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24 January 1992
Doc. 6551
O P I N I O N
on the 36th (1989) and 37th (1990) annual reports
of the European Conference
of Ministers of Transport (ECMT)
(Rapporteur: Mr DIMMER, Luxembourg, Christian Social Party)
At a time when major new projects regarding transport infrastructures are being discussed in Europe, it is more than ever necessary to set their technical planning in the wider context of the comprehensive planning of the European area, with particular reference to the balanced and sustainable development of the various regions of Europe. Such technical planning must, of course, also meet the need to protect the environment and the population from various forms of pollution. It should moreover take account of the fact that land has become a rare and non-renewable resource. Care must therefore be taken to ensure the sparing use of land and, as far as possible, encourage means of transport which encroach as little as possible on the land.
Accordingly, a forward-looking type of regional management
in Europe now requires, especially in the countries of Western Europe, the careful use of land and the striking of a judicious balance between the respective needs of housing and town planning, industrial and craft activities, recreation and agriculture, as well as due regard to the need to maintain natural landscapes intact in the interests of a harmonious relationship between man and nature.
In the medium term, the expansion of the communications system will be curbed, if not halted, by the shortage of land available for constantly spreading transport facilities.
It would therefore be preferable to give priority to modernising, and increasing the capacity of existing networks, particularly railway systems, before planning new ones, and to accord systematic priority to transport systems having the least impact on the environment and consuming the least amount of land.
In this connection, it would be advisable to reconsider the relevance and great economic potential of waterways, which generally consume the least amount of energy and therefore involve the least degree of pollution.
There is also the fact that waterways are "natural" routes which already form part of the European landscape, with a few exceptions. Their use as traffic routes, particularly for conveying heavy goods over long distances (trans-European routes), should be made the subject of an active policy by European governments and specialist European organisations such as the ECMT or the UN Economic Commission for Europe.
For the same reasons of space saving and in order to minimise further demands on land, high priority should be given to the enhancement of existing railway lines, possibly by improving their routes and technical facilities with a view to increasing the speed and capacity of trains.
Where new railway lines prove essential, the choice of new priorities regarding the mode of transport should be accompanied by priority treatment in terms of funding, and public investment should reflect a clear preference for waterways or railways rather than road systems.
The often repeated wish for all heavy traffic to be transferred from the roads to the railways will for a long time yet be frustrated by the physical inability of the railway system to cope with such a load. Attention should therefore be concentrated on combined transport systems (road-rail-water-air).
An ecologically and environmentally sound transport policy should also make use of taxation and tariff-fixing. The cost of the infrastructure and of its deterioration, as well as the damage caused to the environment, should increasingly become criteria for such a tax-based policy.
Some countries have already taken the first steps in this direction, for instance by penalising polluting goods vehicles or modulating the road tax on vehicles according to their consumption of petrol or diesel oil rather than their power or cubic capacity.
Policies for the reduction of pollution should also make much greater financial provision for research into "clean" vehicles. After consulting experts, legislatures might set deadlines forthwith and thus encourage studies of new technologies. Tax incentives for "ecological" vehicles (less polluting, less energy-consuming and quieter) could considerably accelerate progress towards the "green" truck or vehicle. Stronger measures should also be taken to ensure wider use of lead-free petrol.
As regards urban transport, cities are doomed to asphyxia unless draconian measures are taken, for instance the complete closure of certain streets or districts to traffic or the reservation of certain traffic lanes for public transport (buses, trams, taxis). Another intermediate solution would be to allow only electric cars to be used in certain parts of cities.
In all these matters, European co-operation and co-ordination will be required.
Reference must be made in this respect to the Pan-European Conference on Transport organised by the European Parliament and the Commission of the European Communities in Prague, from 29 to 31 October 1991.
In its final declaration the Conference declares itself "persuaded that an efficient, safe and environmentally friendly transport system will contribute to a better quality of life in Europe". The Conference defined one of the objectives of a European policy as follows : "Movements of vehicles and as a result pollution and congestion of highly frequented traffic links should be reduced"... in particular by developing intermodal and combined transport.
Governments are therefore earnestly requested to concert their efforts in vitalising and strengthening the powers, as well as the resources, of their prime co-ordinating body, viz the European Conference of Ministers of Transport, which is undoubtedly destined to become the political and technical instrument for a decisive pan-European transport policy.
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Reporting committee : Committee on Economic Affairs and Development
Committee for opinion : Committee on the Environment, Regional Planning and Local Authorities
Reference to committee : Doc. 6295, Reference No. 1698 of 22 November 1990 and Doc. 6523, Reference No. 1761 of 25 November 1991
Opinion : Approved by the committee on 16 January 1992