UKTiE

Mark’s EU Week for Transport  Last week was the EU Sustainable Energy Week, which UKTiE attended in order to gain further insight into the forthcoming EU climate agenda. The conclusion was that, while the current policy negotiations can appear quite vague, specificity will come and will come quickly once the new European Parliament begins in the first week of July. We are hearing measures ranging from cutting emissions in shipping, to creating a level playing field by increasing aviation taxation, to…

Mark’s EU Week for Transport  Whilst the focus of the past week has been on who will get which top EU job, behind the scenes the European Parliament and the European Council have both been stealing a march on the European Commission by seeking to agree strategic priorities for the next five year EU mandate. Whilst constitutionally the European Commission has the sole power of initiative, this time round the other two EU institutions want to shape their agenda. And given the…

Mark’s EU Week for Transport  Now that the dust has begun to settle on the EU elections, the European Parliament groups are already setting policy priorities for the upcoming mandate. In that vain, in the update below we have laid out some of the manifesto promises that were made by the European groups in the election. The overarching caveat of the manifesto analysis is that we do not yet know which group will get which EU top job, with the Presidents…

Mark’s EU Week for Transport  We find ourselves in the final stretch ahead of the European elections. The UK election campaigns are all now officially launched, with the exception of the Conservative Party, and not surprisingly Brexit is dominating the campaigns of all the UK parties. Ironically it’s probably the first time ever that the UK’s European election campaign has been fought on European issues. Across Europe as a whole, we are now starting to see some of the trends that…

Mark’s EU Week for Transport  Attention shifts this week to local elections in the UK, as the Tories face the prospect of big defeats this week ahead of further defeats in one month’s time at the European elections. While attention will inevitably remain local during this period, there is plenty to think about at the European level as well. Let’s face it, barring Theresa May pulling off the impossible, we will be holding European elections. This means that we need to…

Mark’s EU Week for Transport  Whatever the type of Brexit, whenever it occurs, if it occurs at all,  it is vital the UK starts to get back on the front foot when it comes to shaping transport policy and seeking to protect and promote UK transport interests, particularly here in Brussels.  Brexit has been a huge distraction for almost three years, and we’ve heard time and time again the same over used phrase that that ‘we simply do not have the…