The European Parliament,

- having regard to the motion for a resolution by Mrs Braun-Moser and others on the more rapid development of, and increased funding for the Brenner base-level tunnel,

- having regard to its resolutions of 16 November 1988 on the Community's relations with certain third countries in the transport sector and of

13 December 1990 on the development of the common transport policy in the run-up to the completion of the internal market,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Transport and Tourism

A. whereas the completion of the internal market in the transport sector will require the reorganization of external relations in this field, and in particular a progressive transition from bilateral to multilateral agreements; whereas Community policy must seek cooperation, early consultation on and coordination of measures being contemplated, be based on reciprocity and non-discrimination, and take into account the individual economic and geographical circumstances of its neighbours,

B. whereas the political effort to achieve the widest possible European economic area must have its counterpart in the transport sector with the aim of creating the conditions for an integrated pan-European transport system providing a high degree of environmentally compatible mobility and taking the specific problems of certain regions into account; whereas the most comprehensive agreements possible should be sought between the Community and the members of EFTA, each granting the other equal rights in transport markets while harmonizing the ground rules on the standards of the partner with the higher level of environmental protection,

C. whereas, taking into account the cooperation between the Scandinavian countries on combined transport, common strategies should be developed to deal with the growing flow of goods traffic, giving priority to combined forms of transport (road/rail and container/ship); whereas the vigorous efforts by the Scandinavian countries to complete the Scanlink project must be matched within the Community, in particular by establishing high-capacity rail links between the new infrastructure works and the cities and industrial centres of Central and North West Europe; whereas this should be underpinned by a coordinated policy to develop ferry links taking into account the potential of small and medium sized seaports,

D. whereas after the political changes in Central and Eastern Europe the Community can expect a certain easing of North-South transit traffic from Sweden and Finland if the TEM and TER projects are pushed ahead with; if goods and people can again move freely throughout the Baltic area, a Baltic coast main line railway would become a possibility,

E. whereas, in respect of Austria and Switzerland, any further transport cooperation is blocked by the unresolved problem of transit traffic, although since 1989 the Commission has managed to lower the tension to some extent by reasonable and pragmatic behaviour, and whereas, as the topographical and environmental characteristics of the Alpine region would call for special arrangements and a special effort in respect of transport even if it were part of the Community, there is no logical reason for the European Community still further to delay the conclusion of long-term transit agreements confined to this region on the basis of the results achieved by the negotiations so far,

F. whereas after the political changes in Central and Eastern Europe1 the development of traffic on East/West routes calls for special attention, especially with reference to Austria, and whereas with the completion of the Main-Danube canal in the near future the relationship between Rhine and Danube shipping needs early clarification in the changed political circumstances,

G. whereas the willingness of the EFTA countries to cooperate with the Community on sea and air transport policy on the basis of Community law now in force should be accepted and agreements along those lines concluded with all the EFTA countries,

H. whereas the conditions for an integrated and intelligent transport system for the next century can be established only by coordinated measures at pan-European level; whereas the first step, the European transport conference being organized jointly by Parliament and the Commission, will have to be followed up by working meetings, and finally by decisions,

1. Calls on the Commission to submit a communication to the Council and Parliament listing those transport policy areas in which, after the completion of the internal market, it would be desirable for the Community to conduct external relations, and in which a clear and coherent total policy for external relations has been formulated, and to draw up a practical timetable for replacing the existing bilateral agreements, especially with the EFTA countries, by Community agreements which can be implemented at legal and institutional level;

2. Calls on the Commission to hold regular high-level meetings with representatives of the EFTA countries to discuss transport policy, in order to exchange advance information on measures they intend to take, to discuss their implications and if possible to agree on joint courses of action, whilst bearing in mind supplementary measures; urges the Commission to be guided by the above considerations;

3. Calls on the Commission and Council finally to conclude the current negotiations on transit with Austria and Switzerland, with the Community accepting a long-term commitment in respect of the Alpine region on the basis of reciprocity and the results achieved in the negotiations so far; advocates an agreement on road transit based on ecological considerations, under which noise levels and emissions of pollutants along the Alpine transit routes will be markedly reduced in the years ahead, with a limited degree of flexibility being accepted for the numbers of journeys based on the environmental standards of Swiss transport policy and respecting the highly sensitive ecosystems of the Alpine region; suggests that the development of a further North-South transit route through Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Yugoslavia be examined;

