Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-02-11-Speech-2-260"
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"en.20030211.11.2-260"2
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"Mr President, I should first like to thank the rapporteur for his work and also for his efforts to reconcile diverse positions, about which we have heard today.
I think that the White Paper gives European transport policy a great opportunity to draw the right conclusions from the ruthless analysis that it contains. This must not be to do nothing; we cannot hide our heads in the sand, as this might well make a transport policy meltdown inevitable. The analysis is harsh and cruel and, Mrs Peijs, we have to take it on board: every day there are 7 500 km of traffic jams on Europe's roads; between 1990 and 1998, CO2 emissions increased by 15%; the amount of freight transported by rail has declined in recent years from 21% to 8.5% and between 1990 and 1996 alone, ten football fields' worth of new motorways were constructed every day.
We simply cannot go on like this and a sea change in transport policy is the only answer. That is why I say that the analysis in the White Paper no longer has anything to do with genuine mobility, which we want, or with a more environmentally friendly transport policy. That is why we need a radical rethink, above all on freight transport, where we need a move to rail and waterways. This is therefore about a shift to environmentally friendly modes of transport and about making sustainability our basis and our yardstick. Economic growth and transport growth must not be taken as givens either, because as transport politicians we actually also need to consider whether it is also possible to cut some traffic out altogether. In my view the White Paper tends to neglect this aspect.
I believe that the Commission has drawn the right conclusions from this analysis and that it has initiated many good measures. We have made substantial progress in rail policy and we have also made progress on maritime safety, not least – unfortunately – thanks to the
and the
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One further very complicated area is still missing and that is internalising external costs. Put into plain language, this means that not all of those who travel on the roads, by rail or on water pay the same price for what they actually use. That is why I hope that a serious proposal will be forthcoming from the Commission very soon – that we will then discuss in detail – so that we can guarantee that all modes of transport bear a fair cost burden, based on true and transparent costs.
My final point, Commissioner, is one that you addressed in your speech earlier. Enlargement is nearly upon us and I think that we need to do all we can to avoid repeating the same mistakes or again adopting the same unfortunate transport policies that we have seen implemented in the Member States over the last 30 or 40 years. We must not repeat these mistakes with the new Member States. That is why I believe that you have a very considerable responsibility to avoid these mistakes with the new Member States and also to work with them to put in place, at an early date, a good and fair European transport policy."@en1
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