Brussels, 07/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - Bringing the consultation procedure on the preparation of the Green Paper on urban mobility to an end on Monday 4 June, Commission Vice-President and Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot (see EUROPE 9354) presented what he called the “skeleton of the future Green Paper”. Now the importance of public transport has to be determined and the problem of subsidiarity has to be resolved.
First and foremost, the Green Paper will have to tackle the problems related to the financing of infrastructure and rolling stock. Whether through European Investment Bank (EIB) aid or cohesion programmes, Mr Barrot has undertaken to examine ways to find the necessary funding. Secondly, the Green Paper will have to have a balanced approach to the needs of both passengers and freight. The commissioner promised to set out the logistics of organising freight transport in cities in the autumn. Then come green power and the likes of intelligent transport, promised as part of the CIVITAS scheme, under which the Commission co-funds energy and transport projects, or clean public transport vehicles. The ageing population must also be taken into account, and the rights of the passengers who use public transport must be highlighted through a “charter of passengers' rights”.
Referring to the information provided by cities, Mr Barrot directed his attention towards the statistical gaps that exist. He said a European Urban Transport Monitoring Centre could possibly be set up to provide researchers with the information they needed. Sharing best practice will probably become enshrined in future urban policies, for the management of staff and urban traffic management methods. An ERASMUS-like programme encouraging meetings of urban transport planners is a possibility, or action to help determine what the obstacles to the development of a sustainable transport policy are. Such a system, said the commissioner, could make a contribution to clean transport, safety and the organisation of freight traffic in cities.
This leaves the problems related to the subsidiarity principle (with urban issues generally settled at local level) and the forms of urban transport (public or private, shared or private) to be resolved. Subsidiarity must be maintained, but it must not be an obstacle to the framework established by the Commission. At the meeting, German Secretary of State for the Traffic Ministry, Achim Grossmann, said that, for the presidency, this principle must “be respected because it is the cities which are best placed to decide”. He said the cities had to make the decisions themselves whether they wanted to provide the public service or open public transport up to competition, i.e. give them over to the private sector. The Portuguese presidency, which will take over from Germany on 1 July, will above all stress that public and private transport policies had to be coordinated. According to Ana Paula Vitorino, Portuguese Secretary of State for the Transport Ministry, this should result in an “increase in supply and demand for public transport in the face of private transport”. Speaking on behalf of the upcoming presidency, Ms Vitorino said she hoped the Green Paper would be approved by the Council on 30 November 2007. Parliament, too, opted for a “balance between public transport and private transport”, which, to be introduced, would require municipal authorities to impose “drastic measures” and to act as if “there was only public transport in cities”. That, at least, was the opinion of Paolo Costa (ALDE, Italy), Chairman of the Parliamentary transport committee, who also attended the meeting. With regard to the principle of subsidiarity, Mr Costa suggested it should be retained, but the number of areas which required a specific approach should be limited. “It would be absurd to repeat a hundred times over at local level what can be done at European level,” he said, particularly on measures to combat pollution and congestion, and on social cohesion, areas in which Europe is coming to play a larger and larger part.
For fuller information on the Green Paper and the consultation process, go to:
http: //ec.europa.eu/transport/clean/green_paper_urban_transport/index_en.htm (aby)