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10 January 1992
Doc. 6539
1403-19/12/91-1-E
Report
on European transport problems
(in reply to the 36th (1989) and 37th (1990) Annual Reports of
the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT))
(Rapporteur: Mr MIVILLE, Switzerland, Socialist)
The Problem:
Europe's transportation system, especially its roads, is on the verge of saturation, signifying a waste of time, money and energy, and causing considerable environmental damage. Furthermore, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe urgently need assistance in order to build up their transport infrastructure, in itself a prerequisite for economic growth and integration with Western Europe.
Proposed action:
Policies should aim to shift traffic from roads to railways (including combined road/rail transport), inland waterways and maritime transport, taking environmental considerations into full account. The role of the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT) should be strengthened to ensure all-encompassing and pan-European solutions in the transport sector. Co-operation with Central and Eastern Europe should be stepped up.
I. DRAFT RESOLUTION
1. The Assembly has taken note of the 36th and 37th annual reports of the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (Doc. 6295 and Doc. 6523 covering 1989 and 1990 respectively), the report by its Committee on Economic Affairs and Development (Doc. 6539) and the opinion presented by its Committee on the Environment, Regional Planning and Local Authorities (Doc. ....).
2. The completion of the European Community's internal market, the recently concluded agreement on a European Economic Area among Community and EFTA countries, and the political reform process in Central and Eastern Europe will together contribute to a rapid increase in European trade and, hence, to additional strains on the continent's already saturated transport systems, especially its roads.
3. Investments in the transport sector have not in recent years kept up with the explosive increase in traffic volume, especially on roads, and the transport infrastructure of Central and Eastern Europe necessitates urgent improvements if economic progress is to be ensured.
4. The environmental problems caused by transport, in particular road vehicles, pose increasingly strict limits on continued expansion and call for the introduction of more environmentally-friendly lorries and cars; a reorientation from road traffic to rail or combined (road/rail) transport; greater consideration of the congestion and pollution caused by air traffic; and, possibly, in the longer term, a decentralisation of production in order to reduce the distance to consumers.
5. The Assembly welcomes the conclusion, in October 1991, of an agreement regarding Alpine transit between the European Community on the one hand, and Austria and Switzerland on the other, and considers that it is an important step toward realising the goals mentioned in paragraph 4 above, especially in its measures to protect the environment and to favour rail and combined transport;
6. It also welcomes the opening, expected in 1992, of the Rhine-Main-Danube inland waterway, which will facilitate East-West trade and which, if enlarged to connect Europe's remaining waterways, could considerably relieve pressure on roads and rails.
7. The Assembly, in conclusion, calls on the member states of the ECMT and of the Council of Europe:
i. to pursue vigorously the decisions taken or planned by the Ministerial Council of the ECMT in order to improve Europe's transport structure - and in particular its intention to intensify
co-ordination of activities among member states and with other European countries;
ii. to realise as rapidly as possible the objectives set out in the Prague Declaration, adopted at the European Community's Pan-European Transport Conference held in that city in October 1991, and notably those of a concerted European transport policy and increased assistance to Central and Eastern Europe for a modernisation of its transport infrastructure;
iii. more particularly, to continue to expand relations between ECMT members and countries in Central and Eastern Europe, and to enhance assistance to them for building up their transport systems;
iv. to achieve a tangible improvement of Europe's transport infrastructure through an internationally co-ordinated investment programme, and, in so doing, to give priority to railways over roads;
v. to pay special attention to the potential contribution by "piggy-back" transport (lorries on trains) and "combined" (rail-road and possibly maritime) transport - the latter presupposing, inter alia, an international harmonisation of container standards;
vi. to support the ECMT in its effort to increase road safety;
vii. to reduce the waste of resources caused by so-called "empty returns" by lorries, notably by establishing internationally connected, computerised information systems and by increasing the possibility for lorries to take on freight abroad (cabotage);
viii. to ensure that a situation does not arise in which increased competition in the road transport sector leads to a relaxation in safety standards, such as unsafe vehicles or vehicles carrying dangerous goods, or excessive working hours of drivers, and instead to pursue it efforts to conclude a revised, ECMT-wide European agreement concerning the work of crews engaged in international road transport;
ix. to promote a high-speed train network as an alternative to road transport, provided that environmental standards are met;
x. to encourage, in the spirit of the Assembly's Resolution 964 (1991) on European air transport policies, closer co-operation between the ECMT and the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC), since Europe's overall transport problems, including related environmental consequences, can only be satisfactorily resolved if approached in an overall manner;
xi. to avoid having any division of Europe arise in the transport sector as a result of the European Community's plan to complete its internal market by 1993, and for this purpose strengthen the role of the ECMT;
xii. in general, to reconcile any future increase in European transport with the need to protect the environment, in itself a condition for human survival.
II. EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
by Mr MIVILLE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
I. INTRODUCTION 5
II. CURRENT TRAFFIC PROBLEMS IN EUROPE 7
III. INSUFFICIENT INFRASTRUCTURE ESPECIALLY IN
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE 8
IV. THE ENVIRONMENT 9
V. RAILWAYS: A CALL FOR ACTION 10
VI. THE ALPINE TRANSIT ISSUE 11
a. European Community-Switzerland-Austria
agreement on Alpine transit, 21 October 1991 11
b. Some data about the growth in Alpine transit 12
c. What does Switzerland do? 12
d. What does Austria do? 13
VII. GREATER CO-ORDINATION IN EUROPE! 13
a. General 13
b. Road transport 14
c. The Pan-Europe Conference on Transport, 14
Prague, 29-31 October 1991
APPENDIX 1 : The aims and membership of the ECMT 16
APPENDIX 2 : The Prague Declaration 17
I. INTRODUCTION
1. The present report on current problems in European transport is based on the 1989 and 1990 annual reports of the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT).* The Rapporteur is particularly grateful to Mr Jan Terlouw, Secretary General of the ECMT, whom he had the opportunity to visit at ECMT headquarters in Paris in early 1991, and who also came before the Committee in October 1991 for a very interesting exchange of views.
2. The most important developments in the last two years are doubtless the opening up of Central and Eastern Europe and the preparations for a completed internal market within the European Community as from 1993. These developments will contribute to a further increase in trade and, hence, transport. Most experts agree that the introduction in Central and Eastern Europe of a market-oriented economy, as well as the continued integration in Western Europe, will lead, at least in the short and medium-term, to increased road traffic. In a free market road transport - being at least at present more readily adaptable to changes and already equipped with a modern infrastructure - will stand a greater chance of being increasingly used than railways.
3. As a consequence, the strain on the environment will continue to grow, at least until such time as we can introduce "clean trucks". However, as the construction of new transport infrastructure meets with increasing resistance - and even the logic of providing constantly increasing mobility is called into question - it is reasonable to expect more and more "capacity bottlenecks" in the future. The greatest challenge for any future transport policy will thus be how to keep the negative consequences of transport within limits, without therefore jeopardising economic growth, in particular in Central and Eastern Europe.
4. It is to be welcomed that the ECMT is engaged in a process of deepening its contacts with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Hungary, Poland and the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic have recently become members of the organisation, whereas the Soviet Union has joined Morocco as an observer. The inclusion of Central and Eastern Europe is of great importance, for the problems of European transport cannot be solved only among the countries of the European Community or of those of EFTA. They require cooperation amongst all European nations. This holds in particular for the gigantic challenge of integrating Western, Central and Eastern Europe into one European transport network. The Ministers of Transport of ECMT member states have met repeatedly in the course of the last two years precisely to examine this issue. A seminar on East-West transport questions was held on 6 and 7 December 1990.
5. The results of the negotiations within the ECMT held on 22 and 23 May 1991 in Antalya, Turkey, under the chairmanship of Mr C. Tunçer, Minister of Transport and Communications of Turkey, were indicative of these efforts. The talks dealt with the admission of new member states; the main transport routes within an integrated Europe; the weight and volume of trucks; the definition of a so-called "green" truck; combined rail/road transport; infrastructure investments; road safety (also for the elderly); special measures in favour of handicapped people and traffic information on radio.
* The aims and membership of the ECMT are set out in Appendix 1 to this report.
6. Figure 1 below shows the discrepancy between traffic volume and investments, while Figure 2 indicates the main transport routes in Europe.
Figure 1: Evolution of ground transport in ECMT countries from 1975 to 1989, as regards (a) investment; (b) traffic volume (SOURCE: ECMT)
II. CURRENT TRAFFIC PROBLEMS IN EUROPE
7. Those travelling by car in Europe all too frequently end up in traffic jams. Road traffic in ECMT member countries increased by 75% between 1970 and 1987. The increase only in the last two years equalled the total transport capacity of railways. It is expected that by the year 2000 the traffic volume will have increased by another 30-50%. Growth in the transport sector has for years virtually concerned road transport alone, not railways. Thus, the road network of Germany, probably the largest and densest in Europe, has reached saturation.
