Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-10-25-Speech-3-389"
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"en.20061025.28.3-389"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, a moment ago I was saying to the rapporteur, Mrs Wortmann-Kool, that, so far tonight, all of the speakers in this debate have been women. Then they will say that transport is only of interest to men. Perhaps NAIADES inspires us, and perhaps the Commissioner should take note and appoint two women coordinators for NAIADES. Let us return to serious issues though, and the report by Mrs Wortmann-Kool.
In principle, we formally support the Integrated European Action Programme for Inland Waterways, known as ‘NAIADES’, and the idea of giving it a greater political profile. It is true, and we have noted this, that the use of inland waterways varies a lot throughout Europe, from 0.1%, in countries like the United Kingdom, Italy, and even a little less in my country, to 40% in the Netherlands, which has a greater number of these waterways. Unfortunately, in some cases canals and rivers have been abandoned.
Admirable attempts at recovery are being made, however. In my country, due to its mountainous nature, canals and rivers are used more for carrying irrigation and drinking water than for transport, but we nevertheless are aware of and support the initiatives relating to the navigable stretch of the Guadalquivir from Seville to the sea, which is also hoping to be included in the trans-European network. Furthermore, I am also delighted by the current efforts of my city, Zaragoza, which will host Expo 2008 and which, within that context, wishes — and this has been proposed within the context of the objective of promoting water and sustainable development — to restore the navigability of the River Ebro. We are therefore pleased to be able to include ourselves in this European project.
We are talking about sustainable development when we refer to inland waterways’ potential to help reduce the impact of CO2 emissions by up to 75% compared to roads and also — and this is why it is so important — to promote this inland waterways network at European level and to support new formulae so that this sector can be more competitive and efficient.
Mrs Wortmann-Kool has done an excellent job as rapporteur, and we are eagerly awaiting the Commission’s coming proposals to enhance the economic and competitive impact of this new sector. We particularly support the strengthening of infrastructures. That is to say, for thousands of kilometres of inland waterways and hundreds of inland ports, with lock infrastructures, etc., which have already been named, to finally become a connection network that strengthens regional and territorial cohesion. To this end, some of the amendments that we presented in committee and which have been included propose greater inclusion of this sector in the trans-European network programmes. We have also proposed supporting river information services, which we believe will very much increase the efficiency and safety of the sector.
Furthermore, we believe that it is an excellent idea to obtain greater economic support for the sector’s potential for container traffic, although there are still great deficiencies here. In the report on logistics, which I hope to be able to present to this House, I will clearly also include Mrs Wortmann-Kool’s proposals on improving logistical aspects and innovation and technological progress for reducing operational costs."@en1
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