EUKN - Cyprus - Commission reviews transport policy

Commission reviews transport policy

26-06-2006

The European Commission has published a mid-term review of its 2001 Transport White Paper. In its mid-term review “Keep Europe moving: a transport policy for sustainable mobility” the Commission seeks to balance transport and environmental needs. In relation to the 2001 White Paper two significant changes can be identified: the mid-term review no longer seeks to break the link between transport growth and economic growth, and the so called ‘modal shift’ is no longer an objective.

The 2001 White Paper on transport policy addressed three challenges, caused by increasing mobility and transport:

road congestion;
environmental pressures;
safety and quality of life problems.

The goals of Europe’s transport policy have not changed, the context in which those goals are pursued has, however. Amongst changes in the context are the following:

enlargement, with different priorities for the EU-15 (congestion and pollution) and the EU-10 (accessibility);
accelerated globalisation, making competitiveness more and more an important issue;
an increase in oil prices;
the Kyoto Protocol, generating emission reduction commitments for Europe;
terrorist attacks on (public) transport networks.

"Keep Europe Moving - Sustainable mobility for our continent" shifts focus from trying to reduce mobility to trying to improve mobility:

The 2001 White Paper sought to break the link between economic growth and transport growth, whilst the mid-term review stresses the need to disconnect mobility from its negative consequences.
The White Paper sought to shift the balance between modes of transport, i.e. from road transport to alternative modes of transport. The mid-term no longer has this ‘modal shift’ an objective. The review seeks ‘co-modality’, a situation in which all modes of transport are optimally used.
More attention is paid to energy efficiency: the commission will present a strategic technology plan for energy use in transport in 2007 and will launch a programme on ‘green-powered vehicles’ in 2009.
In the review, it is announced that the Commission will launch a Green Paper on Urban Transport in 2007.
Finally, the European Commission proposes Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and Smart Charging as instruments. ITS comprises initiatives such as real-time management of traffic flows and tracking possibilities. Smart Charging refers to all efforts to attribute so called external costs to transport users.

Source: EurAcitv

Links
Directorate General for Energy and Transport “Keep Europe moving: a transport policy for sustainable mobility” – DG Transport
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