Members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN) held talks with the European Commission on Wednesday 19 July on recent proposals to reduce the environmental impact of freight transport (see EUROPE 13220/21). The measures drawn up by the Commission have given rise to questions, concerns and criticism.
There are three proposals: - a revision of the directive on the weights and dimensions of heavy goods vehicles; - a new rail management regulation; - a common methodology for calculating greenhouse gas emissions for freight companies.
With regard to rail, Barbara Thaler (EPP, Austrian) and Tilly Metz (Greens/EFA, Luxembourgish) were surprised that voluntary cooperation between national infrastructure managers was not strengthened in the text. “I do feel there’s a clear need for legislative pressure to be exerted for a single European railway area to achieve this”, emphasised Ms Thaler, regretting a lack of clarity.
“There is no such appetite still, and I do hope it will come among the Member States, and of course they’re closely involved in the legislative process”, stressed Maja Bakran, the European Commission’s Director General for Energy and Transport (DG MOVE).
Elena Kountoura (The Left, Greek) went further in her criticism, saying that the trend towards privatisation advocated by the Commission had, in a way, “undermined one of the largest rail transport undertakings in Europe”.
With regard to road transport, a number of MEPs expressed their concerns about safety. “We have to think about axle weight, which has a direct, proportional impact on the damage to our roads [...], but the safety of other road users is paramount”, argued Ciarán Cuffe (Greens/EFA, Irish). Isabel García Muñoz (S&D, Spanish) said it was also “very important to harmonise and simplify standards and regulations relating to cross-border traffic”.
According to Ms Bakran, these longer, heavier vehicles can carry more goods, which is said to reduce traffic jams and the number of vehicles on the road. “So there is a positive impact on road safety and certainly also on air and noise pollution”, she replied.
Karima Delli (Greens/EFA, French) regretted that the proposed measures did not take account of water transport. “River transport is something that’s barely talked about, but don’t forget that 90% of goods come in by sea”, she said.
“It’s really a question of the continued competitiveness of inland waterways and the rail situation, and we need to tackle that”, replied Ms Bakran. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)