Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on a sustainable future for transport: towards an integrated, technology-led and user friendly system
Date: 2009-12-04
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: air transport, free movement of goods, free movement of persons, inland transport, maritime transport, new technology, rail transport, transport infrastructure, transport network, transport safety








C_2010141EN.01003101.xml










29.5.2010   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 141/31





Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on a sustainable future for transport: towards an integrated, technology-led and user friendly system
2010/C 141/07
THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS






—


underlines that the key to achieving sustainable transport is not to restrict demand for transport services; what matters is not how many passengers or goods are transported, but how they are transported. Unsustainable transport habits can only be broken by means of an appropriate pricing policy in the transport sector, and it is therefore important to find a fair and transparent formula for distributing transport costs between all forms of transport;










—


emphasises that, as part of making the transport system more sustainable, the problem of traffic congestion must be dealt with. It is not enough to increase the capacity of the transport networks, as the environmental impact of larger networks can easily reach unacceptable levels; it is vital therefore to make sustainable transport systems more competitive;










—


notes that it is clearly in the interests of local and regional authorities to support alternatives to road transport, particularly where there are bottlenecks in the system, and especially in sensitive regions and in areas of harsh natural conditions as this leads to serious problems such as noise pollution, exhaust fumes, congestion, delays and the rapid deterioration of roads, thus burdening the local authority concerned with major expenditure to maintain the road network;










—


emphasises that urban, peri-urban and regional transport networks are an important part of the overall transport network and global supply chains, and therefore need to be given a higher priority;










—


demands that the Transport White Paper sends a strong political signal towards the forthcoming EU Budget Review whereby the future EU Transport financial allocations correspond with the EU stated ambitions and vice versa.











Rapporteur


:


Väino Hallikmägi, Member of Pärnu Town Council, Estonia, (EE/ALDE)





Reference document

Commission Communication on a sustainable future for transport: towards an integrated, technology-led and user friendly system
COM(2009) 279 final.
I.   POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS:

Introduction







1.


welcomes the European Commission's Communication on a sustainable future for transport, which represents a first step towards revising EU transport policy for the coming decades;










2.


shares the Commission's view that transport policy must be based on a long-term, sustainable vision for the mobility of people and goods. One of the prerequisites for drawing up a transport policy that fits in with this vision is an accurate assessment of the trends affecting the transport sector;










3.


takes the view that future transport networks must provide good accessibility to all European regions, as one of the essential preconditions for ensuring territorial cohesion within the EU. This has a decisive effect in strengthening social and economic integration and in ensuring sustainable development. Implementation of transport policy requires the Member States to show more political will and more support for sustainable and innovative transport strategies;





Policy Recommendations







4.


considers it necessary for the revised white paper on transport policy to include a much more systematic and thorough analysis of the external factors, development within the transport sector, and the consequences and synergies thereof. The impact of climate change and of the economic changes on the growth of the transport sector, and the factors influencing this, also need to be discussed;










5.


believes that the strategic development document needs to be supplemented by a (comparative) analysis of the socio-economic and environmental impact of the political decisions and proposed measures it contains. Ideally, the results of the investigation will be transposed at the level of the Member States and regions, so that possible differences in the impact of the common transport policy can be assessed. It is important to consider all the conceptual approaches to transport policy that are of relevance to the future of transport;










6.


thinks it is important, when drafting European transport policy, for local and regional authorities in the individual Member States to be given scope to bring their influence to bear in the process of preparing strategic plans and in decision making, in order to provide a regulatory and planning framework enabling initiatives and measures to be implemented in the transport sector; local and regional decision makers can best judge what efforts are needed to resolve transport issues at local and regional level – hence the need for compliance with the subsidiarity principle in any EU or national-level moves to support local and regional authorities;










7.


emphasises that priorities need to be set for the development of transport infrastructure, in relation to the networks and projects. In order to ensure that high-priority infrastructure is developed rapidly, the political and financial support of the central EU institutions and national governments must be guaranteed;










8.