8. At a time when 80% of transportation in the ECMT area (excluding air and maritime transport) is by road and only 20% by rail, it is only natural that the voices in favour of increasing rail, inland waterway and maritime traffic should become louder, all the more so since the environment would benefit from such a change. It is important to recall, however, that railways in Europe are managed nationally. Someone wanting to ship goods from, say, Finland to Italy has to "reserve" transport with several railway companies along this route, and has to adapt to the most different conditions, costing time and extra administration. Railway investments are expensive, take time to implement and often meet with resistance, above all when new lines are to cross inhabited or cultivated areas. This could be seen for instance during the building of the Channel-Tunnel between France and England, especially as regards access roads at either side. Inland waterway traffic and maritime transport are also preferable from the environmental point of view, and could do a lot to take pressure off roads and rails.
9. It is noteworthy in this context that 1992 is also expected to see the creation of the Rhine-Main-Danube inland waterway, through the completion of a 170 kilometre, 52-lock canal across Bavaria in Southern Germany connecting the Main and the Danube. This gigantic enterprise, almost on a level with the Panama Canal linking the Pacific to the Atlantic, will open up a waterway from Rotterdam to Ismail, Moldavia, on the Black Sea. It shows not only the competitiveness and future potential of water transport as an alternative to other modes of transport, but also the determination and foresight of the countries participating in the project, especially in view of the economic reforms under way in Central and Eastern Europe. It is of course a pity that France has not seen fit to build a canal to connect the Rhine and the Saône-Rhone rivers (about 170 km), by which a Mediterranean link would have been added to the Rhine-Main-Danube system. Connecting the Eastern and Northern parts of the Seine to that system would add further advantages.
10. Transport by truck, by contrast, is at present cheaper, faster and connects the place of departure with that of arrival without un- and reloading. It is also cheaper because the "external" or "social" costs are in the main not paid by the road users, but by society as a whole in the form, for instance, of road repair and environmental restoration. As has been pointed out in the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development, cost comparisons between different modes of transport should also take into account the casualties and injuries they cause. That would of course further increase the real cost of road traffic.
11. It is noteworthy that approximately 30% of lorries on Europe's roads run empty. One may take ham from Belgium to Parma and return unloaded. Another may take the "processed" ham from Parma to be sold in Belgium, and likewise return empty. We all know the story about potatoes harvested in one country, peeled in another, turned into "pommes frites" in a third and sold in the fourth. In Switzerland, 21% of trucks transporting within the country are empty, and in transport between Switzerland and abroad the figure is 52%. Loaded trucks on average transport 7.2 tons. By contrast, the share of empty hauls in combined (road/railway) transport is only 11%, and the average load 21.4 tons. Internationally connected, computer-run centres can remedy this situation - informing about empty space, even to competitors. And lorries should have greater possibilities of taking on freight abroad, both for transport back home and for that to countries along the way (so-called cabotage). A new price policy is necessary, one which encourages users of road transport to use available space efficiently.
12. The Committee also pointed to another effect of increased competition in road transport, namely the deteriorating safety of lorries and long working hours of drivers. Of late, reports abound of drivers falling asleep at the wheel, brakes which do not function etc. The ECMT is to be commended on its pioneer work to try to reach Europe-wide agreements in this area, in particular its efforts to promote, together with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN-ECE), a revised European Agreement concerning the Work of Crews of Vehicles Engaged in International Road Transport (AETR). Such an accord is necessary to ensure that Europe does not have two sets of rules, one for the European Community and one for the rest of Europe.
III. INSUFFICIENT INFRASTRUCTURE, ESPECIALLY IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN
EUROPE
13. In 1987 the ECMT Ministerial Council adopted a report on the development of investment in transport infrastructure. The report indicated that from 1975 to 1984 the traffic volume increased by 25%, while real investment sank by a fourth. Since 1985 the trend is different, but the investment growth rate (1% per year) is still less than the increase in traffic (4.2% per year). In addition, the largest share (71%) of investments are still in roads. Fortunately, however, growth in railway investment has for a number of years begun to pick up, but still 10-15 years are needed from start to finish, requiring considerable political determination and foresight.
14. Most experts agree that not only the economic changes in Eastern Europe, but the realisation of the European Community's internal market in Western Europe, will lead to additional growth in transport, above all by roads. As a consequence we have to be prepared for continued saturation of capacity.
15. The ECMT in this situation considers it necessary to arrive at a better definition of infrastructure priorities and a better understanding of the required capacity expansion. Before a new road is built, planners should examine whether another means of transport cannot do the job better. Furthermore, the Transport Ministers call for better use of existing transport systems through computerised traffic flow management. In other words, if traffic flows are better coordinated, many bottlenecks can be avoided.
16. The protection of our environment will, unfortunately, force us to consider something hitherto unthinkable, namely ways of limiting our own mobility. Higher taxes could be one efficient tool toward this end.
