Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-11-13-Speech-2-166"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20011113.8.2-166"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to start by expressing my thanks to the Commission for showing that they have the courage to present, in the past year, a proposal for a regulation on the thorny topic of local public transport. For we are not going to get away from the fact, as we see at this very moment in the case of an airline, that even in local public transport, profitability is making an entrance. We cannot therefore have the situation in which – I am involved in local politics myself – year after year, questions about the losses sustained by local public transport are simply shrugged off without further ado and with the taxpayer being left to foot the bill, without the money actually being able to be invested in making local public transport more attractive.
We have to ask ourselves: why was local public transport created? It was not created in order to employ as many bus drivers as possible; on the contrary, it was created so that attractive facilities can be offered in rural and more densely populated areas to ensure the mobility of all. That is the task that is incumbent on local public transport. I think that Mr Grosch's point that we need a level playing field in a European single market is decisive. We cannot have the situation in which we introduce freedom of choice that makes it possible for certain districts, because they are under financial pressure or because they want to invest their taxpayers' money properly, to invite tenders, and then these are submitted by firms from protected monopolies. It is therefore so important that this Amendment be voted down tomorrow, so that there may be a level playing field.
The Commission has laid down very tight deadlines for the duration of licences and for transitional regulations. I think we, as a committee, reached a fair compromise between the various interested parties. I would, in fact, like us to make a start on introducing time limits and licensing systems throughout Europe. Commissioner, we will be able to talk about this at future stages, in order to make it even more competition-friendly.
However, let us take this first step together. This is for the good of the people of Europe."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples