WRITTEN QUESTION E-0583/00 by Mark Watts (PSE) to the Commission. European sustainable transport 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. 28. 12. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 374 E/113 In the road sector, the Commission recently published (1) a follow-up communication to its road safety communication of 1997 detailing progress made in the action programme for road safety 1997-2001 and setting priorities for future action. The Commission has also just made another fundamental step forwards towards the enhancement of maritime safety in the Community waters through the adoption on 21 March 2000 of a communication on the safety of the seaborne oil-trade (2) in which it proposes to strengthen the existing legislation on port state controls and classification societies, but also to phase out oil tankers with a single hull in Community waters. In the air transport, Commission is also acting in particular as regards safety through the creation of a European aviation safety authority, which would ensure through the integration of national systems a high and harmonised level of security. (1) COM(2000) 125 final. (2) COM(2000) 142. (2000/C 374 E/133) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0587/00 by Mark Watts (PSE) to the Commission (29 February 2000) Subject: European sustainable transport policy What is the Commissionís view of the inherent tension between the desire to see the economic benefits of T-TEN arrive speedily and concern that enviornmental issues should be properly addressed? Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission (13 April 2000) Article 6 (ex Article 3c) of the EC Treaty requires that environmental considerations be integrated into all aspects of Community policies in particular with a view to promoting sustainable development. Integration of environmental considerations is also called for under Article 2 of the Community guidelines for the development of the Trans European transport network (TEN-T) adopted by the Parliament and Council by co-decision in 1996 (1). This sets out that the network should be developed to ensure the sustainable mobility of goods and people to help achieve the Communityís objectives particularly in regard to the environment and competition, and contribute to strengthening economic and social cohesion. Article 2 further sets out that development of the network should take full account of the comparative advantages of all modes of transport and allow the optimal use of infrastructure capacities. The guidelines set 2010 as the time horizon to complete the TEN-T. The Commission is working with Member States and all concerned to ensure that this target is met and that in so doing long term sustainable benefits are achieved for the Communityís citizens and businesses. Where applicable, projects of common interest for development of the TEN-T are subject to environmental impact assessment under Community legislation. The Commission has also adopted a proposal for a directive on strategic impacts of certain plans and programmes (2). The Council reached assessment of the environmental unanimous political agreement at first reading on this proposal in December 1999. The Commission considers that the use of strategic environmental assessment from the earliest stages of national planning processes involving the consideration of different policy and infrastructure development options could significantly enhance the integration of transport and environmental considerations and help reduce the need for environmental mitigation measures at project level