17. As the Secretary General of the ECMT told our Committee, the need for better infrastructure is particularly acute in Central and Eastern Europe. Roads are often in extremely poor condition, petrol stations and other service facilities are scarce, and even the railways, the favoured means of the transport during the Communist era, are inadequate for any increase in transport volume. And yet improvements in all these areas are necessary if East-West trade is to grow and economies develop. A sizeable portion of the assistance from Western to Central and Eastern Europe should therefore concern transport infrastructure.
IV. THE ENVIRONMENT
18. The transport policy of the future will have to strike a balance between increased mobility on the one hand, and the need to reduce the strains on the environment caused by transport on the other.
19. The environment is in fact one of the top priorities of the ECMT's Work Programme. For instance, the Ministerial Council in November 1990 organised a hearing of those responsible for the automobile and petroleum industries. The Conference reached the following conclusions:
- The automobile industry is called upon to introduce silent and clean vehicles as soon as possible. In order to speed up - or even enforce - this development, more and more countries declare themselves prepared to enact stricter emission and noise standards, and ensure more vigorously that they are being respected. Similarly, fiscal measures are advocated which will encourage the use of cleaner vehicles and fuels;
- Transport policies should aim to encourage environmentally- friendly means of transportation. This implies new investment policies emphasising railways and combined transport, as well as new legislation in the fiscal and other fields;
- The "real cost" principle should apply as widely as possible. Harmonisation of fuel taxes, as foreseen in the European Community, is only a first step;
20. A working party is entrusted with trying to give body to these guidelines, and to make proposals to the ECMT Ministerial Council. An intensified cooperation with industry is also foreseen for the coming years.
21. The decisions of ECMT Ministers aim to ensure that the consequences of transport for the health of human beings and nature are minimised, thus ensuring the survival of both. It is not just a matter of air, but also noise, the image of our cities and villages, even our private lives. It is not just a matter of having stricter car emission norms, but also to ensure a smoother traffic flow, for too many stops and ensuing accelerations also pollute the air. Environmentally-friendly traffic systems and investments should be preferred to those which may be cheaper but which do not fulfil this requirement, above all when they do not include social costs. The above concerns were also the subject of the recent international conference on the world's climate in Geneva, which set the goal of reducing emissions causing a warming of the atmosphere and the earth, above all CO2. The draft report on OECD activities presented by our colleague Mr Dees (Doc. 6473 prov.) highlights the difficulty of this task. However, the transport sector has a clear responsibility also in this field, in particular for reducing fossil fuel consumption.
V. RAILWAYS: A CALL FOR ACTION
22. The completion of the European Community's internal market will enhance competition among different types of transport. In order to reallocate transport as far as possible from road to rail the competitive situation of railways will have to be considerably improved. On this score the ECMT report on the consequences of "1992" for railways recommends the following measures:
- The relationship between individual governments and national railway companies must be clarified. In particular, a clear distinction will have to be made between commercial functions and those carried out for society as a whole;
- The debt problem of railway companies must be speedily resolved. It is also recommended that one distinguish between infrastructure costs and operational expenditure, and that debts be taken over by the state;
- The report further recommends that the high speed train network be enlarged. At the beginning of the 1980s a new era began for European railways. The French SNCF opened its first high speed train line, the TGV (train à grande vitesse), between Paris and Lyon, causing the bulk of travel between these two cities to be transferred from the air to the rails. Meanwhile, TGVs of the second generation run between Paris and Bordeaux at 300 kms per hour. The German railways, Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB), took the step into the high-speed age in 1991 by means of ICE-trains on partially new tracks between Hamburg and Munich. The Italian railway (FS) have for some time used their "Direttissima" and associated trains (Pendolino) between Milan and Rome. Plans are under way for journeys at considerably higher speeds with new high speed trains called ETR 500;
- European norms have to be introduced in infrastructure, including trains and wagons. Furthermore, it makes little sense to build new railway infrastructure if in a few years it will not be able to handle modern cargo units. This holds especially for combined transport, where new types of containers and reloading machinery are being introduced all the time. Due to the multitude of container types, railways permanently have to invest in new rolling stock. The ECMT intends to conclude a resolution on new norms for combined transports;
- European railways must to a certain extent become more European and less national. The European Community's proposal to accept foreign trains on national networks creates considerable problems for most ECMT member states. Other solutions, such as the creation of international companies responsible for certain types of transport (for instance Intercontainer) could also be envisaged. If railways are to be in a position to assume a larger share of transport, then new investments to enhance their capacity should be the first priority in all ECMT countries, for otherwise Europe will be threatened by a widespread collapse in its road network. The long-term future of railways must be examined and planned sufficiently ahead. The ECMT will now prepare a report on railways in the year 2040.
