Siim Kallas, Transport
(Estonia, Liberal)
Background
Although he is new to the Transport dossier, Siim Kallas is enjoying his second term as a Commissioner. Previously, he served as the EU Commissioner for Administration, Audit and Anti-Fraud, and he oversaw the introduction of the EU Transparency Agenda and the Register for Lobbyists. Before his career in the EU, he was the Prime Minister of Estonia and has held many other top government posts including Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Finance. In 1991 he was appointed as President of the Bank of Estonia where he was responsible for reforming the country’s monetary policy.
Stated objectives on taking office
- To achieve a sustainable European Transport policy that “truly benefits citizens and businesses”;
- To lead the way in the decarbonisation of the European transport sector –he has described this as “an ultimate goal, not debatable”;
- To accelerate the introduction of Intelligent Transport Systems;
- To promote investment in infrastructure through the new instruments such as the European Infrastructure Investments Fund.
Members of the Cabinet
Henrik HOLOLEI, Head of Cabinet
Keir FITCH, Deputy Head of Cabinet
Margus RAHUOJA, Senior Adviser, Air Transport
Veronica MANFREDI, Member, Decarbonisation and Climate Agenda
Desirée OEN, Member, TEN-T and Inter-institutional Relations
Hanna HINRIKUS, Member, Personal Assistant to Siim Kallas
Max STROTMANN, Member, Maritime Transport Policy
Marit RUUDA, Member, International Transport, Enlargement and Road Safety
Ulle LOHMUS, Member, Transport Financing and economic analyses
Key actions to date
- Coordinating the European response after large parts of the airspace were closed because of the threat of ash from an erupting Icelandic volcano. Kallas’s actions included calling a extraordinary meeting in Brussels bringing together all relevant national authorities as well as representatives of the airline and airport industry;
- Pushing for the implementation of the Single European Skies package which has recently been cleared by the member states;
- Prioritizing the implementation of the European Rail Traffic Management System in the wake of the Belgian train crash in February 2010..
What to expect
The drama surrounding the ash from the Icelandic volcano and the seemingly disjointed European response mean that Kallas is facing an eruption of activity on his agenda. Due to the closure of airspace over a sustained period, the European aviation industry is estimated to have lost several billion Euros. On the issue of potential compensation, Kallas was quoted as saying: “There is no sack of money available”. However, activity on the fallout of the volcano could be leveraged in order to give the Transport Commission more authority in its sector. Previously, both transport and energy were under the same umbrella, but they have now been split into two departments. At the time, it was thought that this split would weaken the Commission’s mobility directorate, but now that the transport sector is under the spotlight, there will most certainly be a greater push for the Commission to show concrete action in the areas of European airspace, terrorism and airport security. One of the key issues that has come up as a result of the “ash cloud crisis” relates to EU air passenger rights, with Commissioner Kallas currently looking into the possibility of having a single European Charter in this area.