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Earlier this week, the Spanish Presidency of the Council presented its priorities to the European Parliament. Ms Raquel Sánchez, the acting Minister for Transport, Mobility, and Urban Affairs held an exchange of views with the Transport and Tourism Committee (TRAN). Mr Pascual Navarro, Secretary of State for European Affairs, presented them to the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO).

During the IMCO Committee meeting Secretary of State Navarro highlighted the significant importance of Customs Reforms for the Spanish Presidency, emphasising its crucial role for the internal market. He also mentioned that the Presidency would closely follow the upcoming debate in the Committee on the topic. 

MEP Deirdre Clune (EPP), the Rapporteur on the EU Customs Reforms, also emphasised the importance of the file enquiring whether the Presidency intended to advance it during its term. Secretary Navarro confirmed that the file, which is challenging, is a priority for the Spanish Presidency and that they aimed to expedite the process within the Council’s working group as much as possible. However, due to its technical complexity, reaching an agreement in the Council might require some additional time. Nevertheless, he stressed the strong commitment of the Presidency to move it forward. 

Minister Sánchez indicated that a crucial focus for the Spanish Presidency was the promotion of environmentally friendly freight transport, stressing that incentives were essential to encourage economic operators to swiftly move towards more sustainable transport. She also highlighted that Spain had decided to prioritise the Weights and Dimensions proposal within the Greening Freight Package, as it would play a vital role in facilitating intermodal transport and ensuring transport efficiency. She noted that the Spanish Presidency aimed to secure a General Approach by the end of December. 

MEPs thanked the Presidency for the progress made so far. Nonetheless, MEP Marian Marinescu (EPP), among others, stressed the interdependence of files within the Greening Freight Package, emphasising the importance of progressing them simultaneously. He also stressed the need to expedite the process to reach an agreement on the TEN-T revision. MEP Riquet (Renew), Rapporteur on TEN-T, indicated that he and the Shadows rapporteurs shared the ambition to conclude an agreement under the Spanish Presidency.  MEP Elsi Katainen (Renew) noted that with regard to the Weights and Dimensions Directive, larger lorries were more environmentally friendly and necessary to deploy in sparsely populated areas, particularly in Member States such as Finland or Sweden.