Implementation of the European Union-Ukraine Association Agreement in the field of transport in 2019, according to the Pulse Agreement’s online monitoring system, was only 16% [1]. As deputy minister of infrastructure for European integration (2016 – 2019), I will share some thoughts to understand why this happened and what to do?
It is obvious that the 2019 presidential and parliamentary elections were political reasons for not passing systemic laws, not in the face of complex reforms. However, a positive thing is that the new mono-coalition in the Verkhovna Rada and the Committee on Transport and Infrastructure have taken over the work of the Ministry of Infrastructure and registered four systemic draft laws:
- Draft Law of Ukraine “On Railway Transport of Ukraine” (Reg. No. 1196-1 of 06.09.2019)
The aim is liberalization in the field of railway transport, creation of conditions for the development of competition in the market of railway transportation. The objective is to create conditions for the development of a competitive environment in the rail market, taking into account the basic requirements of EU legislation. A new model for the rail transport market is provided, similar to the European rail systems. The basic requirements, responsibilities, and rights of the infrastructure operator, the carrier, the basic requirements for the railway rolling stock and the basic activities of the railway rolling stock operators are defined.
- Draft Law of Ukraine “On Inland Water Transport” (Reg. No. 1182-1a of 17.01.2020);
The integration of inland waterways into the intermodal logistics scheme is important, which will allow Ukraine to strengthen its competitive position in the transport system of the EU member states, improve the investment climate in the inland waterway sector and stimulate the development of shipbuilding and ship repair industries. The sources of financing the costs for the maintenance, repair, and reconstruction of navigable hydraulic structures at the expense of the owner (s) of hydroelectric power stations have been identified; the exemption of vessels from the charge for locking and special water use; the conditions for exemption from payment in seaports of some charges for small-scale vessels engaged in inland waterway transport; identified sources of compensation for investments made by economic entities in strategic river basin infrastructure; exemption from payment for raising bridges; introduction of automatic accounting of river transportations.
- Draft Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on Harmonization with the Legislation of the European Union in the Field of Transportation of Dangerous Goods” (Reg. No. 1193-1 of 20.09.2019);
The objective is to ensure an adequate level of safety for the carriage of dangerous goods by road, rail and inland waterway transport should bring the conditions for the carriage of dangerous goods to the European level by reviewing national legislation in this field, in particular on the availability and compliance of the rules on the functions, duties, and responsibilities of the issues of transportation of dangerous goods (consultant, advisor) and other participants in the process of transportation of dangerous goods, as well as with regard to operations This loading/unloading, reloading, interaction with other modes of transport, providing transport industry qualified personnel, rolling stock with a high level of safety to design.
- Draft Law of Ukraine “On Multimodal Transportation” (Reg. No. 2685 of 27.12.2019);
The development of multimodal transportation will significantly increase the volume of cargo transportation across the territory of Ukraine with the participation of national transport companies, contributing to the country’s competitiveness in the world market of transport services, development of a network of existing transport corridors, integration of Ukraine’s transport infrastructure into the world transport system. The bill defines the legal and organizational principles of multimodal cargo transportation in Ukraine and the state support of multimodal transportations, the legal status of the participants of multimodal transportations.
Unfortunately, in 2019, the turbo mode did not work out and we moved on to the routine work of reconciling the bills, making changes, which led to a re-analysis of EU compliance checks by European experts. Finally, these systematic bills have positive conclusions and have been approved by the profile Committee on Transport and Infrastructure and the Committee on Integration of Ukraine with the EU, which provides a great opportunity to support the majority of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. At the level of the Cabinet of Ministers, the main measures envisage the development of a by-law regulatory framework after the adoption of the above-mentioned draft laws. However, the unification of a number of ministries and change of Cabinet of Ministers has caused delays in the harmonization of regulations at governmental level, so it is now necessary to focus on the following systemic reforms:
- Draft resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine “On approving the Action Plan for 2020–2022 on implementation of the National Transport Strategy of Ukraine for the period until 2030”;
- Draft resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine “On approving the Strategy and Action Plan for reforming the life cycle of the infrastructure project in Ukraine for 2020-2024”
The aim is to improve the life cycle of the infrastructure project, remove obstacles to the effective planning, preparation and implementation of infrastructure projects in order to enhance the competitiveness of Ukraine’s economy and deepen European integration.
The year 2020 should be crucial for the adoption of legislation at Parliament level and by-laws at the government level. Coordination through the mechanism of joint meetings of the transport committees, EU integration, the office of the vice prime minister for European Integration, the Ministry of Infrastructure and the EU delegation needs to be strengthened to support the adoption of draft legislation in the field of transport.
The lack of progress on the part of the EU on the common aviation area agreement and the solution to the lack of permits for international cargo traffic to EU member states, first of all, Poland, is a negative factor in the practical implementation of European integration in the transport. In view of Brexit, the conflicting issue of Gibraltar Airport between the UK and Spain has been substantially lifted, we propose to finally sign the Open Skies Agreement in 2020.
It is necessary to move away from the implementation of the EU Association Agreement in the transport area, as loans from the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development are one of the main sources of financing for infrastructure projects. Ukraine needs to reform its transport system in order to gain access to the European Union’s rail, road, and air transport markets and the financial resources needed to build quality and secure infrastructure.
Viktor Dovhan is an adviser to the minister of infrastructure.
