Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-09-24-Speech-3-257"
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".
Madam President, I have to start by informing you that I am afraid my colleague, Mr Lunardi, the minister responsible for this matter, has been detained in Rome by important government commitments and will not, therefore, be able to take part in this debate. I am therefore going to deliver a brief statement on some of the considerations relating to this major subject instead.
The goal of promoting sustainable development through endeavours to restore a balance between means of transport which favours those which respect the environment will, therefore, be an essential point of reference for the Council when, in the coming months, it examines the Commission’s proposal on the revision of the TEN guidelines and the priority projects it contains.
From this point of view, the Council believes that the conclusions of the High-Level Group chaired by former Commissioner, Mr Van Miert, follow the strategic approach of sustainable, well-balanced development with due regard for environmental protection and, at the same time, endeavours to strengthen the unity of Europe through the free movement of persons and goods, and with due regard for the need to reduce natural barriers and to maintain a balance between east-west and north-south routes. It considers that investment in infrastructure together with appropriate public and private partnership initiatives could be a highly effective instrument supporting economic growth. From this point of view, the situation of certain countries which continue to be affected by the problem of passes and whose production systems continue to suffer considerable economic harm as a result, is typical. That is why we must continue to urge the Commission to resolve these issues. The Council therefore calls upon the Commission to present its proposal for revising the TENs without delay, so that a broad political debate can be held and a common position adopted.
Firstly, the Council confirms its commitment to the sustainable development strategy established by the 2001 Gothenburg European Council. In this regard, our goal is to ensure the sustainability of transport, deal with growing traffic volumes and levels of congestion, noise and pollution and promote the use of environmentally friendly means of transport. We are also aiming at the full internationalisation of social and environmental costs. As stressed by the European Council, one essential way of achieving this objective is to develop trans-European transport networks, giving priority, where appropriate, to investment in infrastructure for public transport and railways, internal waterways, short sea shipping, intermodal operations and effective interconnection, in other words to encourage the development of means of transport which are less harmful to the environment.
The existing guidelines on the development of trans-European transport networks already identify, as one of the objectives of the network, guaranteeing the sustainable mobility of persons and goods while, at the same time, contributing to the achievement of Community objectives, particularly in the field of the environment and competition. In this regard, the incorporation of environmental concerns at the planning and development stage of projects has been fixed as a priority objective for the development of the network.
More generally, Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 places the Member States under obligation to give due consideration to environmental protection during the development and implementation of projects, carrying out environmental impact assessments. In addition, an environmental assessment has to be carried out on the plans and programmes drawn up in preparation for these projects, particularly those funded by the Community, under Directive 2001/42/EC of 27 June 2001 on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment.
Genuine free movement of goods and passengers depends on a perfectly integrated transport network, which links the islands and outer or remote regions with central regions. By ensuring a more effective use of transport, a modern, interconnected and interoperable network brings an increase in trade and in the competitiveness of the European economy as a whole. Until the necessary infrastructure has been built and until there is a proper legislative framework for the effective management of the network, the concepts of internal market and territorial cohesion of the Union will be incomplete.
The inclusion of a section dedicated to the trans-European networks policy in the Maastricht Treaty gave the European Community the powers and instruments it needed to develop them. Under Article 154 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, the Community is to contribute to the creation and development of trans-European networks in the field of transport, telecommunications and energy infrastructure. This will contribute to both the creation of an internal market and economic and social cohesion, although, to this end, we need, first and foremost, to develop the interconnection and interoperability of national networks. Over the past decade, we have witnessed not only a disturbing increase in traffic congestion in urban areas but also a new phenomenon of congestion on the major arteries of the trans-European network.
According to the Commission, the external costs of congestion caused by road traffic account, alone, for 0.5% of the European Union’s GDP. This figure is even more alarming if we consider that the demand for transport is going to continue to increase considerably in the future. If we do not adopt measures between now and 2010 to rationalise the use and maximise the benefits of each means of transport, the volume of heavy road traffic alone in the 15-Member State Union could increase by 50% on the 1998 level. This trend is damaging to both the Member States and the countries applying to join the Community, in that we witnessed both the gradual fall in the market share of the railways and, at the same time, a rise of almost 20% in road transport between 1990 and 1998.
In the new context of sustainable development, the June 2001 Gothenburg Council called for emphasis, in future, on the development of rail, sea and river transport. In May 2004, 10 countries are to join the European Union, while Romania and Bulgaria are to join in 2007. In the light of this, there is a need for new infrastructure in the corridors serving other countries to link them effectively to the trans-European network of the present 15 Member States. The need also arises to improve links between the countries themselves. A new network of infrastructure therefore needs to be built linking east to west and north to south.
It should also be remembered that the Council conclusions on the second review of the Council strategy on the integration of environmental requirements and sustainable development into transport policy, adopted by the Ministers for Transport in December 2002, stressed the importance of analysing new political proposals from the point of view of their environmental impact and of the Community’s ability to reduce harm to the environment caused by the transport sector. To back this up, I would point out that, during the same meeting of December last year, the Council approved the Marco Polo programme, which is intended to fund improvements to the environmental aspects of the goods transport system. The programme provides for the funding of initiatives to transfer goods transport from road to other means of transport such as rail, internal waterways or short sea shipping."@en1
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