The Council of the EU exhorts to push on the accelerator of the digitalisation of the transports



Tuesday the Council of the European Union has adopted conclusions on the digitalisation of the transports that emphasize the importance of the topic for the European economy and competitiveness and confirm the ambition of the EU to become a total leader in the field. In particular, the Council have invited the EU commission to collaborate with the Member States and the interested parts in order to develop a strategy of total and multimodale digitalisation for the field of the transports in the first trimester 2019 that is accompanied by a comprising schedule an indicative directory of the proposed actions and an associate calendar for their presentation;

The Council of the EU among other things has emphasized the importance of on July 6, 2016 relative directive NIS to measures for an elevated common level of safety of the nets and the informative systems of the Union let alone of the general regulations on the protection of the data and has asked that the European Committee for the Protection of the Data assists the single modalities of transport in the application of the general regulations on the protection of the data in coherent way and has asked also the field of the transports to contribute to the their full application.

Evidencing the importance of a wide social dialogue, the Council has asked moreover the EU commission to estimate the socioeconomic and environmental impact of the automation and the digitalisation in the field of the transports, being taken into consideration the new necessary competences in such field and, if necessary, to propose measures in order to face such impacts.

Between the other demands formulated from the Council of the EU is also that time to the prosecuzione of the job of the forum for the transport and digital logistics (DTLF) developing with all the interested parts measures apt to support a more systematic use and the acceptance of electronic documents and the harmonized exchange of information and data in the logistic chain. In particular, the Council has rimarcato the necessity of a fast adhesion by the Member States of the EU to the protocol e-CMR and has invited the Commission to propose a continuation adapted to the review of the directive on the signalling formalities, also introducing the e-Manifest through an only and harmonized marine European atmosphere, to the aim to create an European space of marine transport without borders and to improve the efficiency and the attraction of the field of the marine transports.

Always in topic of marine transports, the Council has invited the Member States and the Commission to continue the efforts within the Internazional Maritime Organization in order to promote an international normative picture that on board facilitates the adoption of new technologies and the digitalisation of the ships, comprised the development of independent ships and, in this context, has wished the definition of norms for a sure and respectful employment of the atmosphere of the independent ships of surface. Moreover it has encouraged the Member States and the EU commission to promote the acceptance of the digital certificates for the ships and the marine ones and has exhorted the Commission to promote the interoperability of the digital services for the marine and fluvial transport in order to facilitate the exchange of information between both the modalities.

The association of the European shipowners has received with favor the conclusions of the Council on the digitalisation of the transports. "The digitalisation - the general secretary of the European Community Shipowners' Associations (ECSA has explained), Martin Dorsman - is already much anticipates in our field and receives with favor the attention turned from the ministers of the Transports. As proposed from the conclusions of the Council, it would have to be previewed a real European only interface, based on the principle of a single communication and on the use of an electronic load manifest harmonized to the aim to without borders create an European space for the marine transport. This is this of which we have for a long time emphasized the necessity in order to improve the efficiency. With the Council of the transports - it has specified Dorsman - we want also to support the job of the International Maritime Organization in facilitating on board the adoption of new technologies and the digitalisation of the ships".