Committee on Transport and Tourism Ordinary meeting
15 July 2026
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TRAN European Parliament
Follow its sittings07:14 - 09:52
Speaker 1
Good afternoon, dear colleagues. Please take your seats. Thank you very much. It is my sincere pleasure to welcome the Irish Presidency of the Council, which is today represented by Mr. Sean Kenny, the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, and Mr. Peter Burke, Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment.
Under its slogan, Strength with Unity, the Irish Presidency will focus on the following key priorities: strengthening transport as an enabler of competitiveness, advancing decarbonisation while ensuring a just transition, delivering tangible benefits for citizens, and last but not least, fostering a safe, secure and resilient transport network. I am very pleased to announce that on the 3rd July, the Irish Presidency began its six-month term by launching interinstitutional negotiations on the roadworthiness package. That is the best way to start. I'm confident the interinstitutional negotiations on these files can reach an agreement within your semester. After the successful conclusion of the conciliation procedure on the air passenger rights and the provisional agreement on the enforcement regulation, we are ready to start the interinstitutional negotiations on passenger rights in multimodal journeys this autumn, with the aim of reaching a balanced agreement in the trilogues.
Another file currently under interinstitutional negotiation is the weight and dimensions directive, and we would very much hope to work together towards a provisional agreement during your presidency.
Now I would like to invite Mr. Kenny and Mr. Burke to present us the priorities of the presidency for transport and tourism and later to answer the questions of our members. So Mr. Kenny you have please Mr. Minister 10 minutes for your first presentation the priorities. Thank you very much.
09:52 - 14:37
Speaker 2
Thank you very much for the opportunity. Go mbeidh biseach libh go léir anseo inniu. It is a pleasure to appear before the Committee on Transport and Tourism at the beginning of the Irish presidency of the Council of the European Union. For Ireland this is the eighth time holding the rotating presidency following our last term in 2013. We have assumed the presidency under the motto Neart go cur le chéile which means strength with unity.
And this is the approach we are taking during our presidency acting as honest broker and serving the interests of the Union as a whole while respecting the role of member states and the European Parliament. We take this role seriously. It is a great privilege as a member state to have this opportunity and we understand how important our role is in seeking to progress the EU policy agenda. Transport is no exception.
In the past, Irish presidencies have often coincided with pivotal phases in the European project. Periods of major political change across Europe at the end of the Cold War, moments of significant institutional and budgetary decision-making and the Union's largest enlargement in 2004. Our most recent term in 2013, for example, was shaped by the imperative of stabilization and delivery in the aftermath of the financial crisis. That history has shaped our approach, working in a balanced and constructive way, focused on continuity, practical problem-solving and delivery, particularly in sectors like transport where the agenda is both highly technical and increasingly strategic. This opportunity to speak to you today is valuable because it allows us to be clear about our priorities, realistic about what can be delivered in six months and ambitious about where the Irish presidency can help to build momentum.
As the first presidency in our trio, Ireland has the responsibility to help set a constructive and realistic tone for the next 18 months, working closely with Lithuanian and Greek partners to ensure continuity across a policy program which stretches beyond any single six-month term. Ireland's approach will be to work collaboratively and pragmatically with our trio partners, recognizing that a number of issues will be central across the entire trio period rather than owned by one presidency alone. In particular, the pressures around competitiveness, the delivery of green and digital transitions, and the growing emphasis on safety, security, and resilience in the transport system. Our aim is to ensure that the work we do during our term supports steady progress, maintains continuity between presidencies, and helps to create the conditions for agreement where agreement is possible. We have grouped the transport policy priorities into four themes: transport as an enabler for competitiveness, decarbonization and delivering a just transition, delivering for citizens, and a safe and secure transport network.
These themes reflect the Parliament and Council legislative agendas around competitiveness and connectivity, decarbonisation with ambition, realism and fairness, and citizen-facing delivery, and the wider safety, resilience and security dimensions that feature across so many areas of EU policy. I will now take each theme briefly, flag the specific files under them, and to be clear about where Ireland sees scope for progress during our presidency. Firstly, on competitiveness, the underlying point is simple. The European transport system is foundational to the single market. Today, the competitiveness agenda now runs through infrastructure, ports, aviation connectivity and technology leadership.
The Connecting Europe Facility is a key part of the competitiveness agenda. We were well placed to advance this file and we remain ready to do so. However, we recognise the progress on CEF has been linked with the wider MFF timetable, but Ireland remains ready to engage constructively with Parliament and Council colleagues as soon as the conditions are in place to move this key file forward. On maritime and ports, we commend the work of the Cyprus presidency in adopting Council conclusions on the EU ports strategy and the maritime industrial strategy.
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