The programme for the Informal meetings included separate
sessions for Transport and Environment Ministers and a
joint session for both Ministers entitled ‘Starting a new
era: clean, safe and affordable mobility for Europe’.
On 29 October, Transport Ministers were invited to discuss
the Commission’s proposal on ‘Discontinuing seasonal
changes of time (summer time)’. My Noble Friend,
The Rt Hon , (Parliamentary
Under-Secretary, Department for Business, Energy and
Industrial Strategy) represented the UKat this session and explained
that the UK government does not support
the proposed directive. He also noted the Commission had
fallen short on the principles of subsidiarity and
proportionality as has been highlighted by the decision of
the House of Lords to issue a reasoned opinion. (The House
of Commons European Scrutiny Committee has subsequently
recommended that the House of Commons also issue a reasoned
opinion on this matter.)
There was broad consensus in Council that the timetable
proposed by the Commission was too short and thus there was
widespread support for the Presidency’s intention to
provide for an extension. A small minority of Member States
were notably critical of the proposal while the majority
welcomed the initiative, albeit noting its deficiencies.
Several Member States advocated the need to coordinate
across borders in order to know the final time zone
arrangements before taking the decision to abolish daylight
saving.
Environment Ministers were then invited to discuss ‘The
Future of European Environmental Policy’. The Secretary of
State for the Environment was represented by officials from
the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Ministers broadly agreed on the need for an eighth
Environment Action Programme (EAP) with a consensus
that it should take full account of climate change given
the Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) on
Global Warming of 1.5 Celsius published last month.
At the joint session for Transport and Environment
Ministers on 30 October, interventions were wide-ranging
with common themes being the need to move towards zero
emissions vehicles and enabling people to choose
sustainable ways to travel. These themes were reflected in
the Presidency’s ‘Graz Declaration’ published after the
meeting. For the UK, I stressed the importance of
ambition to accelerate the development and introduction of
zero emission vehicles, recalling that the Prime Minister
had hosted the world’s first zero emission vehicle summit
in Birmingham recently.
The subject for the afternoon session was road safety.
Transport Ministers shared experiences with progress to
date in reducing casualties and their perception of the
challenges in making more progress. In my intervention I
noted that human error was a factor in over 85% of road
accidents, and that connected and automated vehicles
offered opportunities to make our roads safer.
In the margins I met with a number of EU Transport Ministers to
discuss current EU transport business and how
relationships will evolve as the UKleaves the EU.
