Transport minister heads to European transport meeting

Transport Minister Yiannis Karousos travels to Slovenia on Monday to attend the Informal Council of the EU Transport and Energy Ministers and a high-level meeting concerning the Trans-European Transport Network in the framework of the EU Slovenian Presidency.

He will have meetings with some of his counterparts to promote the Declaration on Air Connectivity that was drafted at Cyprus’ initiative together with seven other EU member states.

The declaration was co-signed by Cyprus, Greece, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Romania, and was presented earlier this summer at the EU Transport Council meeting in Luxembourg by Karousos.

It aims to extend beyond 2021 the temporary support to the aviation sector in relation to connectivity given that the pandemic has created enormous problems for the island and peripheral Member States of the Union in terms of connectivity.

The informal meeting will also discuss European Commission proposals ‘Fit for 55’ aiming at reducing pollutants by 55 per cent by 2030, as well as the revision of the regulation on trans-European transport networks.

Karousos will discuss with counterparts the promotion of electric mobility which constitutes one of the government’s priorities and which is expected to contribute in a substantive way to the pollutants reduction