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The Council today adopted a temporary amendment to the rules on air services to support airlines and airports in the face of a sharp drop in air traffic due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Council also adopted an extension to the transposition deadline for the rail safety and interoperability directives of the fourth railway package to give the rail industry and the authorities flexibility and legal certainty in the current circumstances. Both legal acts are part of the transport emergency package presented by the Commission on 29 April 2020.

The pandemic is having an unprecedented impact on the aviation sector, with the liquidity crisis risking insolvencies and threatening millions of jobs within months if left unaddressed. The measures adopted today will help avoid unnecessary administrative burdens for member states and mitigate the impacts on the sector during the crisis. The extension of the transposition deadline will give the rail sector and authorities leeway to face these difficult circumstances.

Oleg Butković, Croatian Minister for the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, President of the Council

The regulation on aviation amends the air carrier licencing rules in the event of financial problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in order to avoid unnecessary administrative burdens. It also introduces a derogation to the procedures used by member states to impose traffic rights restrictions to deal with emergencies resulting from unforeseeable and unavoidable circumstances. The derogation will clarify that a member state may temporarily keep a justified and proportionate emergency measure in place for a period longer than 14 days, but the measure may only remain in force for as long as there are public health risks clearly linked to the coronavirus pandemic. The Commission may suspend this action at the request of any member state involved or on its own initiative.

In addition, new temporary rules on ground-handling services will help airports to continue operating in the event of a ground-handling company going bankrupt, by introducing a direct procedure for the selection of service providers. They will also help airports avoid complex tenders by allowing for the extension of contracts up to 2022.

The transposition deadline for the rail safety and interoperability directives of the fourth railway package will be extended from the current date of 16 June 2020 to 31 October 2020. This will give the rail sector and the authorities more legal certainty and flexibility for addressing the extraordinary circumstances caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

The Council’s vote on the aviation regulation and the rail directive was taken using a written procedure, which was concluded today. The European Parliament voted on 15 May 2020.

The legislative acts will enter into force the day after they are published in the EU Official Journal; the publication date is scheduled for 27 May 2020.

The other two proposals in the transport emergency package – on the validity of licences and on port services – were adopted by the Council on 20 May 2020.

On Wednesday, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, will present a revised long-term EU budget (2021-2027) and recovery plan during a plenary session. MEPs will discuss the proposals, but have already called for a €2 trillion recovery package to help the EU bounce back from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Parliament President David Sassoli and the political group leaders will hold discussions with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday morning.

The future of the EU is also on the agenda of the constitutional affairs committee on Tuesday. MEPs will discuss the Conference on the Future of Europe and the Parliaments role. In a resolution adopted on 17 April, Parliament called for it to be convened as soon as possible.

On Thursday the transport committee will discuss the Commission’s proposed package on tourism and transport, which includes practical guidelines on how countries could gradually lift travel restrictions, businesses reopen and people take summer holidays.

The employment and social affairs committee will on Tuesday consider how Covid-19 restrictions have affected the mobility of workers, particularly contract and cross-border workers.

Also on Tuesday, Josep Borrell, Vice-President of the Commission, will discuss the impact of the pandemic on EU security and defence, including disinformation, with the security and defence committee.

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Juan Fernando López Aguilar (S&D, ES) will present to the committee his draft interim report on the December 2017 European Commission’s proposal to act in view of the perceived threats to the independence of the judiciary in Poland. Parliament agrees with the Commission that rule of law is at risk in the country, but the Council has so far not taken a formal step in that regard.

On Monday, MEPs will also look in particular into the issues over judicial independence, after listening to the views of the President of the European Association of Judges, José Igreja Matos, and a representative of the Polish judges association IUSTITIA, Joanna Hetnarowicz-Sikora.

Legal changes adopted by the Polish government during current health crisis, regarding electoral law, regulation of hate speech and LGBTI rights, are another source of concern for many MEPs.

When: Monday, 25 May, from 14.05 to 15.30

Where: Jozsef Antall 4Q2, European Parliament in Brussels, and via videoconference

Background

According to Article 7 of the Treaty of the EU, following a request by one third of the Member States, by the Parliament or by the Commission, the Council may determine that there is a clear risk of a serious breach of EU values in the countries concerned. Before doing so, ministers shall hear the views of the national authorities. The Polish authorities defended themselves in front of the Council on three occasions, between June and December 2018.

At a later stage, the European Council may determine, by unanimity and with the Parliament’s consent, that there is a serious and persistent breach of the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights. This could eventually lead to sanctions, including suspension of voting rights in the Council.

In its resolution of 17 April, about the EU’s response against COVID-19, the European Parliament pointed to recent moves by the Polish authorities to change the electoral code, to hold Presidential elections in the middle of a pandemic. MEPs warned this may “undermine the concept of free, equal, direct and secret elections as enshrined in the Polish Constitution”.