Ms. Adina Vălean European Commissioner for Transport Rue De La Loi 200 B-1049 Brussels Belgium Subject
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Ms. Adina Vălean European Commissioner for Transport Rue de la Loi 200 B-1049 Brussels Belgium Subject: Transport relief package to face the COVID-19 outbreak Dear Commissioner, Following closely the last developments concerning the COVID-19 outbreak in all the European Union, we would like to thank you for all your efforts in delivering appropriate measures to the transport sector. In such a difficult moment, it is important to safeguard the health together with the support of the European citizens, enterprises and public bodies, adopting a balanced approach between the need of guaranteeing proper sanitary measures and an efficient supply chain, in particular for essential goods, food, and medicines. First of all, it is fundamental to address proper measures to protect the health of workers, and to limit the spread of the disease, taking into account the international operations and the cross- border activities between different Member States. In this regard, we welcome border checks to safeguard the health of worker, and any further provisions aiming at protecting workplaces and providing proper tools and personal protective equipment, without jeopardizing the transport of essential goods. Moreover, we need to take into account that a significant loss of demand and a reduction of sales have deeply affected the whole transport sector, endangering economic stability of enterprises and industries. Therefore, we strongly believe that it is necessary to ensure an adequate economic flexibility to the Member States in their expenditures, in order to intervene into crucial segments, derogating from many financial obligations and constraints, state aid's rules, public transfers, taxation rules. Such budgetary exceptions would be of particular relevance for strategic transport infrastructures (TEN-T core) and the related public investments for the extraordinary maintenance, enhancement and dimensional upgrade. We welcome the measures adopted so far, but we ask for further action making available additional resources from the existing funding programmes and derogations from current deadlines concerning ongoing projects. Last, we must ensure the protection of social rights, here especially underlining workers and consumers as the most affected by the current crisis. Thus, it is necessary to ensure a level playing field addressing different challenges such as job security and the decrease of personal incomes. We should address special attention to the aviation sector, as many employees of airlines companies risk losing their job without any social protection guarantee as stated by the employers, unions and Member States. Therefore, we take this opportunity to point at some more specific provisions that could be implemented to limit the consequences due to the COVID-19 outbreak: to follow up the adoption of the guidelines on the implementation of the “green lanes”, providing for additional clarifications to better safeguard the health of workers and the efficiency of controls, whilst ensuring the transport of primary goods crucial in the pandemic crisis management. The border traffic restrictions should be proportionate with already existing health measures. The provisions should include as well a fast lane for cross-border workers that should be allowed to reach their workplace in an easy and fast way; to determine "priority corridors" that will allow safe repatriation of cruise ships’ passengers and crews, permit crew shifts, and provide access to medical equipment and services on board and in ports. The emphasis should be on the enhancement of a collective and coordinated approach in cooperation with port authorities and airports located nearby; to allocate adequate financial assistance from the budget of the current CEF Programme, not expended yet, in order to provide for the 50% co-financing rate (defined by the CEF2 Programme, currently under discussion), through a ‘fast track’ procedure, for the infrastructure that is essential to face the management of the crisis. If necessary, to anticipate the allocation of funds falling under the upcoming Regulation “CEF2”; to ensure that European funds will not be revoked in case of delays occurred in finalizing the projects benefiting of CEF Programme grants. This risk concerns ongoing funded infrastructure projects that due to COVID19 outbreak may experience delays or suspensions. This request aims at extending the deadlines provided for by the Grant Agreements defined with the Beneficiaries, even after the official deadline set by the Programme for ending all Actions (31/12/2023); to economically support the stakeholders of the maritime cluster (including ports) to avoid disruptive effects on the logistics chains within the Internal market; to provide available financial means to relieve all transport operators and infrastructure managers from traffic declines both in passenger and freight transport and from the consequential loss of revenues; to develop a specific set of measures needed to financially support the cruise industry, in order to keep Europe a number one tourist destination in the world. This industry is a key driver of the whole tourism value chain in Europe and according to the predictions is to be highly affected by the outbreak; to urge the EIB to suspend its "lending policy" on alternative fossil fuels (i.e. fuels ensuring a significant reduction of carbon footprint and air polluting emissions), which envisages not to finance projects aiming at LNG diffusion. There is need of an adequate support for already planned investments of transport sector operators (from road transport and logistics operators, to fuel stations), including the ones for new LNG-powered trucks, that may be hampered or postponed due to the upcoming crisis, thus resulting in slowing down the energy transition process; to adopt a “golden rule”, in agreement with the competent European Commissioners and DGs, to protect the European market from possible takeover of infrastructure managers and transport holdings – which role and ownership is strategic to ensure cohesion and vitality of the internal market - by third parties established outside of the EU; to propose a temporary derogation from the Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 on driving times and rest periods, as provided for by the article 14 paragraph 2, taking into account the measures adopted at national level by the Member States. Indeed, the operators should benefit from a temporary exemption that provides for minimum flexibility due to exceptional circumstances. These exemptions should respect in any case the safety standards and the best working conditions as saying the access to accommodations, to sanitizing infrastructure, and appropriate equipment if vehicles are double manned; to ensure a level playing field and a mutual recognition of the renewal of Driver Qualification Card, Driver CPC, ADR certificates as well as the rest of certificates for drivers engaged in international transport until we emerge from this crisis, because some Member States have extended their validity at the national level only, since the drivers can’t temporarily attend the periodic training course; to favour the adoption of social safety nets in agreement with the Member States, with the companies, and with the Unions, for all the airline companies’ employees who have an insecure or precarious form of outsourcing, and who are engaged in particular in international flights; to provide assistance for the Air Navigation Service Providers, whose revenues are directly related to the volume of air traffic and have been affected by the dramatic decrease in air traffic, guaranteeing that all aviation players would be included in a rescue package. The ANSPs' personnel, systems and infrastructures, continuously providing for their services, should be supported to ensure the safety of operations, even in the implementation of the "green lanes" agreed upon by the Transport Council; due to decrease of passenger transport, to temporary relocate slots available in favour of freight transport in the railway sector; to take into account possible delays related to ongoing procedures between the Member States and the Commission, and to provide for a proper flexibility due not to burden on the national and local authorities engaged with the current emergency. We hope that our proposal can be a valuable addition in facing the challenges caused by the outbreak of COVID-19 emerging in the transport sector. We look forward to establishing a further dialogue in this regard. Yours sincerely, Marco CAMPOMENOSI Roman HAIDER Head of Italian delegation of ID Group ID Coordinator, Transport Committee Paolo BORCHIA Massimo CASANOVA Francesca DONATO Julie LECHANTEUX Georg MAYER Philippe OLIVIER Alessandro PANZA Antonio Maria RINALDI Silvia SARDONE Isabella TOVAGLIERI Lucia VUOLO .