WRITTEN QUESTION E-0582/00 by Mark Watts (PSE) to the Commission. European sustainable tansport policy.
C 374 E/112 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 28. 12. 2000 (2000/C 374 E/131) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0582/00 by Mark Watts (PSE) to the Commission (29 February 2000) Subject: European sustainable tansport policy Can national governments and EU institutions, habitually at loggerheads on transport questions, actually achieve a sufficient meeting of minds? Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission (14 April 2000) The question of sustainable transport is of vital interest to all Member States as well as the Community as a whole. A sufficient meeting of minds can only be achieved through dialogue and openness. The Commission has for this reason set up a joint transport and environment expert group to advise it on issues of environmentally sustainable transport, which is one of the key concerns in the common transport policy. The Commission intends to come forward in the autumn of this year with a new communication which sets the common transport policy in the new context of the 21st century. The communication will aim to take account of the profound changes that are occurring in the European economy and the trend to globalisation as a whole. the Commission intends to issue a further communication in 2000 on the subject of Clean urban transportí. These two new communications will give the Community the opportunity to re-assess what has to be done to ensure that transport plays an effective role in the general effort to ensure sustainable growth in the Community. In addition to this initiative, (2000/C 374 E/132) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0583/00 by Mark Watts (PSE) to the Commission (29 February 2000) Subject: European sustainable transport policy Will the Commission state to what extent it believes the EU should consciously strive towards the taxation regimes, through common traffic rules, i. e. harmonisation of maximum speed, safety requirements, and vehicle standards and deregulation policies? transport policies in Europe, Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission (14 April 2000) The Commission believes that transport policies should be harmonised to the extent necessary for the efficient to avoid distortions of competition, and to promote the internal market, environmental protection and transport safety. functioning of On the question of common traffic rules for international traffic, these and certain internal rules, such as the size, shape and colour of road signs, are carried out within the Vienna Convention on international road transport which is administered by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. Regarding maximum speed, speed limits are set nationally by Member States. The Commission does not intend to intervene in this matter, unless it receives clear signals that this would stand a chance of success, but believes more could be achieved by developing speed management devices. Concerning safety requirements and vehicle standards, a whole range of vehicle standards are already harmonised both for commercial and private vehicles