Austria Further Development Tender

Minister of Transport Norbert Hofer has forwarded his preview of the legislative and work program of the European Commission as well as the annual program of the EU Council for 2019 to the National Council III-257 dB. According to the BMVIT there are currently no new EC legislative initiatives in the area of transport but a number of proposals are still pending and will continue to be pursued. Austria supports most of the projects. There are certain concerns however about some of the EUs planned changes to the vignette system in the next few years as well as the planned e-Privacy Regulation. Austria also considered the draft regulation establishing a Union certification scheme for aviation security equipment to be predominantly critical and therefore welcomed the withdrawal which had taken place in the meantime.Preparing for the new EU budget and BrexitOn the Multiannual EU Financial Framework there is a proposal for the creation of a follow-up instrument CEF 2.0 for the current Connecting Europe Facility CEF 1. In any case it has already been decided that in the financial framework 2021-2027 the funds will not be cut. Austria is pursuing the goal of being able to continue to receive EU funds for Austrian rail projects via the CEF 2.0. For the Brenner base tunnel maximum funding rates of up to 50 of the total eligible costs would be possible under CEF 2.0 according to the Ministry of Transport. Furthermore preparations for the Brexit have to be made within the framework of Connecting Europe as the United Kingdom is part of the core network corridor North Sea Mediterranean. The EU Commission has also responded to the forthcoming Brexit with other regulatory proposals in the transport sector. This will result in changes to the common rules and standards for ship inspection and survey organizations as well as EU legislation on type-approvals.Mobility and climate protection in the EUThe EUs Mobility and Climate Package has two current legislative proposals from the EC. On the one hand changes to the common rules on access to international road passenger transport are planned in order to strengthen the market in international scheduled bus services. Rail modal shift is to be supported by a new directive on combined freight transport between Member States.A number of EC legislative proposals for the Europe in Motion package are also currently being discussed. There are for example proposed regulations to speed up the trans-European transport network including the creation of a single-window environment for European maritime transport electronic freight transport information and the amendment of the Directive on the use of non-driver-leased vehicles in freight transport.Another directive the amendment of which is being discussed concerns the charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructure. The Directive establishes the legal framework for the minimum rates of vehicle taxes on lorries and lays down the procedures for collecting tolls and user charges. Planned here are a number of changes that Austria rates only in part positively. Above all the proposed extension of the scope of the directive to smaller vehicles is criticized. Austria opposes that vignette systems for buses minibuses vans and possibly also for passenger cars from 2028 to be replaced by a mandatory mileage-related tolling. Above all the taxation of private cars should continue to be subject to the subsidiarity of the members is the Austrian attitude. The Federal Council has already formulated its subsidiarity reservation on this issue in 2017.Austria supports measures against wage and social dumpingIn principle the planned amendments to the directive on the posting of drivers in the road sector and the Regulation which sets minimum requirements for maximum daily and weekly driving times minimum breaks daily and weekly rest periods and the use of tachographs are welcomed. Austria supports all measures to combat wage and social dumping and sees in the proposal some improvements in the controllability of rules in the European freight transport market. Also positive are the planned changes in the regulations for companies wishing to operate in passenger and freight transport. Among other things this concerns the fight against letterbox companies and the Regulation also regulates cabotage.The EC also intends to make progress on the interoperability of national electronic toll collection systems through the increased use of the European Electronic Toll Service EETS and to increase the possibilities for cross-border exchange on unpaid road user charges. There is some skepticism from the Austrian side about the proposal to abolish summer time. Here a coordinated approach is desired so that it does not come in Europe to a time patch carpet it is said by the BMVIT. There is currently no official position in Austria regarding the proposal for a supplementary protection certificate for medicinal products which seeks to balance the interests of the innovative pharmaceutical and generic pharmaceutical industries.EU Space Program is to receive further fundingFrom the Austrian point of view it is desirable to have a speedy conclusion to the trilogue negotiations on the Union Space Program and the European Space Agency. In particular the continuity and development of the EU satellite navigation system Galileo and EGNOS and the EU Earth observation system Copernicus should be ensured. The program will also include two new areas in the future - Space Situational Awareness SSA and secure satellite communications for security actors GOVSATCOM. The EC proposal foresees a budget of 16 billion for 2021-2027 9.7 billion for Galileo and EGNOS 5.8 billion for Copernicus 0.5 billion for SSA GOVSATCOM.