VI. THE ALPINE TRANSIT ISSUE
a. European Community-Switzerland-Austria agreement on Alpine
transit, 21 October 1991
23. Few other issues in the transport sector have been as hotly debated in the last few years as the future of trans-Alpine transport. Long and hard negotiations were held in 1990 and 1991 between the European Community on the one hand, and Austria and Switzerland on the other - with the former insisting on unrestricted transit for an unlimited number of lorries on their way across the Alps to Italy or the Balkans, and the latter two countries requesting strong restrictions to save their fragile Alpine environment and suffering populations. The agreement finally reached on 21 October 1991 - the same date that the EC-EFTA European Economic Area was concluded - essentially stipulates the following:
- considerable investment in railways and combined transport in order to accommodate the expected increases in transport;
- a series of "flexible restrictions" as concerns the passage by Community lorries through Austria;
- permission for certain Community lorries of over 28 tons to pass through Switzerland, but only under special conditions (such as if they carry perishable goods and cannot be accommodated by combined transport);
- a substantial reduction in the pollution caused by lorries in transit, through various control measures (a system of "eco-points" in Austria, and strict pollution norms for lorries of over 28 tons in Switzerland);
- finally, simplified formalities at border points will speed up the transit.
(The treaty will be valid for 12 years and offers a well-defined framework for relations and crisis management between these three parties.)
24. As far as Switzerland is concerned, the following improvements will be made to infrastructure:
- The capacity to handle combined transport will be increased on the Gothard and Lötschberg tunnels from 330,000 transports in 1991 to 710,000 in 1994;
- The construction of a new tunnel under the Gothard (50 kms; expected construction time 12-15 years);
- The boring of a new tunnel under the Lötschberg (30 kms) with a construction time of between 7 and 10 years.
25. Austria will considerably modernise its road network, build a tunnel permitting lorries to avoid Innsbruck and another under the Brenner Pass.
26. Finally, the European Community will build or improve road/rail terminals in Germany, Northern Italy and Rotterdam. Furthermore, it will improve several tunnels in Northern Italy.
27. The agreement is in fact a recognition of the Austrian and Swiss standpoints, namely that these two countries will only be able to come to grips with future increases in traffic volume if environmentally-friendly means of transport are given a larger role. In the narrow valleys of the Alps, roads cannot support any further considerable increase in the traffic volume - either from a capacity or from an environmental viewpoint.
b. Some data about the growth in Alpine transit
28. The value of the above-mentioned agreement becomes clearer when one considers that the trans-Alpine transport of goods through Austria, Switzerland and France increased by 45% between 1981 and 1989, and today amounts to about 73 million tons. The growth rate of 74% for goods transported by road is almost four times that for railways (plus 19%). In the last decade the share of Switzerland of total trans-Alpine goods transport has been in the 30-33% range. In contrast to Austria and France, however, over 80% of the goods transport through Switzerland continues to be by rail. On the other hand, transit by road has increased more than threefold since 1980. Parallel to this, the combined (rail/road) transport has also grown quickly and today accounts for 32% of the total transit volume (other rail traffic 58%; road traffic 10%). The transport of food products accounts for clearly less than 10% in all types of transport. In road transport, metals, machinery and processed goods dominate with 72% of the total, whereas raw materials (iron, scrap iron, minerals, semi-processed goods etc) account for 64% of rail transport. In combined transport it is above all chemical products (including fertilisers) which predominate, with 44% of all transports.
c. What does Switzerland do?
29. In order to realise its part of the agreement with the EC, and its commitments to the rest of Europe, Switzerland will undertake considerable investments:
- Expansion of the Lötschberg line to double tracks. This investment, to be complete by the beginning of 1992, will increase the transport capacity of the tunnel four times (at present about 3 million tons).
- Short-term capacity increase of present infrastructure. By 1994-1995, this will lead to a threefold increase in combined transport capacity through Switzerland. In other words, 470 thousand lorries or lorry loads could pass through the Alps by railway annually (at present only 160 thousand). In addition to this "rolling highway"/"piggy back" effort, the Intercontainer traffic through Switzerland has increased considerably in the last few years. By 1994 the Intercontainer traffic will have an additional capacity of 240 thousand loads. (This will require the acquisition of 85 new locomotives and 1,000 wagons).
- The national road network will be completed in the 1990s at a cost of 15-20 thousand million SFs, in particular to absorb expected future growth in East-West transit.
- The biggest investments concern two new tunnels at Gothard and Lötschberg. The Lötschberg tunnel is planned for completion by the year 2000, that of Gothard by 2010.
30. Through the above measures an annual 3 to 4 million truckloads can be transported through the Alps by rail instead of road. In total, the "Alpine Transit" project aims at a capacity of 60 million tons annually, that is, more than half of the quantity of goods foreseen for the year 2010 (120 million tons).
