Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-05-16-Speech-2-053"
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"en.20060516.5.2-053"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I should also like to begin by congratulating Mr Rack on his excellent report. I believe that his objective and that of most Members who contributed to the debate in committee was to address the need, above all, to rebalance the distribution of means of transport in a sustainable manner and to develop intermodality, addressing the congestion problem with efficiency.
There is no other way to combat the anticipated increase in road freight transport, which is forecast to reach over 60% by 2013 in the EU alone. That being said, the excessive transport of freight on our roads is simply the most visible problem. Its costs in economic, security and environmental terms are huge. It is therefore essential to take consistent measures to offset these negative effects. Reducing road freight transport and transforming intermodality into a competitive and economically viable reality is the right way forward if we are to reverse the current trend.
Against this backdrop, and fine-tuning the previous programme, Marco Polo II contains a broader and more complete range of necessary and welcome incentives and measures, which will be applicable not only on EU territory but also in neighbouring regions, and this is to be welcomed.
It will make it possible to boost investment in rail transport, inland navigation and in the use of motorways of the sea more effectively, making use of European maritime islands and the outermost regions as thoroughfares between those routes – the motorways and inland navigation. It is also vital to promote the development of technical innovations that could bring competitive benefits for alternative modes of transport, especially as regards trailing loads. The objective of reducing international road transport, especially that of freight, implies pushing to the fore projects located in sensitive areas, such as urban areas in which traffic is mainly concentrated.
Lastly, Mr President, I shall turn to the issue of funding. This programme, as we know, has been the subject of delicate negotiations in the context of the financial perspective, the result of which is an overall sum of EUR 400 million, much less than that proposed by the Commission. This is regrettable as it is indicative of less strategic ambition. As it is not possible to obtain greater resources, as the Commission rightly proposed, it will be the use and distribution of this sum of money that will dictate the success of the programme.
I must therefore commend Mr Rack, the rapporteur, on the proposed reduction of the eligibility ceiling for some products. This will make this programme more accessible for SMEs, which make up a significant portion of the business world and which employ a significant proportion of the European workforce.
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the objectives contained in this report and the solutions that it puts forward will certainly have a decisive impact on the future of Europe’s freight transport, in terms of its fluidity and its sustainability. It is therefore vital that it obtains Parliament’s support."@en1
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