stresses that, as the trans-European transport network is developed, with the previous project-based approach (30 priority axes) being superseded by an approach differentiating between the overall network and the main TEN-T network, steps must be taken to ensure that sufficient attention and support is still given to the EU's outlying regions, border regions and regions with difficult natural conditions, in order to improve transport connections between the heartland of the EU and neighbouring countries. Therefore, in order to ensure internal and external territorial cohesion in Europe, consideration also needs to be given, for example, to differentiating the priority links and chains in European transport policy, including the relevant funding mechanisms. A system needs to be developed that makes it clearer than before how and according to what principles the TEN-T networks are established and, if necessary, modified and extended; the priority TEN-T projects already underway should in any event be completed. Additions and extensions providing links to the network should also be included in the TEN-T main network. At the same time, better coordination of projects between the Member States should be encouraged in order to avoid unsynchronised planning and implementation and to prioritise cross-border segments;










9.


notes that goods transport is of central importance to the functioning of the European economy. At the same time, the European transport system is suffering more and more from traffic congestion, primarily due to an unbalanced mix of transport modes (under current market conditions, road transport has disproportionate competitive advantages), inadequate infrastructure and a lack of interoperability between modes. The Committee of the Regions takes the view that, in order to improve the integration of specific transport infrastructures, a higher priority needs to be placed on coordinating and ensuring consistency of the relevant solutions in the decisions taken in the context of the TEN-T and urban mobility matters and when establishing the priorities for funding from the European Regional Development Fund and the Cohesion Fund;










10.


Wishes to draw attention to the fact that cities form an important and integral part of transport networks, as they are nodes where different modes of transport come together, and it is generally in cities that transport starts and ends. Urban transport, therefore, warrants the same attention as is paid to transport networks;










11.


requests further simplification of the EU funding procedures and believes consistency between national and EU funding programmes is necessary;










12.


demands that the Transport White Paper sends a strong political signal towards the forthcoming EU Budget Review whereby the future EU Transport financial allocations correspond with the EU stated ambitions and vice versa;





Rail, maritime and inland waterway transport







13.


takes the view that the fragmentation of the railway market is a major problem; it is equally necessary to eliminate bottlenecks in existing infrastructure, especially those that occur at cross-border segments or due to natural obstacles. In order to create a functional Europe-wide railway network that provides a high-quality service in terms not only of journey time and reliability but also of capacity, it will be necessary to develop a sustainable and efficient approach, which permits increased transfer of goods traffic from road to rail;










14.


acknowledges that differences in infrastructure standards between the individual Member States, such as the different track gauges and electrical and safety systems further exacerbate the fragmentation of the transport sector. Harmonisation of technical standards and thus investment in infrastructure is needed in order to harmonise technical requirements and equipment. There is also a need to harmonise different national train driver training arrangements as well as safety and freight provisions, and, as in the aviation sector, to introduce a common language for transport management for international traffic, particularly traffic from non EU-countries. The aim is to boost competitiveness vis-à-vis road transport. In congested parts of the network, the conditions are to be met to allow passenger and goods traffic to use shared lines without reciprocal interference, or to allow new tracks to be laid and to enable freight and passenger transport to be separated as far as technically feasible and economically viable;










15.


believes that additional freight transport infrastructure must connect up urban centres, although this must not give rise to additional traffic volumes in urban centres adding to congestion;










16.


believes that, in order to improve the economic links between the outlying regions and the European heartland, it is necessary to develop ports at strategic locations with good multi-modal transport connections. The Committee of the Regions considers it vital to provide multimodal transport connections with the regions where maritime transport plays a key role;










17.


stresses that maritime and inland waterway transport must be developed, as they have a key role to play in combating climate change. Furthermore, programmes such as the existing ‘Motorways of the Sea’ should be substantially increased due to their contribution to both the EU Transport and Territorial Cohesion goals. Similarly, Maritime and inland waterway shipping can help meet the growing demand for passenger and goods transport, but at the same time ongoing efforts are needed to reduce the negative environmental impact of shipping, ports and logistics centres; the CoR therefore regrets that international sea transport is still excluded from the mechanisms of the Kyoto protocol and from the timetable for reducing greenhouse gases. However, in order to avoid, as far as possible, putting the European shipping industry at a competitive disadvantage, the European Union should make it a priority that any binding rules be adopted at international level. In addition, an assessment should be made of the potential effects of introducing differentiated port fees linked to pollution;










18.


is convinced that the development of multimodal transport hubs must be one of the priorities of the common transport policy. At the same time, as goods transport is increasingly shifted to rail, steps must be taken to ensure that the environmental and safety requirements continue to be met and that the negative impact on passenger transport is minimised;





