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First Ministerial conference in
Slovenia to promote Motorways of the Sea [ full text ]
The first Ministerial Conference on the
preparation of the future Motorways of the sea, was held on 24
January in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Co-hosted by European
Commission Vice-President in charge of transport, Jacques
Barrot, together with the Slovenian Minister of Transport,
Janez Božič, conference gathered together over 100
participants from industry, Member States and the European
Parliament to discuss the challenges and opportunities of the
Motorways of the sea. As part of the trans-European networks,
this new initiative aims to replace the heavy trucks on
European highways with maritime transport. Key issues on the
agenda of the conference included the selection of ports and
port regions, maritime links and the question of financing.
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Sunny skies for EU passengers: European
Court of Justice gives its backing to plans for air passenger
compensation
[
full text ]
The Chairman of the
European Parliament's Transport Committee, Paolo Costa, has
welcomed the recent ruling by the European Court of Justice
concerning compensation for passengers bumped off flights or
faced with long delays. The Court lined up behind rules agreed
by the Parliament and ministers which aim to provide better
protection to passengers. Mr Costa stated that the legislation
has introduced big improvements to air passenger rights in the
EU in the event of flight cancellation, denied boarding or
long delays. The rules to provide compensation to passengers
were introduced in February 2005, but were challenged in the
British court by the European Low Fares Airline Association (ELFAA)
and the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which
claimed the legislation was discriminatory and limits consumer
choice. The British High Court asked the EU court to rule on
whether the legislation does infringe EU rules.
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European Commission approves Polish aid
scheme for combined transport
[
full text ]
On 25 January the European Commission authorised a
Polish scheme which intends to encourage the development of
combined transport through the construction of logistics
centres and terminals. The notified scheme is expected to
generate a growth of 7% in intermodal freight transport. The
scheme is available to all EU companies which perform or plan
to perform haulage operations in Poland and which invest in
intermodal transport. The scheme is part of the Sectoral
Operational Programme Transport financed by the European
Regional Development Fund. The scheme will be in place by 31
December 2008 with a budget of € 31.6 million.
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European Commission does not authorise reimbursement
mechanism for the German toll system
[
full text ]
The European Commission decided on 25
January that the proposed German aid measure concerning a
reimbursement mechanism for the toll of heavy goods vehicles
on German motorways is incompatible with the European common
market. Vice-President Jacques Barrot, in charge of EU
Transport Policy, said: “I welcome the successful introduction
of the German toll system. The European Union is in favour of
charging the use of road infrastructure by lorries. However,
the proposed variation in the charges would create different
conditions for German as opposed to non-German trucks.”
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Air transport in the EU25 : Air passenger
transport up 8.8% in 2004
[
full text ]
A report published by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of
the European Communities, on air transport in the EU,
Candidate countries and Iceland, Norway and Switzerland,
showed that the total number of passengers transported by air
in the EU25 rose by 8.8%, to 650 million in 2004. Of
these, 24% were carried on national flights, 42% on intra-EU
flights and 34% on extra-EU flights. London/Heathrow remained
EU’s busiest airport in terms of passengers, handling 67
million in 2004 - about 10% of all air passengers in the EU,
and up 6.2% on 2003. With just under 51 million passengers
each Paris/Charles de Gaulle (up 6.1%) and Frankfurt (up 5.6%)
were the second and third busiest airports in the EU, followed
by Amsterdam (42 million passengers) and Madrid (38 million).
Prague/Ruzyne, with 9.6 million passengers, remained the top
airport of the new Member States, moving to 27th
place compared to 36th in 2003. The wide-ranging
Eurostat report also looks in detail at national, intra-EU and
international air transport passengers and freight, as well as
the most important airport pairs, nationally and
internationally.
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European citizens in favour of a European
Energy policy, says Eurobarometer survey
[
full text ]
Forty-seven percent of EU citizens would
prefer European level decisions on the new energy challenges
such as energy supply security, growing energy consumption and
climate change, 37% and 8% prefer energy decisions on a
national or local level respectively. This is one of the
conclusions of a Eurobarometer poll presented on 24 January
by Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs. Those people asked
would choose renewable energy and R&D as the means to tackle
such problems and are willing to learn how to use energy more
efficiently. “The message from the citizens is a clear one –
energy is a concern for all Europeans and people expect clear
and concrete actions on all political levels. Europe needs a
real energy policy focused on security of supply,
competitiveness and sustainability” said Commissioner Piebalgs.
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Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs
addresses Parliamentarians on energy efficiency
[Speech
in full ]
"The European
initiative on Energy Efficiency" was the subject of a speech
by Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs to representatives from
the Parliaments of the Member States, Romania, Bulgaria and
from the European Parliament on 24 January. Addressing
the Joint Meeting of the European Parliament Committee on
Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) and the national
Parliaments, Commissioner Piebalgs emphasised the vital
importance of energy efficiency: "Our energy options are many,
all options are open for discussion, but energy efficiency is
not one of these options; it is a must." Commissioner Piebalgs
highlighted Europe's increasing dependence on foreign energy
supplies and rising prices as the main motivations behind
energy saving efforts. The need for a European initiative was
stressed, along with the benefits that improved energy
efficiency would bring to citizens in terms of improving
competitiveness, spurring research and development efforts and
creating jobs throughout Europe.
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The Commission authorises Slovakia’s
investment plan for the coal industry for the years 2005 to
2010 [
full text ]
The European
Commission decided on 25 January not to raise any
objections to the SKK 525 million (€ 13.9 million) aid which
Slovakia is proposing to grant to mining company
Hornonitrianske Bane Prievidza a.s. (HBP) in the years 2005 to
2010 for initial investments. The aid is compatible with the
proper functioning of the common market. Energy
Commissioner Andris Piebalgs underlined the importance of
domestic coal production for the security of energy supply
within the European Union. At the same time, he stressed the
importance that mines become more efficient.
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European Commission approves state
aid to Hungarian coal and gas companies [
full text ]
The European
Commission decided on 25 January not to raise any
objections to the € 67.6 millions aid which Hungary is
proposing to grant to mining company Vértesi Erömü Rt. for the
years 2005 and 2006. The aid is compatible with the proper
functioning of the common market. At the same time, it decided
that the fixed feed-in tariffs for coal which Hungary imposed
upon the state-owned electricity undertaking MVM in the years
2004 and 2005 did constitute State aid, which is compatible
with the common market.
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European Commission authorises prolongation
of aid measures to improve safety in mines in Asturias
[
full text ]
The European
Commission decided on 25 January to approve subsidies
of € 3 300 000 from the Principality of Asturias to private
coal mining companies for the period 2005-2007. The aid scheme
aims to improve working safety in mines and to protect the
environment.
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Public
Consultations
In this section you will find the newest calls for
submissions to public consultations in fields of energy and transport.
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Topic of Consultation
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Deadline
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Please note that the announcement of technical reports and
documents recently produced in specific energy and transport
sectors can be found on the "What's New" pages of the
corresponding chapters of
Energy and
Transport on the EUROPA
website. |
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This FREE weekly digest is published by : European Commission, Energy and Transport Directorate-General
Information & Communication Unit
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(c) European Communities, 2006
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
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No 169 - Weekly - 27
January 2006 
