Meeting in Cagliari on Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 June to discuss the social value of infrastructure, the G7’s transport ministers and European Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc called for a deployment of high-quality infrastructure and new technology in a joint statement issued after their summit.
The G7 participants pledged to encourage high-quality infrastructure, among other things to support economic growth. Investment in infrastructure could be effective, say the ministers, in backing innovation, automatisation, improvements in productivity and digital solutions for mobility. Moreover, infrastructure will lead to economic, environmental and social benefits since transport infrastructure facilitates access to education and healthcare services along with employment possibilities.
The G7 participants expressed a desire to set up a working group on infrastructure development to exchange best practices and innovative ideas.
The ministers recognised the extraordinary opportunity offered by new technology in terms of road safety, ecology and accessibility to transport the masses. Cybersecurity and data protection should be paid particular attention, they say, in order to encourage innovation while preserving private interests.
In a bid to fully utilise the potential provided by connected and automated vehicles particularly for the environment, the G7 Transport meeting calls for all stakeholders to cooperate. The ministers call on the various international fora concerned by these issues to pursue their work. In this regard, the statement follows the line taken in the Amsterdam Declaration by EU transport ministers on 14 April 2016 (see EUROPE 11532). (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)