Air transport







19.


takes the view that developments in air transport must take account of, and plan for, technical and spatial solutions to reduce negative environmental effects such as noise and air pollution. It should, however, be borne in mind when including the environmental costs in the price of the flight that the importance of air transport differs between regions and that it also provides good links with the remotest regions of Europe. With regard to the development of airport infrastructure, medium-sized towns and island regions are particularly dependent on EU support in order to be able to guarantee aviation safety and customer satisfaction;










20.


takes the view that fair competition between airports must be secured, by establishing common rules for calculating and determining airport charges;





Transport costs and investments







21.


stresses that investment must be better coordinated. For example, TEN-T funding should continue to foster market-based rail projects and regional aid should be better targeted to environmentally friendly transport modes, in order to enhance the EU territorial cohesion;










22.


notes the important fact that achieving the balanced, sustainable use of the various modes of transport requires the external costs (pollution, accidents, time) to be factored into the transport costs and the ‘user pays’ principle to be applied universally. At the same time, the resources thus obtained must be invested in more environmentally friendly means of transport, thus securing the market share of environmentally friendly means of transport and also maintaining the general efficiency of all means of transport and increasing interoperability. Moreover, the rules underlying such calculations must take account of the extent to which they are financially sustainable for the socio-economic sphere affected. Otherwise, sectors of the economy and businesses that are dependent on transport links will become less competitive both nationally and at European level;










23.


points out that the important and fundamental goal of true-cost pricing must not be called into question. If the majority of investment in transport infrastructure is to be based on the ‘user pays’ principle, there might at times be shifts in the economic and social structure in individual regions. Member States considering the introduction or adaptation of traffic-related charges based on modern true-cost pricing approaches are recommended to assess the economic, environmental and social impact of such a measure. In this way it will be possible, where there is a recognised need, to prepare appropriate medium to long-term flanking measures based on strategic considerations, for example the reorientation of targeted regional economic support;










24.


recalls the CoR opinions on the Green Paper (CdR 236/2007) and Action Plan (CdR 417/2008) on Urban Mobility whose publication by the Commission in September 2009 comes in response to a request made by both the Committee of the Regions and the European Parliament;





Urban transport







25.


notes how important it is to develop urban transport, given that towns and cities are integral parts of transport networks and hubs for the various modes of transport. The biggest challenge in urban transport will be to give priority to public transport by creating the appropriate conditions, thus improving its position with regard to passenger transport, to alter the conditions for urban transport such that as little traffic as possible gets into city centres, to expand the network for pedestrians and cyclists and to increase the proportion of electric vehicles and the use of environmentally friendly forms of transport;










26.


recommends that cities take stronger measures to limit the negative impact of urban transport on the environment and to promote healthy forms of transport; it is important that the EU comply with the subsidiarity principle so that the competent local and regional authorities are duly able to exercise this responsibility;










27.


believes that EU transport policy needs to be designed to promote the development of common local transport systems for city centres, suburbs and surrounding rural areas and in particular to link up rail transport systems – railway systems, local trains and tramways – to a new type of regional rail system;










28.


considers it important to continually share tried and tested practices for the development and use of urban transport in the following areas: park-and-ride, park-and-walk, developing electric means of transport, expanding the network for light vehicles, providing designated lanes for public transport, multimodal terminals on the approaches to cities, developing car-sharing services, using guidance measures (education, public relations) and restrictions (congestion charges, parking fees) to change transport behaviour. The EU should create and develop support mechanisms for cooperative projects aiming to develop solutions jointly and to transfer existing experience;





Technical Development







29.


considers that, when developing multimodal public transport, preference needs to be given to electronic ticketing systems, as they make it possible to accurately calculate the costs of routes and to plan routes according to passenger demand as well as making public transport more convenient for the user. The use of new information technologies must support the development of intermodal intelligent transport systems and the EU should facilitate the expansion of their use;










30.


takes the view that what matters, when it comes to technological development, is supporting the transfer of technology between regions and between the various regional levels. Funding for the development of technical solutions should not focus solely on technologies tailored for big cities; instead, development and financing should be set up in such a way that a significant proportion of the resources are used to develop appropriate and sustainable solutions in small and medium-sized towns and in their surrounding areas;










31.


