Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-09-25-Speech-2-269"
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"Mr President, earlier on I presented these proposals on urban mobility to the College of Commissioners and I am pleased to be able to give a first taste of them now to the European Parliament.
links between urban and suburban transport. We need to promote high quality public transport, even a charter of passengers’ rights.
Fifthly, and finally, we need safer towns and cities. I should point out that two thirds of road accidents take place in urban areas. One third of deaths – one death in three – takes place in an urban area. If we want to save lives, we need to take measures to make behaviour, vehicles and infrastructure safer. We need to consider the need to promote the ecological aspect of driving when training the drivers of the future. In general, we need to make sure that there is more observance of the highway code in Europe.
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, this Green Paper will allow us to launch a broad consultation with governments, business and citizens, up to 15 March 2008. The document will include 25 clearly posed and open questions.
In the autumn of 2008, having participated in the debate, I intend to submit an action plan proposing concrete measures, presenting a clear vision of the tasks and responsibilities, taking into account the principle of subsidiary. I will also draw up a timetable for action.
Throughout this consultation process, the European Parliament and your Committee on Transport and Tourism must, of course, play a major role. Generally, I think we are all well aware, through this wide-ranging debate on urban mobility, that it really involves the everyday life of our citizens, and that if European citizenship means anything, then we must move towards safer urban mobility that is more consistent with environmental standards.
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, thank you in advance for all your valuable contributions. I now invite your comments on this text. The presentation has been rather brief but, I believe, sufficiently explicit. I should explain that the document will be made available to all MEPs. It has just, as it were, been adopted by the College of Commissioners. I have taken all the necessary measures to ensure that you might be aware of it as soon as possible.
The United Nations is preparing for the International Conference on Climate Change, which will take place in Bali in December. Yesterday, there was a preparatory meeting of Heads of State or Government in New York, during which the European Union unveiled its highly ambitious proposal: to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Urban transport is one of the areas where efforts must be made. Pollution from private and public urban passenger and freight transport represents 40% of CO
and 70% of other pollutants that come from our roads.
The Green Paper that I am presenting before you today is the result of an initial intensive consultation that began in January and continued until June: consulting institutions, city representatives, stakeholders and citizens. What we took from this consultation was a strong willingness from stakeholders to put the issue of urban mobility on the European agenda. Local authorities and towns and cities in Europe should not be left to manage this challenging situation on their own.
It is not my intention to impose central solutions, ill-suited to local circumstances. Rather, the Union role, in partnership with all parties, is to identify obstacles to urban mobility and find ways of removing them. The European Union must raise awareness of this issue and lead the way if necessary.
In what terms should we rethink urban mobility? Personally I believe there to be five fundamental objectives. First of all, Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, free-flowing towns and cities. Throughout Europe, increasing traffic in town and city centres leads to permanent congestion. The economic consequences of urban traffic congestion are estimated at 1% of the EU’s gross domestic product. Experience shows that there is no single solution to reduce congestion. Alternative to the private car, such as collective transport, walking and cycling, must be made safer and more attractive. Car-pooling and car-sharing and the introduction of a more efficient freight transport system might help make towns and cities more free-flowing.
Secondly, greener towns and cities through improved energy efficiency and the use of alternative fuels. Traffic restrictions in town and city centres, the creation of green zones and urban charging may form part of the solution, but public transport infrastructure must be developed and improved.
Towns and cities should also be intelligent. Towns and cities in Europe are currently facing a permanent increase in demand for freight and passenger transport. Intelligent transport systems and traffic control systems, and satellite navigation offer a wealth of opportunities to improve mobility, provided we take advantage of them. Delivery rationalisation in towns and cities could be improved using satellite navigation information. This is currently GPS, but in future will be Galileo.
Fourthly, towns and cities must be more accessible. Accessible, first of all, to disabled people, to people with reduced mobility, to families with young children. Everyone must be able to access our towns and cities. It is vital that urban planning is efficient and carefully thought out. Of course, people living in the suburbs also need access, which means having effective"@en1
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