31. The majority of these projects are indeed built by Switzerland for Europe, and the country is prepared to pay for them itself, including contributions toward the building of reloading facilities abroad!
32. Your Rapporteur in this connection wishes to recall the very supportive attitude taken by the Parliamentary Assembly as regards the Swiss and Austrian standpoints. Thus, Resolution 938 (1990) of the Parliamentary Assembly expressed understanding for the "actions taken by <Switzerland and Austria> to protect the fragile Alpine environment and spare hard tried populations". The Resolution also invited the member states of the European Community and of the Council of Europe to "assist Alpine countries in their efforts to make trans-Alpine transport as largely railbound as possible, through 'combined transport' or 'piggy back' (lorries on trains)". No doubt this strong stand, which also was expressed in a special meeting between our Committee and the Transport and Tourism Committee of the European Parliament, contributed to the satisfactory arrangement now found.
d. What does Austria do?
33. In a speech delivered by Federal Chancellor F. Vranitzky on 14 January 1991 before the Austrian Parliament, it became evident that Austria for its part does not intend to introduce the 28-ton limit valid in Switzerland, presumably because it is feared that such a measure would only result in more vehicles transporting a given quantity of goods, or lead to greater strain on the environment and reduced road safety. Rather, it would seem that Austrian measures aim to:
- increase investment in railways and combined transport;
- introduce less noisy and "cleaner" lorries and;
- limit yearly emissions of pollution and noise (inter alia by awarding "environmental bonus points" to traffic participants who meet the new requirements).
34. These measures also aim at avoiding the additional traffic that can be expected if vehicles try to circumvent Switzerland, following that country's introduction of its own measures, and at reducing damage caused by transit transport by the year 2000.
VII. GREATER COORDINATION IN EUROPE!
a. General
35. Europe is a comparatively small but densely populated continent. It comprises many, often small countries with a separate history, traditions and national interests. The need for greater cooperation among them has long been recognised and is taking many forms, for instance the "1992" project of the European Community and the agreement on a European Economic Area concluded in October 1991 between the "Twelve" and the countries of EFTA. This holds also for the transport sector, if we are to master the problems of economic growth and increasing trade volumes. In the past rising production was held as the only measure of economic development. Today - and even more tomorrow - the efficiency of transport and its capacity to preserve the environment will be considered more important than an increase in material well-being as such. For this to come about, however, countries will have to plan their transport infrastructure together, and coordinate their investment in roads, railways, maritime transport and airports within a European framework.
36. At present, hardly any country takes the needs of its neighbours into account when, for instance, expanding its railway network. Road transport suffers from delays, queues and bureaucracy at borders. Protectionist regulations still hinder fair international competition. The ECMT, like our Parliamentary Assembly, will have to study these questions more closely in the coming decade. It is regrettable to note, in this context, that maritime and air transport can only be dealt with marginally by the ECMT. The call in Resolution 938 (1990) of the Parliamentary Assembly for "considering an extension of the ECMT's competence to include also maritime transport".
b. Road transport
37. Three years ago the ECMT was asked to establish the basis for a multilateral agreement on road transport acceptable to all member states. In reality, the task was to examine which EC directives could be widened so as to include all members of the organisation.
38. A first step was the adoption of a resolution by the ECMT Ministerial Council regarding access to professions responsible for the transport of goods and persons. Reliability, professional expertise and sufficient financial capacity are required. However, these criteria are rather subjective, and every member country is free to choose the means by which the basic principles are to be met.
39. The Ministers also drew certain conclusions from their discussions about the possibility of avoiding empty truck loads. In particular the following measures were recommended:
- greater use of computers on the part of authorities and private companies overseeing transport coordination;
- in general, greater cooperation among transport companies (partnerships);
- an increase in bilateral and multilateral agreements among countries as regards road transport contingents;
- the elimination of various legal obstacles.
c. The Pan-European Conference on Transport, Prague,
29-31 October 1991
40. The European Community (in this case the European Parliament and the Commission jointly) held a major conference in Prague from 29 to 31 October 1991, at which a 5-member delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly also participated (representing the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development, the Committee on the Environment, Regional Planning and Local Authorities, and the Committee on Science and Technology). The Conference - gathering some 470 participants representing governments, international organisations and specialised bodies - adopted the so-called Prague Declaration at the end of its deliberations, in the course of which the viewpoints of the Parliamentary Assembly were also voiced. The Declaration, which is set out in Appendix 2 to this report, essentially calls for a concerted European transport policy in all fields - air, road, rail and water - also in regard to Central and Eastern Europe, where particular aid efforts are required. All in all it was a highly valuable exercise, and the commitments made for the future by all European governments and international organisations represented were such that Prague can rightly be seen as a departure toward a new era of European transport integration. Coming as it did "on top of" the conclusion, on 21 October 1991, of the EC-Austria-Switzerland agreement on the alpine transit issue and the EC-EFTA "European Economic Area", it bodes well for a future which will see the greatest challenges in the transport sector since Hannibal made it across the Alps with his elephants.
