Pál Völner, state secretary of the Ministry of National Development, met British Secretary of State for Transport Philip Hammond in the spirit of the preparation for the EU presidency on 9 December 2010 in London.

The purpose of Mr Völner’s visit was to elucidate the Hungarian presidency programme and to explore possibilities for cooperation in order to successfully promote EU transport matters. The reduction of the number of road accidents caused by the infringement of road safety regulations is an important target in European and Hungarian transport policy. For this reason the State Secretary asked for the support of the British minister in the planned adoption of the directive facilitating cross-border enforcement of road safety within the next six months.

Among the most important presidency goals Mr Völner mentioned the commencement of drawing up an EU transport policy extending until 2020, the issue of the review of Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T), the promotion of legislation aiding the completion of the EU rail market, and the continuation of the debate on the future of inland shipping.

During the next six months Mr Völner will chair two formal sessions of the Transport Council in Brussels and the informal meeting of ministers in Budapest in February. In the recent period the State Secretary has presented the Hungarian presidency’s transport programme and priorities to leaders of the Austrian, Belgian, Bulgarian, Czech, Dutch, German, Italian, Polish, Romanian, Slovakian and Slovenian fellow ministries.

Ministry of National Development

Communications Department

Budapest, 9 December 2010