In September 2017, the Commission published its proposal on revising the Rail Passenger Rights Regulation, which has been in force since 2007. In doing so, it wants to harmonise the level of protection of passengers within the European Member States, remove uncertainties and provide people with limited mobility with better access to rail journeys.

The proposal for a regulation amending the existing legislation on the access to the international market for coach and bus services, which the European Commission presented in November 2017, is to further liberalise local and long-distance bus services. This would mean that long-distance bus companies such as Flixbus or Eurolines would obtain fundamental access right to both domestic transport and public infrastructure – above all to bus terminals.

On 17 January 2018 and after tough negotiations, the Plenum of the European Parliament adopted the reports on the Energy Efficiency Directive, the Renewable Energy Directive and the Governance Regulation. Hence, the green light for the trilogue negotiations concerning these three dossiers with Council and Commission has been given. However, exactly the ambitious targets for energy efficiency, as they were demanded for energy by a majority in the competent ITRE Committee of the European Parliament last November, did not withstand the vote in the Plenum.

The facts, on which the European Commission has based the key challenges for the plastic strategy it presented on 16 January 2018, are impressive: in Europe alone, the demand for plastic amounts to 49 million tons per year. Hence, the need for action is obvious. However, whether the presented strategy will be able to reach its targets, will only become clear in the following months and years, when concrete measures have to follow.

On 22 November 2017, an intensive debate took place in the Committee on Transport and Tourism of the European Parliament (TRAN) on the market and social law aspects of the Mobility Package, which the EU Commission had presented at the end of May 2017. During the debate, the interests of employees and employers as well as those of the old and the new Member States clashed. AK EUROPA reports from the Committee.

The strategy of the European Commission with regard to trade policy in recent years has been geared towards the bilateral finalisation of free trade agreements. It uses every opportunity to emphasise the economic benefits of these agreements. This finds its expression in discussions in the European Parliament, in its current work programme or in the dialogue with NGOs. Little attention though is paid to labour, social and environmental standards.

On 8 November 2017, the Commission presented a package, which sets new vehicle CO2 emissions targets and which is to promote zero-emission vehicles. According to the Commission, this shall signify a step against climate change and continue the transition towards a modern, low-CO2 economy. However, in the end the Commission backed away from stricter limits or binding targets for electric vehicles, which had been expected beforehand.