A3-0066/94

Resolution on further steps towards an all-European transport policy - measures following the first European Transport Conference (Prague, 29-31 October 1991)

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the motion for a resolution by Mrs Van Dijk and others on further steps towards an all-European transport policy (B3-0624/92),

-having regard to the motion for a resolution by Miss McIntosh on transport links between Poland and the European Community (B3-0475/93),

-having regard to the measures adopted by the European Community with a view to achieving its internal transport market and to the all-European legally binding instruments concerning transport infrastructures, vehicles and operations, border crossing facilitation and other transport issues which exist in particular within the framework of the European Conference of Ministers of Transport and the UN Economic Commission for Europe,

-having regard to the Prague Declaration on an all-European transport policy adopted by the first European Transport Conference on 31 October 1991,

-having regard to its resolution of 12 June 1992 on action to be taken in respect of an all-European transport policy,

-having regard to its resolution of 9 February 1993 on further steps towards an all-European transport policy - measures following the first European Transport Conference (Prague, 29-31 October 1991) as the basis for the Second Pan-European Transport Conference, which is to be held from 14 to 16 March 1994 on Crete,

-having regard to the outcome of the regional conferences which have taken place since the first European Transport Conference:

-the Baltic Conference in Stettin, Poland, 17/18 March 1993,

-the Barents Sea Conference in Alta, Norway, 8 September 1993,

-the Central Europe Conference in Sopron, Hungary, 23/24 September 1993,

-the South-Eastern Europe Conference in Constanza, Romania, 30 September - 1 October 1993, and

-the Mediterranean Conference in Trieste, Italy, 9/10 December 1993,

-having regard to the outcome of the work of the Steering Committee of the Pan-European Transport Conference,

-having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Transport and Tourism (A3-0066/94),

A.whereas the first European Transport Conference provided substantial political impetus for achieving tangible improvements in cooperation in the field of transport policy between the European Community, intergovernmental organizations active in this field and the countries of Europe; whereas it also demonstrated to politicians at large the European Parliament's claim to be involved in shaping the Community's external relations in the transport field,

B.whereas the Prague Declaration marks a first all-European consensus on principles for transport policy; whereas further steps are necessary in order to implement these principles,

C.whereas the results of the Prague Conference have been taken further and enlarged upon in numerous regional and specialized conferences,

D.whereas, for political and institutional reasons, there can be no agreement which is binding in international law at present; whereas an agreed package of transport policy principles containing tangible policy precepts which can be implemented straightaway and accepted as a political undertaking by all supranational and international organizations active in the transport field and by the relevant ministers of all European states, would bring about further practical progress,

1.Stands expressly by the objectives set out in the Prague Declaration and the instruments proposed as a basis for further progress towards an all-European transport policy;

2.Welcomes the holding of the regional interim conferences;

3.Regrets that it was not suitably involved in a series of regional conferences which followed the Prague Conference and calls on the Commission to take appropriate steps to ensure that, in future, the Union's Parliament is suitably represented;

4.Notes with satisfaction that the basic ideas and principles behind the Prague Declaration are adapted to the regions concerned, and enlarged upon, in the texts drawn up at these regional interim conferences;

5.Notes with interest the many tangible results of these regional interim conferences and emphasizes that it expects the national parliaments and governments genuinely to give priority to the planning, financing and implementation of the transport programmes; rates particularly highly the approaches taken to the following specific initiatives and proposals, which may broaden and round off the all-European dimension of the Union's initiatives in the field of trans-European networks:

-the intended drafting of a plan for all-European transport corridors in south-east Europe,

-the setting up of working parties involving the Baltic states - under the direction of Poland, Sweden and Finland - on infrastructure, transport and the environment, and road safety,

-the aim of making available 15% of PHARE funding in order to support specific infrastructure measures of all-European interest4,

-the designation of the East-West corridors

Murmansk - Nikkel - Boris Gleb/Storkog - Kirkenes and

Murmansk/Archangel - Kandalaksha - Galla - Happaranda - Narvik and the North-South corridor

Ivalo - Nikkel/Pechenga - Kirkenes

as routes of priority interest to the states involved and their neighbours,

-the start of negotiations between Norwegian and Russian authorities on cooperation in radio navigation6,

-the setting up of a Transport and Communications Committee under the regional council in which the states of Northern Europe and the Russian Federation cooperate6,

-the launch by research institutes in Norway, Japan and the Russian Federation of the multidisciplinary and multilateral five-year INSROP on 1 June 19936,

-support for the rail links Narvik - Happaranda - St. Petersburg and the Kostomuksha railway line6,

-the development of the rail link Tallinn - Riga - Kaunas - Sestokai - Suwalki - Warsaw,

-the preparation of the following corridors by the Transport Group of the Central European Initiative (formerly the Hexagon Initiative)

Trieste - Ljubljana - Zagreb - Budapest - Russia;

Vienna - Budapest - Belgrade;

Vienna - Tarvisio - Trieste - Venice;

Linz - Graz - Zagreb - Adriatic;

Prague - Budapest - Zagreb - Rieka and

Verona - Innsbruck - Munich - Prague;;

6.Points out in particular that, at the Mediterranean Conference in Trieste of 9/10 December 1993, the countries of North Africa and the Middle East were for the first time successfully incorporated into the debate on the development of Europe and the entire Mediterranean region in terms of transport policy;

7.Supports the call by the Mediterranean Conference for long-term cooperation between the Mediterranean states in the field of transport on the basis of free trade;

8.Notes with satisfaction that under the direction of the European Parliament and the Commission, and in coordination with the supranational and international institutions and bodies involved, the basis has again been successfully established for the holding of the Second Pan-European Transport Conference, in accordance with its above-mentioned resolution of 9 February 1993, in Greece;

9.Notes with satisfaction that the Steering Committee of the Pan-European Transport Conference has carried out the necessary groundwork, enabling the Presidents of the European Parliament and the Commission to issue the invitations to the Second European Transport Conference in November 1993, and voices its endorsement of the draft agenda;

10.Notes with satisfaction that the draft declaration prepared by the Steering Committee to wind up the Second Pan-European Transport Conference has been drawn up on the basis of the points for consideration contained in its above-mentioned resolution of 9 February 1993;

11.Is confident that this draft constitutes a good basis for the Conference's deliberations and authorizes its President or his representatives to endorse, in principle, on the European Parliament's behalf, a declaration by the Second Pan-European Transport Conference in Crete which is drawn up on that basis;

12.Voices its hope that the Second Pan-European Transport Conference to be held from 14 to 16 March 1994 on Crete will take a major step towards turning the concept of an all-European transport policy into reality and hence will constitute a major component of a Europe-wide order sought by the European Parliament in its resolution of 20 January 1993 on the structure and strategy for the European Union with regard to its enlargement and the creation of a Europe-wide order;

13.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Economic and Social Committee, the European Conference of Ministers of Transport, the European Civil Aviation Conference and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.