Siim Kallas - Vice-President of the European Commission

Airports: Coping with winter snow - statement by EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas

Snow and extreme weather conditions, particularly record low temperatures, have been severely affecting different parts of Europe over the last week.

It has been a difficult time for the travelling public, as well as for the industry - airports, airlines and partners - trying to deliver a quality service to their passengers in these conditions.

Last year's performance was not good enough. I made it very clear that airports needed to raise their game and set out a series of areas where action was needed to ensure much better preparation by the aviation community for winter weather.

So how are we doing this year? It is still early days. We may have more extreme weather to come. But at this preliminary stage, we see "significant improvements" in particular in terms of the airports' winter snow preparedness.

Headlines

Cruise ship Golden Princess (not Costa Concordia)

Safety of passenger ships: EU Transport Commissioner receives commitment from Cruise industry to fully engage in review of passenger ship safety rules at EU and IMO
03/02/2012

Vice-President Siim Kallas, European Commissioner for Transport today was briefed by the board of the European Cruise Council about cruise ship safety. Vice President Kallas announced that the Commission strongly supports a passenger ship safety review at IMO (International Maritime Organisation) to ensure that European citizens can expect state of the art safety measures in place - no matter where they board a passenger ship. The EU Transport Commissioner outlined the need for a twin-track approach with the IMO. Following its ongoing passenger ship safety review, the EU will either propose re-enforcing recent IMO standards or propose new EU minimum norms, some of which could form the basis for new IMO standards.

Infrastructure's key role in tackling the economic crisis
02/02/2012

Faced with an economic crisis, investments in transport are critical for creating employment and a return to economic growth. This is the key message delivered in speech at the European Policy Centre in Brussels today by Siim Kallas, EU Transport Commissioner. "Tackling budget deficits and implementing austerity measures are not the only way to regain market confidence. Reviving growth must be part of the solution. And for this transport is crucial." In his speech Kallas focused on the key issue of transport financing and set out four major deliverables for 2012-2013, to get the conditions for transport financing right. The four deliverables are: the Connecting Europe Facility; ring-fencing money for East-West Connections; getting private sector finance into transport; and making transport more self-financing (looking at road tolling and infrastructure charging schemes.)

European railways: Commission promotes interoperability and competitiveness
25/01/2012

Today, the European Commission adopted a decision strengthening the certification and authorisation process of lines and trains equipped with the European Train Control System (ETCS). ETCS is the European standard for train signalling and speed control. Deployment of ETCS across key freight and high speed corridors will greatly improve the competitiveness of European railways.

The ETCS concept is simple: information is transmitted from the ground to the train, where an on-board computer uses it to calculate the maximum authorised speed and then automatically slows down the train if necessary. ETCS is part of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS).

Currently, there are more than 20 different signalling systems in operation in Europe and their incompatibility is a major technical barrier to international traffic. For example, adding an additional national safety system in an existing locomotive, already authorised in different countries, and obtaining again all safety authorisations may cost more than €2 million and take more than two years. ETCS will eliminate these costs.

However, ETCS will only bear its fruits if products are fully compatible and conform to the European specifications. The decision adopted today strengthens the requirements regarding testing, in particular that on-board products are tested in accredited laboratories.

Safety of passenger ships – Costa Concordia accident and Commission review of safety legislation
20/01/2012

Vice-President Siim Kallas, European Commissioner for Transport has asked that the currently ongoing review of EU passenger ship safety legislation take fully into account any lessons to be learnt from the Costa Concordia tragedy. The review will prioritise, in particular, the issues of: design and stability of passenger ships, technological developments in the sector, crew training and safe operation, including emergency evacuation procedures. Vice-President Kallas will outline the Commission's position to the European Parliament's Transport Committee on Tuesday 24 January 2012.

Statement on winter snow preparedness – airports
20/12/2011

Snow has returned to northern Europe, although the forecasters say this year may not be as bad as 2010. I am sure many of you will remember the snow chaos last Christmas. Overall, 35,000 flights were cancelled – more than in the whole of 2009. Tens of thousands of people were stranded. And there were major problems with baggage handling. Over the last twelve months we have had a number of meetings with representatives of major European airports. I made it clear in January that they needed to raise their game. I am pleased to say that their response has been positive. Serious deficiencies and weak links have been identified and are being addressed.

Christmas reading for transport geeks!
19/12/2011

(or stocking-filler suggestions for 2011)

We asked VP Kallas and his team for suggestions as to what those interested in transport – "transport geeks" as they are affectionately called – might think of reading over the Christmas holidays. Here are some of the suggestions/recommended reading pdf - 50 KB [50 KB] as they came in.