Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-05-16-Speech-2-294"
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"en.20000516.11.2-294"2
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"Mr President, the vast majority of investments that have been made in the EU’s infrastructure have been made at national level. As a result, a lot of things work well within our countries. However, the deficiencies become apparent as soon as it is a question of crossing a border. In spite of the fact that there have been several attempts to solve the problems, partly within the International Railway Union, this is especially the case in the area we are discussing here this evening, namely that of Europe’s railway networks. As long as we have obstacles of this kind, there will also be clear limitations of at least two different kinds. Firstly, there will be a deterioration in the prior conditions of Europe’s being able to compete with other markets where these problems have perhaps already been solved. Secondly, there will be a deterioration in the prior conditions of the railways’ being able to compete with other types of transport. There is no doubt that the railways have been the big losers in recent decades, and remain so.
From a position, thirty years ago, when it had a more than twenty per cent share of the goods transport market in the EU, the railways are now down to having a share of less than ten per cent. At the same time, the market share for passenger transport has almost halved.
It is just not an option to force goods or passengers back onto the railways. The railways will become winners in the market if they become efficient and are given the opportunity to develop by their own efforts. Otherwise, there is an obvious risk that Europe’s railway network, at least where goods transport is concerned, will no longer exist within a few decades. For this reason, it is a step in the right direction when the Commission seeks so-called operational compatibility within the railways sector. The next step is to help extend the EU’s internal market to embrace the countries of Eastern and Central Europe, too.
Common operating systems and businesslike pricing should benefit Europe’s railway networks but, if the railways are to survive in the long-term, at least two additional things are required. Firstly, a diversity of operators is required. Just as there are many haulage contractors on Europe’s roads, there ought also to be many competing railway companies. Secondly, a distinction needs to be drawn between the national operator and whoever owns the track. That is the model we have in Sweden, and I believe in fact that it would be marvellous if similar systems could be introduced in all the EU’s Member States. Otherwise, the confusion between public authority and operator will continue to be an obstacle to the development of Europe’s railway networks.
In general, this means that an awful lot remains to be done even after the decisions which the European Parliament is making in conjunction with the present report. These nonetheless constitute extraordinarily important steps in the right direction."@en1
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