The European ministers responsible for transport, meeting in Luxembourg on October 9th, 2008, under the presidency of Dominique Bussereau, the French Minister of State for Transport, decided jointly to take a decisive step towards the safe and sustainable development of transport. A political agreement was reached fro two main legislative propositions the III Erika package on maritime transport security.

Following positive and productive discussions, the ministers agreed unanimously on the need to act together to improve maritime safety by giving their agreement on the last two proposals of the Erika III package, comprising the proposed directive on flag state requirements and that on ship owners’ insurance. The ministers also made a commitment to ratify by 2012 the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) international agreements.

The consensus reached marked a crucial stage allowing the general aims of the package relating to maritime safety to be upheld, confirming the will of the Member States to engage in constructive dialogue with the European Parliament. Thus, the conditions have been met for a rapid adoption of the maritime safety package.

The transport ministers unanimously reaffirmed their determination to take action to improve road safety. The debate confirmed their common intention to halve the number of fatal accidents within 10 years. The ministers expressed their will to continue working towards achieving a sustainable and effective European instrument for a cross-border application of the legislation.

Air transport will also make its contribution to the objective of developing a sustainable Europe, with transport ministers giving their support to the inclusion of aviation in the Community Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The issue to include air transport within EU ETS, has been subject to discussions between the Commission and the European Parliament, whose Environment Committee voted in May 2008 to reintroduce most of the EP first-reading amendments to a proposal in that line. Furthermore, ministers gave the go-ahead to the launch of the development phase of the SESAR programme, a system for air control falling under the technological umbrella of the ‘Single European Sky' package, which will authorise further progress in the area of limiting the impact of air traffic upon the environme