Commission Report (2002): Latvia

Chapter 9: Transport

Legislative alignment has continued in road transport, but no new legislation was adopted in relation to railway and maritime transport. On air transport, the computerised reservation system requirements were transposed. Some measures have been taken to start strengthening administrative capacity in road transport through the adoption of a political document on control of road transport, which aims at further restructuring, provision of additional resources, training and upgrading of the administration in this field, as addressed by the Action Plan. Regarding railway transport, a passenger carriage operator was established in line with the Action Plan, but further strengthening of railway inspection is necessary. The legal base for the establishment of an investigation authority in the area of air transport needs still to be put in place. On maritime transport, framework laws need to be adopted as well as implementing legislation which is lagging behind. As required by the Action Plan, measures are being developed to address the urgent priority concerning strengthening of administrative capacity in the field of maritime safety in terms of increase of resources, further restructuring of the Latvian Maritime Administration and training, and their timely implementation remains important in order to increase efficiency. Regarding Flag State performance, progress was made as the Port State controls and detention rates of Latvian ships were improved, but the safety record should be raised significantly to reach EU level. Therefore, the Accession Partnership priorities in the area of transport have been partially met. Implementation of the measures under the Action Plan is largely on track.