Brussels, 07/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - Wim van de Camp (EPP, Netherlands) has published his draft report on the mid-term review of the White Paper on European transport policy.
This White Paper includes a list of targets to be attained by 2030 and 2050. In his draft report, van de Camp expresses his wish for the Parliament to reiterate “its support for the targets set out in the White Paper”, even though he acknowledges that these will be “challenging” for 2030 and “very difficult” to attain by 2050. He therefore draws up a list of specific recommendations for each sector.
In the field of air transport, completion of the European Single Sky is required, as well as the speeding up of the negotiations with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) on a global carbon emissions management mechanism. Van de Camp is also examining the question of the Gulf airline companies with which he would like to sign “fair competition clauses”, which explicitly tackle the question of detailed provisions on subsidies.
On the issue of road transport, the rapporteur proposes a 40% increase in the number of available parking spaces for heavy duty vehicles, improvements to the interoperability of tollbooth systems, including an evaluation of their compatibility with European rules and the drafting of a social code for lorry drivers. He is also calling for a legislative proposal to set out binding limits on CO2 emissions by heavy goods vehicles.
On the question of the railways, van de Camp particularly highlights the importance of opening up the markets to competition and the need for subsidies to ensure that infrastructure performs appropriately. He also calls for “the revitalisation of local and regional trans-border rail connections”.
In the area of maritime transport, the MEP calls for CO2 emissions to be reduced, as well as administrative costs and calls for a legislative proposal to be introduced in support of passenger rights. He also tackles the question of inland waterways, for which he calls for a revision of the directive on river information services (2005/44/EC), as well as a legislative proposal on professional qualifications for workers in the sector.
The rapporteur is proposing that a number of new targets are added to the White Paper and says that “a new goal should be set of doubling public transport use in urban areas by 2030 and a clear goal should be also set to double cycling by 2025”.
At an environmental level, van de Camp calls on the European Commission to put forward a number of proposals to internalise external environmental costs and ensure full application of the “polluter pays” principle, which according to him, is the only way of ensuring a level playing field between the different modes of transport.
It should be pointed out that an initial debate on the Commission White Paper was carried out at the European Parliament's committee on the subject in the middle of March (see EUROPE 11278). (Jean Comte)