RESOLUTION A3-0115/92
Resolution on Horizon 2000: European Transport
The European Parliament,
-having regard to the motion for a resolution by Mr Amaral on transport in Europe up to and beyond the year 2000 (B3-1055/91),
-having regard to its resolution of 13 December 1990 OJ No. C 19, 28.1.1991, p. 241 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 Transport 2000 Plus Group on Transport in a Fast Changing Europe,
-having regard to the Commission's Green Paper on the urban environment (COM(90)0218)OJ No. C 33, 8.2.1991, p. 4,
-having regard to the report of the Committee on Transport and Tourism
(A3-0115/91),
A.whereas, as the completion of the internal market in the transport sector grows closer, the European Community's transport policy needs to extend its horizons to meet the requirements of a European transport system at the beginning of the next millennium,
B.whereas, in response to the main problems identified in the impending crisis of transport congestion and the now unacceptable harmful effects of transport, the 2000 Plus Group proposes that a masterplan for the European transport system after the year 2000 should be drawn up; whereas the Commission has appropriately opened the debate to the European public with the publication of the study by the 2000 Plus Group,
C.whereas the European dimension, which must be taken into account in future transport policy, extends beyond the Community to the entire European continent - and beyond free access to and from all regions to the establishment of comparable living and working conditions for the citizens of Europe; whereas the joint declaration adopted by the European transport conference in Prague on 31 October 1991 confirms the positive nature of this approach, taking due account of the need to restore balance and fully integrate peripheral areas,
D.whereas, as the European transport policy is established, all means of transport must be developed as a coherent whole and, especially in the field of combined transport, there must be greater cooperation, utilizing the strong points of the individual modes of transport,
E.whereas the masterplan for the future European transport system must therefore be based on the principles of the market economy and fair competition and
(a)attach priority to linking the peripheral regions,
(b)make it possible to open Europe up to the East through the dynamic construction of transport links,
(c)take into account the interdependence of international traffic flows,
(d)meet the requirements of environmental protection and therefore stress more environmentally-friendly and energy-saving forms of transport such as railways, inland shipping and coastal shipping,
(e)protect the transport sector from its vulnerability to crises,
(f)facilitate the coordinated establishment of intelligent transport systems,
(g)ensure minimum public safety standards are met and adhered to,
1.Welcomes the Commission's initiative, with the publication of the report of the 2000 Plus Group, to launch a debate among the European public with the aim of devising a global transport policy, as the European Parliament has advocated for years;
2.Shares the conclusion reached by the 2000 Plus Group that it is high time to adopt measures to prevent a total breakdown of the transport system and to limit environmental damage;
3.Underlines the following objectives in the implementation of Community transport policy from the year 2000, which are also put forward in the report of the 2000 Plus Group:
(a)completion of the deregulation and harmonization of all modes of transport by 1 January 1993 with the establishment of high standards of environmental protection and of social protection and cohesion,
(b)financing of the transport system by user taxes and charges,
(c)gradual increases of variable transport costs (consumer taxes on energy sources) with the simultaneous reduction of the fixed costs (motor vehicle tax) and levying of road tolls, particularly where they are differentiated according to the environmental pollution caused by vehicles, traffic congestion on selected routes, time of day, etc. and thereby contribute to the rational management of transport volumes,
(d)charging of all costs (including external factors such as environment and social costs) to the relevant modes of transport,
(e)reviewing, in accordance with the criteria of economy, productivity and efficiency, public subsidies in the transport sector, taking into account the political priority given to the development of intermodal transport and public passenger transport; gradual transformation of subsidies into payments on the basis of public service contracts,
(f)definition of the aims of transport infrastructure policy, in particular filling the gaps in international transport routes, including those outside the Community,
(g)EC powers to designate major European routes (intercity corridors and transport hubs) and set the aforementioned standards governing maintenance, safety, and protection from noise and other pollution,
(h)financing of a European Infrastructure Fund by means of a consumption tax on energy sources (a minimum of ECU 0.01 per unit of energy),
(i)infrastructural and traffic control measures banning traffic from city centres, linked to an efficient public transport sector, adequate both in terms of quality and quantity,
(j)coordination of transport policy with planning policy, resulting in a new disciplinary and operational integration which takes account of links between the various zones (residential, industrial, educational and service locations, etc.) in order to provide the whole population with the best living, environmental, working, leisure and transport conditions,
(k)increased research and technological development, in particular in combined transport technology, maritime technology and transport information systems,
(l)extensions of links with the international organizations in the transport sector: recognition of external competences in line with the subsidiarity principle,
(m)suitable priority, in the process of opening up the Community transport system to Central and Eastern Europe, to the railways and to intermodal transport,
(n)better integration in intermodal transport of sea transport, in particular cabotage and the use of ports as terminals, since the geographical shape of the European peninsula allows for development of the carriage of goods by sea as an alternative to transport by road, in particular in the Mediterranean basin and in the North and Baltic Seas,
(o)establishment of a community ports policy which defines a framework of supplementary functions for the European ports network, in which each port may develop, in a climate of fair competition, according to its specializations and potential, including links outside Europe. Such a policy is even more necessary in peripheral regions, where ports represent the main transport infrastructure;
