Transport policy of the European Union

As a common policy, the Transport policy must contribute to carry out the interior market and thus to reduce the obstacles to the circulation of the goods and people. This field is governed by Articles 70 to 80 (Title V) of the Treaty establishing the European Community. The European Parliament and the Council share competence for the adoption of Directives and Règlements Community as regards transport, according to the Procédure of joint decision.

Lines general and objective

The broad current objectives of the Common Transport policy were laid down by the European commission in 2001 in its White paper on " the European transport policy by 2010: the hour of the choices ". While the preceding White paper of Transport (1992) had as a guiding line the opening of the European market of transport, the main aim of the White paper of 2001 is double: it is a question on the one hand of operating a rebalancing of the various means of transport (strategy of the " modal" transfer;) and, in addition, to carry out a progressive decoupling between economic growth and growth of transport.

the modal transfer : The policy of opening of the European market of transport, carried out during the Nineties knew one big hit driving with a complete liberalization of air transports, river, road and maritime at short distance (except notable for the rail-bound transport). Road transport was the large recipient of this process, creating an increasingly deep ditch with its competitors, and in particular the rail. But the increase in the traffic heavy trucks which results from it generates problems of increasingly many congestion and pollution, in particular on the main roads, the bottlenecks (in particular mountainous regions - the Alps and the Pyrenees) and the urban areas. An exponential growth and not controlled road transport would be consequently contrary with a logic of Sustainable development, the more so as, according to the estimates, the transport of freight should increase by 38% from here 2010 (+24% for the passenger traffic). Vis-a-vis this situation, the strategy of modal transfer consists in transferring from the goods of the road towards other means of transport, and in particular the rail, around whose the Commission directed its policy.

the examination with semi-course of White paper : In June 2006, the European commission adopted some reorientations of its policy in order to take account of a certain number of elements (widening of the EU, challenges energy, new requirements as regards safety, first results of the policies followed since 2001).

The general objectives of 1992 and 2001 are preserved but two new concepts are introduced:

the optimization of the potential of each means of transport in order to disconnect the mobility of its negative side effects
the Co-method , namely the effective use of the various means of transport, individually and in a combined way

Road transport

The mode of road transport dominates in the intra-European circulation of freight. Its market share amounts to 44% of the market of freight in Europe and its uncontrolled development was the intense political debate object. Indeed, the environmental cost of road transport is important. It pollutes relatively more than the other means of transport and causes moreover a strong congestion of the main roads. One however observes his always increasing share in the UE-15. The new Member States resort still largely to the railroads to a total value of 40%. One of the main challenges of the UE-25 as regards transport will be to limit the convergence of the practices of the recent members towards the average of the UE-15 and to thus prevent that the share of the railroads in the transport of freight does not fall on a level of 10%.

The European Roads. Road transport profited since after war from an immense effort from investment in the infrastructures which allowed the installation of a highway network of an exceptional density the level of the continent of Europe.

Transport by bus is cheaper than the rail transport, and does not suffer from the effects of borders related to differences in national regulations.

Air

Air transport remained a long time out of the framework of the Common Transport policy under the terms of article 80 of the Treaty which conferred a special statute to him. Thanks to the Single act and into the jurisprudence of the CJCE, it was gradually integrated in competences.

The denomination " aérien" transport; recover three subcategories: the charter, the cargo liner and the regular transport of passengers. The problems of regulation at the European level arise primarily for the third category. The primary market indeed developed in a way enough dérégulée to some extent like a valve of safety. It thus fills the holes in the grid of the principal network which the third category constitutes.

A new phase was started in 2001 with a Communication of the Commission on the " Single sky Européen" who advances the idea of a European mechanism of regulation of the traffics. Another recent debate related with the liberalization of air transport is that of the agreements known as of " sky ouvert". They are bilateral agreements contracted by eleven Member States with the United States. The discriminatory dimension of these agreements was recognized and condemned by the CJCE in 2002. These agreements limit competition within the European Union. The intercontinental lines being most profitable, the strong regulation of these lines prevents each company from exploiting opportunities offering itself in its neighbors. From where the absence of Pan-European airline companies. This gave place to a speech of the European commission on this subject in order to claim the passage of an agreement of the European Union with the United States.

Chemin de iron

The Directive 91/440/EEC then the " first package ferroviaire" from 2001 a slow process of harmonization of the national legislations and separation started between:

on the one hand, the exploitation of the services, entrusted to railway companies, being able to be put in Competition,
and, on the other hand, the management of the railway networks, entrusted to administrative of infrastructure; this management raises of a natural Monopole.

Each network remains managed at the national level. In France, it is the role of a public corporation distinct from the SNCF, created for this purpose in 1997, Rail network of France. In Germany, this role was entrusted to the national company, the Deutsche Bahn, which delegated this activity by creating dB Netz, but this one remains nevertheless within group dB.

The exploitation of the services still generally concerns the traditional national monopoly, with a variable proportion of competition depending on the States. Nevertheless, there exists of long time of the international services both for the travellers freight. Those were traditionally organized on a co-operative mode between the national companies, on the basis of international agreement managing as well the technical sides as legal, and in particular the responsibility with respect to the customers and for the thirds. More and more owners new with international vocation, independent and competitors of the national companies appear, but their market share is still modest.

In the context of the liberalization of the railroads, one has, as of March 2003, started the dismantling of the obstacles to the international transport of the goods. At January 1st, 2006, this effort was to reach the totality of the network, and by 2007, competition should be also introduced on the national markets.

In addition to countable separations, the Commission wishes to remove two obstacles with the formation of a European zone of the rail: the interworking limited between the national networks and railway systems; the diversity of the rules applicable to the rail traffic must moreover be reduced. With this intention, several projects are in building site with an aim of the harmonization of the standards like the ERTMS, a European management system of the rail traffic.

Passenger traffic

The downward trend of the frequentation of the trains was contained considerably in the last years on the side of the passengers, which one can largely allot to rise lines at high speed.

The third railway package of March 2004 tries to bring answers to the progressive liberalization of the transport of the passengers. The project to subject thalys and eurostar to competition in the future anticipates the need for making these segments competitive vis-a-vis the airline companies low-cost.

Freight

Freight borrows in an increasing way the road axes to arrive to destination, and this with the detriment of the rail-bound transport. In 2001, the rails transported nothing any more but 8% of the goods compared with 20% in 1970. Nothing less astonishing if it is considered that the mean velocity of transport of these goods reaches hardly 18 km/h. The forecasts of the European commission indicate that the new Member States should maintain a share relatively higher rail-bound transport of 24% in 2030 compared with 9% at the same date for the UE-15. (It will be noticed that the statistics of the European commission consider a share less of road transport with the profit of the railroad)

External bonds

European Week of mobility
http://europe.eu.int./comm/dgs/energy_transport/figures/trends_2030/index_en.htm
http://www.europarl.eu.int/facts/4_5_1_fr.htm
http://www.eu.int/comm/transport/rail/research/index_en.htm
http://www.era.eu.int/
See assessment 2000-2004 Energy and Transports on http://www.eu.int/comm/dgs/energy_transport/index_fr.html

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