the item on the grounds that the proposals were not consistent with the UK’s preferred approach on the use of secondary legislation powers and the use of delegated acts. Notwithstanding our position on this issue, officials were able to offer the UK’s general support for the Package as a whole.