The informal meeting of the transport ministers in La Rochelle provided an opportunity to discuss urban transport, the amendment of the 'Eurovignette' directive, maritime safety and 'motorways of the sea'.

On Monday, 1 September, the meeting addressed the EU’s future action plan on urban mobility, which will be drawn up on the basis of the green paper presented in 2007 by Jacques Barrot, former European Commissioner for Transport. Ryszard Grobelny, Mayor of Poznan (Poland), and Michel Destot, Mayor of Grenoble (France) and President of the Group of Authorities with Responsibility for Transport (GART), to talk about their experiences and future projects regarding urban transport . They expressed their expectations with regard to the European Union.

The ministers debated the Commission's proposal for amending the ‘Eurovignette’ directive, the purpose of which is to ensure the charges imposed on road haulage take into account its environmental impacts. The La Rochelle talks aim to explain as clearly as possible what is at stake in this amendment, which subscribes to the "polluter pays" principle, but the application of which will have to take account of the economic situation facing European road hauliers.

On Tuesday, 2 September, the meeting was focused on sea freight. The ministers set out the options for measures being discussed to improve maritime safety along Europe’s coastlines. They examined the conditions for developing 'motorways of the sea' . Philippe Louis-Dreyfus, Chairman of the European Shipowners' Association, and Philippe Grillot, Chairman of the Federation of French Freight and Logistics Businesses, reported on their experiences on the prospects for intermodality between road and sea freight.