APPENDIX 1
The aims and membership of the ECMT
The European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT), an intergovernmental organisation established by a Protocol signed in Brussels on 17th October 1953, constitutes a forum for the Ministers of Transport of 22 European countries. The work of the Council of Ministers is prepared by a Committee of Deputies.
The purposes of the Conference are:
a) to take whatever measures may be necessary to achieve, at general or regional level, the most efficient use and rational development of European inland transport of international importance;
b) to co-ordinate and promote the activities of international organisations concerned with European inland transport, taking into account the work of supranational authorities in this field.
Major problems which are being studied by the ECMT include: transport policy; the financial situation and organisation of railways and road transport; problems concerning inland waterway transport and combined transport; development of European trunk lines of communication; problems concerning urban transport; the prevention of road accidents and co-ordination, at European level, of road traffic rules and road signs and signals; trends and long-term traffic forecasts.
The member countries of the ECMT are : Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Yugoslavia (associated countries: Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, United States; observer countries: Morocco and the Soviet Union).
APPENDIX 2
The Prague Declaration
PRAGUE DECLARATION ON ALL EUROPEAN TRANSPORT POLICY
31 OCTOBER 1991
The representatives of the Governments and Parliaments of European States, of the European Committees and of intergovernmental organisations having responsibilities in the field of transport and non-governmental organisations, meeting at the European Transport Conference in Prague on 29-31 October 1991
- Having regard to the Paris "Charter for a new Europe" signed on 21 November 1990 at the summit meeting of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe,
- Anxious to give formal and concrete expression to this new desire for a European-wide co-operation based on mutual respect in order to create the conditions for reducing tension and imbalance within the international community,
- Having regard to the existing international agreements and resolutions in the field of transport and to the work which is at present being carried out by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the European Conference of Ministers of Transport, the Central Commission for Rhine navigation, the Danube Commission, the European Civil Aviation Organisation, the International Maritime Organisation, the United Nations Conference of Trade and Development and other international organisations having responsibilities in the field of transport,
- Having regard to the important role played by the European Communities in the process of European integration i.a. through the achievement of the internal market in the field of transport;
- Considering developments in other European States and aware of the necessity to make compatible developments in different parts of Europe so as to avoid divergencies and contradictions;
- Having regard to the discussion at the European Council meetings on 25 and 26 June 1990 in Dublin and 14 and 15 December 1990 in Rome on the Memorandum from the Netherlands Government entitled "A Transport Policy for Europe",
- Having regard to the European inland waterway and transport declaration which was adopted the 11 September 1991 in Budapest;
- Having regard to resolutions of the European Parliament and the respective reports of its Committee on Transport and Tourism on the common transport policy in view of the achievement of the internal market, on the development of transport infrastructure within the European Community, on the relations between the european Community and the EFTA countries as well as with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe in the area of transport policy, on transport and environment and on combined transport.
- Persuaded that an efficient, safe and environmentally friendly transport system will contribute to a better quality of life in Europe;
- Aware of the need for the reconstruction of infrastructures and restructuring of the transport economy in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe as well as of the need of measures aiming at a better integration of European countries developing from an economic point of view, and that it is desirable for the European Communities and all the countries concerned to participate in co-ordinated or joint actions,
- Concerned about dramatic developments which could lead to serious crisis and possible collapse of Europe's transport systems, as are the unacceptable number of victims of traffic accidents, the growing negative effects of traffic on the environment and the health of people, increasing congestion, decreasing infrastructure investment in various parts of Europe and some traffic scenarios which forecast a traffic growth of 40% in general and of 1000% on East-West axes for the next 10 years.
