Tag: transport policy

EU transport ministers agree on the future challenges identified by the European Commission, but stress the need to take into account the impact of the current economic crisis on the sector and make passengers pay more for using infrastructure. 

The European Commission yesterday (17 June) presented its vision for an integrated, technology-led and user-friendly sustainable transport system after 2010. But environmental NGOs complained that the vision failed to place sufficient emphasis on managing demand and neglected to put sustainability at the heart of future policies.

Building new road and rail infrastructure will not alone solve transport congestion - better use of existing capacity is needed to ensure smooth mobility of citizens, business and goods, stakeholders argued at a conference.

EU policies focusing mainly on improving vehicle technology and fuel quality are not enough to reduce the transport sector's contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, argues the European Environment Agency (EEA).

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.

A comprehensive overview of the main policies, key players, major milestones, current hot dossiers and future priorities in European transport policy.

Advanced logistics solutions have a vital part to play in promoting Europe’s mobility, sustainability and competitiveness goals, the Commission states in its Communication on freight transport logistics.

As much as 20% of Europe's GDP is supported by road transport, according to a new study by the European Union Road Federation which rejects the Commission's 2001 idea of operating a 'modal shift' to rail.

Concerned with delays in completing ambitious European rail routes, the Commission has appointed six high-profile politicians to build bridges between hesitant EU nations.

In this EPC Working Paper, the EPC Task Force on Transport presents 12 policy prescriptions for a sustainable European mobility policy. The authors analyse the relationship between European transport policy and economic growth and argue that a strategy of sustainable mobility, broadly defined, is indispensable to achieving the Lisbon objectives on environmental sustainability, social inclusion and economic competitiveness.

Europe's grand project to make transport sustainable in the long run is simply being abandoned, warns the Parliament's transport committee vice-president Gilles Savary in an interview with EurActiv.

On 19 April, a report on a voluntary agreement on pedestrian safety was adopted by the European Parliament's Transport Committee. It accepts the voluntary approach for now, but asks for legally binding measures in the near future.