4. Calls for all further negotiations between the Community and EFTA countries on transport matters, including those relating to the endeavour to establish a European economic area, to be based on the standards laid down in the negotiating partner with the higher level of environmental protection and, in respect of goods transport in particular, to give priority to combined transport;

5. Calls on the Council to authorize the Commission, in the light of these principles, to initiate further negotiations on land transport with the EFTA countries, perhaps independently of the negotiations on the establishment of the European Economic Area, with the aim of opening up the respective transport markets to the greatest extent possible on the basis of reciprocity and adaptation to harmonized Community rules in the technical, social and fiscal fields;

6. Calls on the Community of European Railways to start negotiations with the railways of the Scandinavian countries on the operation of combined transport, in particular via joint marketing and the production of competitive through rates for international combined transport links;

7. Welcomes the conclusion of the civil aviation negotiations with Norway and Sweden and calls on the Council to authorize the Commission to negotiate with the other EFTA members on the same basis;

8. Advocates talks with the Scandinavian shipping nations on the scope for a joint approach to shipping matters, especially in respect of safety and positive action;

9. Calls on the Commission and Council to recognize the importance to the Community of a number of major transport infrastructure projects in which EFTA countries are involved and to seek better coordination of those plans, however, without excluding the European Parliament from the decision-making process; confirms the general European importance of the following projects for key links between the Community and EFTA, and for them to be given the same favourable terms, where private sector finance is involved, as if they were purely Community projects:

(a) The Scanlink project

. ¥resund rail and motorway bridge between Sweden and Denmark

. Improvement of lines from Oslo, Stockholm and Gothenburg

. Rail and motorway bridge over the Great Belt

. Improved rail links (especially high-speed electrification) from Jutland to Hanover, and Hamburg-Bremen-Oldenburg-Groningen- Amsterdam-Rotterdam

. Improved Puttgarden-Hamburg-Hanover rail link

. Permanent rail link across the Fehmarn Belt (R¢dybyhavn-Puttgarden)

. Development of North-South ferry links between Norway, Sweden, Finland and the North Sea and Baltic ports in Community Member States and Poland

. Improved port infrastructure and road, rail and inland waterway communications to their hinterlands, e.g. from Rostock, Sassnitz and Swinoujscie towards Berlin and Prague

(b) East-West main lines

. Improvement and expansion of the Hamburg-Rostock-Szceczin-Gdansk-Riga-Tallinn-Leningrad-Helsinki rail link (Baltic main line)

. High-speed line Berlin-Prague-Vienna-Budapest

(c) Base-level Alpine tunnels

. Gotthard base-level tunnel, improved access from Milan and Basel

. Lötschberg/Simplon tunnel

. Brenner base-level tunnel, improved access from Verona and Munich

(d) Intensified efforts to improve the development of combined transport operations across the Alps over the next 15 years;

10. Urges the governments of the Community and EFTA states participating in these projects to take the decisions to go ahead with them and to complete them with the utmost dispatch.

11. Calls for the establishment of pan-European standards to ensure the compatibility of intelligent traffic guidance and safety systems which will shortly be passing from the research and development to the trial stage;

12. Calls for the coordinated representation of the interests of all European states in international standards organizations with the aim of maintaining the compatibility of the dimensions of standard transport containers with existing combined transport infrastructures;

13. Calls on the Commission to submit for debate an integrated transport plan for the year 2000, the parameters of which shall be such that, while the user has the greatest possible freedom of choice, economically rational transport chains are the general outcome, for both goods and passengers;

14. Calls on those taking part in the European transport conference to ensure that the transport policy debate carries on at pan-European level, and, in the short term, that cooperation between the various international bodies and the national decision-makers be agreed upon in the shape of informal working parties; in the longer term favours the institutionalization of that cooperation, with the CSCE follow-up process perhaps providing a model;

15. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission and to the governments and parliaments of the member states of EFTA.