stresses that, in order to reduce the transport sector's dependence on oil, ways need to be found of allowing differentiated levels of excise duty to be charged on fuels obtained from other raw materials and, if necessary, of dropping below the lower limit agreed within the EU;










32.


points out that harmonising and strengthening monitoring and inspection mechanisms are of central importance in promoting traffic safety. The harmonisation of safety requirements must take account of local natural circumstances, road types, cultural traditions, etc. The integration of traffic accident databases will require at least partial standardisation of the codes used in the national databases;










33.


takes the view that, with regard to traffic monitoring, the right conditions need to be created for the development and introduction of general common solutions based on information technology and the Global Positioning System. The EU's primary role, alongside supporting research and development, is to lay down common standards that allow the Member States to monitor cross-border traffic flows seamlessly;





Transport Education







34.


stresses that educational establishments have a key role to play in instilling safe, environmentally friendly traffic behaviour. The conditions must be created to allow traffic education to be included in the curricula of educational establishments in all countries. In terms of education, the EU could encourage practical studies that could be used as a basis to draw up common educational recommendations in the form of study materials and modules for nurseries and schools;





Links with neighbouring countries, cross-border activities







35.


believes it to be particularly important to improve transport links with neighbouring countries. This will require the EU's central institutions and the governments of Member States and non-EU countries to invest jointly in border facilities (terminals, roads, bridges) in order to make it possible for both goods and passenger transport to cross borders quickly and in an environmentally friendly manner. It is equally important to make progress in standardising border and customs clearance procedures and in strengthening cooperation in this field;










36.


considers it important that transport policy should contribute to the integration of the outermost regions in their specific geographical contexts, supporting the launch of environmentally friendly sea and air transport services linking them with the countries in their region while also promoting intermodality;










37.


believes that the EU's Member States and institutions should aim, within the international organisations and in negotiations with non-EU countries on transport-related issues, to secure fair competition conditions across all transport modes for businesses in the Member States with regard to fuel taxes, port charges, airport charges, railway charges, various environmental requirements, and so on. These issues are particularly important for the economies of those states on the outer borders of the EU. Differences in competition conditions must also be taken into account when factoring external costs into transport costs;





Conclusions and recommendations







38.


underlines that freedom of movement is a fundamental right for EU citizens and a guiding principle of the European Union. Equally, the principle of the free movement of goods is one of the cornerstones of the common market. The key to achieving sustainable transport is not to restrict demand for transport services;










39.


stresses that what matters is not how many passengers or goods are transported, but how they are transported. Unsustainable transport habits can only be broken by means of an appropriate pricing policy in the transport sector, and it is therefore important to find a fair and transparent formula for distributing transport costs between all forms of transport;










40.


emphasises that, as part of making the transport system more sustainable, the problem of traffic congestion must be dealt with. The Member States should undertake to invest in environmentally-friendly infrastructure to relieve bottlenecks. Equally, it is not enough to increase the capacity of the transport networks, as the environmental impact of larger networks can easily reach unacceptable levels; it is vital therefore to make sustainable transport systems more competitive;










41.


notes that it is clearly in the interests of local and regional authorities to support alternatives to road transport, particularly where there are bottlenecks in the system, and especially in sensitive regions and in areas of harsh natural conditions as this leads to serious problems such as noise pollution, exhaust fumes, congestion, delays and the rapid deterioration of roads, thus burdening the local authority concerned with major expenditure to maintain the road network;










42.


takes the view that shipping and rail transport must be made more competitive. In order to create a functional railway network that provides a high-quality service in terms not only of journey time and reliability but also of capacity, it will be necessary to reduce the fragmentation of the European railway market. At the same time, a common maritime space must be created and investment in ports and their transport links must be prioritised;










43.


emphasises that the transport systems in cities and regions has a decisive influence on regional development. Urban, peri-urban and regional transport networks are an important part of the overall transport network and global supply chains, and therefore need to be given a higher priority;










44.


believes that transport networks of the future must provide good access to all regions of Europe. At the same time, local and regional authorities and other interested parties at local and regional level must be consulted on all initiatives that could affect the future of the European transport network, depending on what role the authority or interested party plays in implementing the transport measures in question and in providing the regulatory and planning framework needed to put the initiatives into practice.





Brussels, 4 December 2009.


The President of the Committee of the Regions

Luc VAN DEN BRANDE