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EU Transport policy began in 1957. It is aimed at sustainable mobility, combining Europe’s competitiveness with the welfare of its citizens for greater safety and security and enhanced rights. It is an essential component of the Lisbon strategy and contributes to the EU’s social and territorial cohesion.
The European Union has an ambitious agenda in the field of transport policy, set out in its White Paper entitled “Time to Decide: European Transport Policy to 2010” published in September 2001. It seeks to break the link between economic growth and transport growth in order to reduce pressure on the environment and prevent congestion, while maintaining the EU’s economic competitiveness.

The broad aims are:

• To open up and create a truly European market while safeguarding the quality and security of services
• To ensure the sustainable development of transport by promoting those methods that cause the least pollution, by promoting energy-efficient technologies and by improving public transport services
• To develop major networks in Europe
• To reform air traffic management and reduce congestion in the skies
• To improve safety
• To support the effective application of Community transport legislation by the candidate countries; and
• To develop international cooperation.

Many of the challenges in the EU White Paper correlate with those facing the transport sector in the South West and other peripheral regions. Overcrowding on road and rail, under-investment in transport infrastructure and the associated social, economic and environmental ills are common problems faced by our region and neighbours in the UK and other Member States. In response to these challenges, the White Paper aims to deliver an environmentally friendly mix of transport services alongside measures to promote the competitiveness of Europe’s economy. More specifically, a range of initiatives are identified for the coming years aimed at reducing the predominance of road transport, promoting maritime links, revitalizing the railways and linking up different transport modes. Many of the broad themes in the White Paper are consistent with those in the South West’s own Regional Transport Strategy, also published in 2001.

The White Paper identifies the Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-Ts) as one of the main areas of activity for the coming years. The TEN-Ts are effectively a planning tool to map out priorities for the development of transport infrastructure of European interest. The lion share of funding for the TEN-Ts was allocated to a shortlist of priority projects which, following on from the ‘Van Miert’ Report of June 2003, have been selected for EU investment.
Especially in the light of the major EU Enlargement in May 2004, it was felt that work on the TEN-Ts needed to be intensified in order to ensure fully functioning transport links, especially to the new Member States in Eastern Europe.

The priority for South West England is to ensure that our region is properly linked to the Trans-European Transport Networks and can fully benefit from the economic opportunities of an enlarged Union. The priority project on ‘Motorways of the Sea’ offers the opportunity for South West England to develop shipping links to other Member States and regions around the Atlantic Arc.

The White Paper on Transport
http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/white_paper/index_en.htm

Trans-European Networks
http://europa.eu.int/comm/ten/transport/index_en.htm

EU Transport Policy
http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/transport/index_en.html