4.Takes the view that:
(a)European transport policy can be a way of opening up peripheral regions and linking them to other regions, although it cannot be seen as the sole or key instrument in regional development,
(b)the EC's powers to designate major European routes must include the establishment of minimum standards for linking peripheral or economically less-developed regions but not the establishment of general standards, applying even in built-up areas, for achievable capacity targets,
(c)though it is desirable to reduce planning and construction times for infrastructure projects, e.g. through the intervention of the national and local planning authorities at the appropriate time, speedy political decisions and accelerated implementation of construction plans, the rights of the public, public safety inspectorates and environmental organizations to participate in the administrative procedures and environmental impact assessment must be guaranteed by extending the process of involving the public provided for in the Directive on environmental impact assessment (85/337/EEC)OJ No. L 175, 5.7.1985, p. 40,
(d)charging road haulage firms the actual infrastructure costs involved will lead to an increase in transport costs but that this is logical in economic and transport policy terms in order to keep transport volumes close to the macroeconomic optimum by means of market forces while ensuring that possible negative external and economic effects are countered by appropriate initiatives in the relevant international bodies or, if necessary, by unilateral measures taken by the Community,
(e)in so far as, within the internal market, public undertakings in the transport sector must compete with private undertakings, it appears inappropriate to impose obligations on public undertakings which do not apply to the private sector,
5.Notes that mobility in general costs too little and concludes, therefore, that travel for individuals and the carriage of goods will become markedly more expensive in future; notes that this must be linked to a considerable increase in the capacity and quality of rail and water transport and that additional enabling measures to this end will be required.
6.Considers that regional planning is a very appropriate long-term instrument with which to achieve transport and traffic policy objectives, including the grouping of passenger and goods flows in environmentally-friendly forms of transport; advocates, therefore, suitable positioning of residential and employment sites in relation to public transport systems.
7.Proposes the following priority actions to improve links with peripheral regions:
(a)construction of efficient feeder routes to the major hubs of the European High Speed Train network and airports in order to encourage essential links between these two means of transport,
(b)promotion and development of direct flights between the regional centres of the European states,
(c)development of the transport system which also takes account of farming and tourism,
(d)removal of the imbalances, in particular the insufficient attention paid to freight and passenger transport by rail, inland and coastal shipping and short distance public transport in the transport policies of some Member States:
8.Considers it essential to complement the market-economy basis of the common transport policy with instruments for efficient crisis management, to safeguard not only against capacity fluctuations caused by structural and economic crises but also against critical safety problems;
9.Considers it essential to the proper development of the common transport policy to establish parallel harmonization of the social conditions of workers in the sector to ensure that liberalization does not lead to unfair competition and social dumping;
10.Stresses the economic and regional importance of linking all the peripheral areas of the Community to the economic centres by means of efficient and fast transport links;
11.Emphasizes the need not only to establish close cooperation in the transport sector between the Community and its European neighbours but also to aim for international agreement on the aims and means of transport policy so that both industrialized countries and emergent and developing countries can share in the international provision of transport services on acceptable terms;
12.Hopes that the coordinated introduction of integrated and intelligent transport systems will enable existing infrastructures to carry greater volumes of traffic under even safer conditions and with lower emission levels, where the transport user's right to free mobility must be interpreted as meaning that his destination can be determined freely but that the choice of means of transport the system offers is restricted according to available capacity;
13.Considers it necessary to develop new strategies for urban transport which give priority to the quality of life in large urban centres and the protection of health and the environment through the preferential use of railways, underground systems, bicycles, moving walkways, escalators, funicular railways and the establishment of terminals linking different modes of transport, taking account also of the potential of helicopter transport and third-level 'regional' airports;
14.Emphasizes that the highest priority must be placed on environmental considerations in implementing the measures to achieve these goals and that these measures must be compatible with the real carrying capacity of certain areas and with the ability of certain eco-systems and sensitive areas to absorb the environmental impact and that every effort should be made to encourage transport users to switch to cleaner methods of transportation, e.g. electrified railways;
15.Calls on the Commission to devise a viable European transport scenario for the year 2000 as quickly as possible and, in the medium term, to draw up a white paper setting out European transport policy and submit it to other Community Institutions for a binding decision;
16.Calls on the Commission to consider the interconnection between transport and tourism, which cannot develop without an efficient transport system; stresses the role of the transport system in guaranteeing, under the above conditions, mobility for individuals, thereby contributing not only to the completion of the single market but also to the achievement of a people's Europe;
17.Calls on the Commission to draw up a phased timetable for the coordinated implementation of the results of the European research programmes in the transport sector, in particular the DRIVE, EURETT and PROMETHEUS programmes and, likewise, to seek binding decisions on them;
18.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.
