Tag: sustainable transport

A proposed objective to cut the EU's transport emissions by 60% by 2050 was considered "too ambitious" by a majority of the bloc's transport ministers, who stressed that the goal should remain aspirational.

The European Commission wants to make transport users pay for emissions, noise and other harm they cause as part of proposals laid down in a draft White Paper on Transport, seen by EurActiv.

Amid steady growth in air traffic and related polluting emissions, the aerospace industry is rolling up its sleeves to ensure that the sector grows in a carbon-neutral manner as of 2020.

Cheaper airline tickets, shorter flight times, less pollution and no more air borders: these are the expected benefits of the 'Single European Sky II' package of legislation adopted by the European Parliament yesterday (25 March).

Proposals adopted by the Commission yesterday (8 July) could see road haulage costs rise even further than they have already as a result of the hike in fuel prices. They aim to reduce the sector's negative impact on the environment, although green groups say the plans remain weak.

The EU is behind schedule and lacks the necessary budget to complete the 30 infrastructure projects it has highlighted as essential to connecting the territories of the EU's 27 members and meeting the bloc's ambitious climate targets, according to a new report.

With less than eight months remaining before it must come up with a universal model to make users of all transport modes pay for the negative effects they inflict on society – including air pollution, CO2 emissions, accidents and congestion – the European Commission has invited stakeholders to take part in the controversial debate.

Concluding a four-month stakeholder forum in Paris, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced a raft of new measures, including a freeze on the construction of new roads and airports as well as a moratorium on new GMOs.

The Commission has presented plans aimed at making freight transport in the EU more efficient and sustainable, through improved logistics and by promoting a more frequent use of cleaner modes of transport such as rail and water transport.

The Commission set out a ten-year strategy on sustainability in the transport sector in its 2001 White Paper on Transport Policy. The strategy focused predominantly on balancing the different modes of transport, harmonising legislation within specific sectors, and enhancing transport safety. But, in an enlarged EU, under pressure from accelerating globalisation, high oil prices and transport-targeted terrorist attacks, the EU is looking to adapt its initial strategy.

Financial inaction on transport infrastructure is a major failing of EU transport policy and could put economic growth in the Union at risk, states a report backed on 8 May by the Parliament's Transport Committee.

The surge in transport demand means that greenhouse-gas emissions from the sector are still steadily increasing, threatening the EU's Kyoto goals, according to the European Environment Agency.

As the Commission opens the first stages of its public consultation on urban transport, public-transport workers and operators are calling for more than a simple benchmarking exercise.

In this report, David Kernohan (Centre for European Policy Studies) relates the conclusions of a CEPS Task Force on the challenges which remain in the European transport policy.

In 2001, the Commission presented a White Paper proposing 60 measures to overhaul the EU’s transport policy in order to make it more sustainable and avoid huge economic losses due to congestion, pollution and accidents. A 2006 mid-term update attempts to re-balance the policy towards economic objectives.

By laying down common rules on how EU states may charge heavy goods vehicles for using the road network, the 'Eurovignette' directive aims to ensure road usage better reflects its true impact on society and the environment by introducing a "user pays" and a "polluter pays" principle. The aim is also to shift freight away from roads onto other less-polluting modes of transport such as rail and waterways.

High oil prices, new safety rules, environmental concerns, tax-for-aid, state aid restrictions, passenger rights - the pressure is piling up on European airlines with no apparent policy co-ordination.

The average new car in the EU-15 was releasing almost 12% less CO2 in 2003 than it did in 1995, according to a Commission report. But pressure is growing, especially from Berlin, to push automakers to make further cuts.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has tried to fend off accusations that it is supporting projects in central and eastern Europe which place too much emphasis on road transport.

Dutch State Secretary Pieter van Geel has spelled out his environment programme before Parliament, focusing on eco-efficient, innovative solutions to issues such as sustainable transport and chemicals (REACH).