- Resolved to promote transport co-operation in the long term in Europe within the framework of a market economy, for the development of which the European Communities, through completion of the internal transport market and its role in international relations will be of considerable importance,
- Eager to establish a climate of confidence so as to be able to capitalise on the existing co-operation and to establish closer, mutually beneficial commercial and transport relations,
D E C L A R E S
that
A.
an all-European Transport Policy
should pursue the following
OBJECTIVES
1. An efficient all-European transport system should be developed pursuant to the principles of market economy and fair competition by means of an integrated European transport concept which is well adapted to the objectives of social, environmental and energy policies as well as to safety requirements and which is liberated from unnecessary restrictions, like certain load conditions, or certain technical and administrative barriers;
2. An adequate European transport infrastructure network plan which takes into account existing European wide agreements and goes beyond purely national conceptions as well as a timetable for the achievement of the necessary projects should be agreed on the basis of standards that take into account the necessities of economic efficiency, energy savings, safety, protection of the environment and urbanistic interests in view of extending and modernising major transport routes linking the European countries and peripheral regions;
3. Growth in the number of movements of vehicles and pollution and congestion of highly frequented traffic links should be reduced, by introducing and applying strategies for developing intermodal and combined transport using techniques integrating road and rail transport, inland navigation, maritime and air transport and also progressively taking into account external costs;
4. The protection of the environment, the rational use of energy, the safety of transport and the improvement of working conditions should be achieved to the best possible extent by appropriate standards and complementary measures and by the priority development of infrastructures for low-emission transport systems;
5. A free European air transport market and a performant air traffic control system should be achieved and the freedom of international shipping be maintained, with sufficient guarantees for safety, equitable labour conditions and avoidance of pollution;
6. The use of telecommunications and telematics in transport should be promoted.
B.
all European co-operation
in the field of transport
should be put into practice
be MEANS of
1. Co-ordinated urgent measures to be taken by all those concerned in order to improve the traffic situation on the main international axes, in particular by providing facilities for combined transport and high speed rail systems, notably taking into account the needs in Central and Eastern Europe as well as in the peripheral and the mountain regions; the necessary financial means should be rapidly provided also using, within available resources, the techniques of financial engineering available to the Communities, intergovernmental and private financing bodies, amongst which the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development;
2. Continuing discussions of these issues, open to all European countries, organised pragmatically by the European institutions and organisations involved acting closely together within the fields of their competence and without creating new institutions;
3. Assembling and evaluating, at the appropriate (technical) level, of existing policies and measures for organising and influencing transport markets in view of their aptitude
a. to lead to an optimum efficiency of the transport system, for example by stimulating the co-operation of different modes of transport and harmonising technical and administrative rules,
b. to minimise undesirable effects of traffic,
c. to make transport data, forecasts and research findings comparable and to improve their exchange;
exploring also the possibilities for the working out or further development of all European agreements on the conditions for international transport and eased border crossing, and possible elaborating adequate proposals;
4. Assembling and where necessary refining existing knowledge and schemes in the sphere of all European transport infrastructure and further development of existing agreements in this sphere with a view to
a. identifying existing bottlenecks and missing links,
b. indicating the most important major transport routes linking the European countries and regions to be considered for improvement and modernisation,
c. making suggestions for funding implementation of the transport infrastructure plan, establishing the cost of funding the said transport routes;
C.
to ensure effective
FOLLOW UP,
the competent bodies
should take the necessary steps
in order to
1. Forward this declaration to Governments and Parliaments of EEC and EFTA member States, of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and of all other European States, to the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe to be convened in March 1992 in Helsinki, to the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission and the Economic and Social Committee of the European Communities, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the European Conference of Ministers of Transport, the Central Commission for the Rhine navigation, the Danube Commission, the European Civil Aviation Conference, Eurocontrol, the International Civil Aviation Organisation, International Maritime Organisation, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World Bank and all other organisations invited to attend this conference;
2. Assess in due time the achievements of European Transport policy and convene at an appropriate stage, a second all-European Transport Conference with a view to promoting further initiatives for all-European co-operation in transport.
Reporting committee: Committee on Economic Affairs and Development.
Budgetary implications for the Assembly: None
Reference to committee: Doc. 6295, Reference No. 1698 of 22 November 1990 and Doc. 6523, Reference No. 1761 of 25 November 1991.
Draft resolution: Unanimously adopted by the committee on 12 December 1991.
Members of the committee: MM. Valleix (Chairman), Flückiger, Svensson (Vice-Chairmen), Aarts, Aylward, Bjarnason, Mrs Bohlin, Brito, Capanna, Croze, Demiralp, Efraimoglou, Eicher, Ewing (Alternate: Lord Kirkhill), Fabra, Dame Peggy Fenner, MM. Frendo, Gandalovic, Garcia Sanchez, Gasperoni, Gassner, Gemesi, Goerens, Holtz, Jessel, Kempinaire, Kittelmann, Albrecht Konecny, Koritzinsky, Kovacs, Le Grand, Lotz, Mesoraca, Miville, Albrecht Pinto, Rehn, Rokofyllos, Sinesio, Erik Smith, Strimitzer, Mrs von Teichman, Mrs Verspaget.
NB: The names of those members who were present at the meeting are underlined.
Secretaries to the committee: Mr Torbiörn and Ms Ruotanen.