Mr. Siim Kallas:

We have at least nine issues of maritime policy which will be discussed during Ireland's EU Presidency. We will see if we can make progress with all these issues. The passenger ship safety review will come up, but it is not linked to the Costa Concordia incident. We have already prepared it. The maritime labour convention has basically already been decided politically.

The ports policy is in preparation and will be discussed during Ireland's EU Presidency.

The so-called Blue Belt project is an important and positive issue, which probably addresses many nuances in the questions that have been posed. It was launched by the Belgian EU Presidency a couple of years ago. We will push ahead with this, together with the Commission's tax and customs departments. This will be a really positive development for the transportation of goods by shipping within the EU. It will take down all the customs barriers and other formalities, making life much easier. We will have a report on the Blue Belt project during the Irish EU Presidency and will discuss it then.

The expanding of the European Maritime Safety Agency's activities will be an issue during Ireland's EU Presidency. This has been a sensitive issue, but the agency has been tremendously efficient and good. For instance, the information provided by it is used to fight piracy. The agency was first established to avert environmental disasters at sea after the Erikaand Prestigeoil spill disasters. Maritime security is now part of its work and the Irish Presidency can progress the expansion of its activities in this area.

Roadworthiness tests were discussed at the last Council meeting and will be again at the next one. The issue is also being discussed in the European Parliament and we are flexible on it. The basic idea is to improve the technical condition of older vehicles and motorbikes as their roadworthiness is one cause of road accidents. There needs to be some harmonisation in how to test vehicles for roadworthiness and how frequently it should be done. Vehicles cross borders and one member state does not want a vehicle from another country blowing out black smoke, for example, when it is not permitted. This issue will be discussed at the next Council meeting.

The question on an access charge for commercial traffic in the United Kingdom is very interesting. I do not know the exact details, but the issue of road pricing will also be discussed in the near future. I do not believe there will be tough proposals. However, from a European viewpoint, we can intervene if there is discrimination in how the charge is applied. The charge must be equal for a citizen of the member state as well as for other EU citizens. Accordingly, the United Kingdom and Austria cannot charge just vehicles from other countries for access to their roads. It must be remembered 24 member states already charge for road use, either through the eurovignette, tolling systems and toll roads. There will be a financing cap in this regard. In countries with heavy vehicle and transit traffic tension is increasing that these users must pay more. I raised this issue in my own country 15 years ago and it can only be done as part of a package. If one introduces road-charging, fuel excise tax which is used for road maintenance must be reduced.

On the issue of the British Prime Minister, Mr. Cameron, the British euroscpetics and the EU budget, the Commission has tried hard to resolve it. I was responsible for the budget discharge in the previous Commission. I had big meetings, particularly in the United Kingdom, about how moneys were spent in the European Union. These meetings were good. There are some weak points in spending that need to be addressed. Several months ago Mr. Radoslaw Sikorski's, the Polish foreign Minister, made an interesting speech in Blenheim Palace about Britain's role in the Union. I strongly recommend that members read this critical speech on British myths about the Union and how ridiculous the notion is that the UK Government thinks it can be alone outside the Union. Funnily, it was not widely published in the UK newspapers. Press freedom is very special. There was only one article on the speech in the Financial Times,but it did not receive a wider circulation.

The electrification of railways is the main concern of the Irish Government. The biggest strategic challenge facing transport is connecting Europe and improving existing transport infrastructure. There are other challenges such as air transport and external relations in transport. There are standards in place to ensure rest areas for drivers along roads. We have introduced a smart safe parking system and an IT solution to allow drivers to locate these areas. They are contained in road standards, but it depends on the provision of investment to achieve it.

Fuel security for airlines is a major issue in Europe. It is important to introduce fuel efficiencies in this regard. For example, Rolls Royce, the leading producer of aviation engines, informed me a 1% reduction in the level of fuel consumption through engine improvement would lead to savings of a year's supply. Fuel costs are of paramount importance to the airlines. We have adopted a research and development programme, Flightpath 2050, chaired by Mr. Tom Enders, chief executive officer, European Aeronautic Defence and Space, EADS, which has been established in conjunction with the Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Ms Máire Geoghegan-Quinn. Its main aim is to direct research and innovation in aeronautical design to reduce fuel consumption. There have been experiments using blended fuels and bio-fuels.

Air transport specialists say that air transport will be the last mode which will change from fossil fuel to bio-fuels, but some blending is possible.

New investments in railways are so large that they cannot be done only on a commercial basis. On operational costs, well-organised railway networks are profitable. High speed trains such as Eurostar and many busy regional networks are also profitable. The passenger transport railway network in my country is not profitable but the Government supports it. We calculate that one can take people by taxi from point A to point B for the same cost but, of course, people like railways very much and politicians always must do what people like. There is a limit, but we still support some public service obligations.

On the matter of airport state aid guidelines concerning Greece's investments which also can promote tourism, this is a tricky question because it can go too far. One cannot see clearly what are the limits for air transport, but some countries use Regional Development Fund moneys to promote tourism and also help airlines to bring tourists. It is probably a more reasonable way.

On gender balance, it is the Court of Justice which decides. The Commission is very much in favour of promoting gender balance. How to do it is another question. In general, some countries are very successful in this regard.

On supporting a ferry service, the question is mostly of money. In my country, the ferry service between islands and the continent is supported by public service obligations. It depends on whether there is the political will to do it, how to support it, what they decide on money and how fairly it is used. It is a question for member states.