Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-09-04-Speech-2-194"
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I particularly want to thank Mrs Ayala Sender for her report on freight transport logistics. I should also say to Mrs Ayala Sender that I remember our visit to Zaragoza, where we had the opportunity to see the benefits of all the work currently being done in Europe on developing logistics.
I am pleased that the Committee on Transport and Tourism has attached real importance to the Action Plan for Logistics that I shall be presenting in October. The plan should propose concrete measures with clear objectives and a specific timetable. It will be one of a set of initiatives including a freight priority rail network, a port policy and two Commission documents on the maritime space without borders and motorways of the sea. The adoption of those measures will be an important signal and a way for us to identify alternative modes of transport that are efficient, integrated and environmentally friendly and, of course, meet the needs of users. The Action Plan will be coupled with measures to make rail, sea and inland waterways transport more attractive.
The Commission does not claim to be able to solve the freight transport problems facing Europe on its own, but, on that point too, the report by Mrs Ayala Sender sends a message to the Member States to encourage them to develop their own logistics initiatives, especially by investing in infrastructures, in close collaboration with the European Union. We shall only succeed if the Member States and the European Union act together.
Logistics are a major problem. By working on them, we shall achieve the modal shift that we want to see in the fight against global warming. In my view, the way to make European mobility sustainable, that is to say compatible with our environmental requirements for the benefit of the economy and of European citizens, is through good logistics and good transport infrastructures.
May I thank Mrs Ayala Sender wholeheartedly for her contribution to these advances in logistics, which are key to the development of sustainable transport.
The report gives us high hopes of the approach adopted by the Commission in its communication on logistics in 2006. This resolution is an important step in the joint efforts by Parliament and the Commission to improve the operation of freight transport in Europe.
I find it very encouraging, because in a few weeks' time I shall be presenting the Action Plan for Logistics.
Mrs Ayala Sender has eloquently set out the issues at stake: the economic dimension and the efficiency of logistics, which are a key element in the competitiveness of our economies. Logistics facilitate the flow of goods and help make our products competitive by giving them access to more distant markets. Thus logistics have become an important and dynamic industry that creates jobs and Europe has the most successful logistics companies in this field. Furthermore, logistics improve environmental efficiency. As Mrs Ayala Sender has said, they help to minimise transport congestion. Freight transport and logistics also have to meet the challenges of reducing the number of road accidents and pollutant and noise emissions.
The work to be done on logistics does not involve regulating this rapidly growing sector, but ensuring that it has a sustainable future by allowing it to mobilise the efficiency potential that still exists in the transport business. In fact, that is why we have developed the idea of comodality, the effective combination of different modes of transport. In that respect we can use logistics to reconcile the economic and environmental objectives.
However, there are still some obstacles to the development of logistics. First, the lack of harmonisation and common rules stands in the way of new solutions, particularly the development of information and communication technology. We could plan freight transport better, we could improve the operation and safety of transport systems, we should improve the monitoring of goods and ensure that customers have the necessary information. The logistics chain must work as a coherent whole, even if several partners and several modes of transport are involved.
Secondly, we must lay more emphasis on quality in freight transport, with service quality indicators and the sharing of good practice. That means improving the training of practitioners and recognising their skills.
Thirdly, we have to address the problem of bottlenecks, obstacles to freight transport. We have consulted everyone working in the logistics field and received five hundred replies, which will help us in our preparation for the Action Plan for Logistics.
The report by Mrs Ayala Sender also, rightly, highlights the simplification of administrative procedures, infrastructure investment needs and the problems posed by logistics in urban areas. We need concrete answers to all those questions."@en1
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