EU transport ministers pledged to promote safe, accessible, affordable and equitable mobility for all people and goods, when they signed the Barcelona Declaration (see EUROPE 13255/10) on Friday 22 September. They thus established mobility as “a right of every citizen, acting as a catalyst for social and territorial cohesion, with the aim of fostering social equity across all territories, including urban and rural areas”, just as called for by the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU (see EUROPE 13215/14).
“Our objective is to enable all citizens to exercise their right to mobility, to put the needs of citizens at the heart of our work and to reiterate that, in this project, no one should be left by the wayside”, said Spain’s Minister of Transport, Raquel Sánchez Jiménez, at the press conference following the informal meeting of ministers.
“This right should be exercised without discrimination as to the category to which you belong, whether you live in a town or in a rural area, regardless of your purchasing power or income, whether or not you have a car, or whether or not you are disabled”, she continued.
The ministers have therefore committed themselves to ensuring that transport and mobility policies aim to improve the quality of life of Europeans.
“Good diversified mobility brings prosperity for countries and regions but the lack of infrastructure and transport options has a negative impact on our business and economies”, added the European Commissioner for Transport, Adina Vălean.
In the declaration, the ministers emphasised that the establishment of a comprehensive network of transport infrastructure, mobility and services that transcends national borders was an essential objective of the European Union’s transport policy. As the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) policy is an essential instrument for achieving this objective, they called for the adoption of the revised TEN-T framework, currently under negotiation (see EUROPE 13213/15).
“Our revised TEN-T regulation puts great emphasis on cohesion, it aims at ensuring accessibility for all users and connectivity for all regions in the Union, this includes also better connectivity, [...] and a seamless and efficient multimodal transport network across our Union”, commented Ms Vălean.
“Finland currently has a very strategic geographical situation at the moment, so when we talk about the TEN-T network, we have to pay attention to this”, said Lulu Ranne, the Finnish minister, before the meeting.
The ministers did in fact discuss the more integrated and coherent governance of future transport and mobility systems. According to Ms Sánchez Jiménez, this will also have to respond to the specific needs of the least populated areas, the demographic challenges of certain territories, and the specific needs of island countries or regions with specific topographical features.
In the Barcelona Declaration, the ministers asked as well for the Commission to consider proposing a “non-paper” outlining strategies for leveraging transport and mobility to enhance social and territorial cohesion. This document should encompass several aspects, such as addressing the challenges faced by urban nodes and rural, insular, peripheral, and mountainous regions, as well as sparsely populated areas. The document should also focus on supporting the development of cross-border public transport services, implementing tools to actively engage communities and understand their needs and concerns, while ensuring their participation in the decision-making and implementation processes.
To read the Barcelona Declaration: https://aeur.eu/f/8po (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)