By Martin Banks - 29th March 2011
Freedom to travel is a basic right for our citizens
Siim Kallas
The European commission has announced a series of "challenging" targets, with transport commissioner Siim Kallas calling for a 50 per cent reduction in conventionally-fuelled cars in city centres by 2030.
Speaking on Monday, the Estonian official said the commission also hopes to "move close" to eliminating deaths by road accidents by 2050, halving current fatality rates by 2020.
Other aims contained in an eagerly-awaited white paper on the future of transport in Europe would see all major "hub" airports connected by rail by 2050, freight vehicles in cities becoming "carbon-free" by 2030 while 30 per cent of road freight travelling "medium distances" would move to rail or water-borne modes by that point.
Kallas said this move, plus the phasing out of petrol or diesel cars in city centres, need not inconvenience people.
The commission vice president said, "Freedom to travel is a basic right for our citizens. Curbing mobility is not an option. Nor is business is usual. The widely-held belief that you need to cut mobility to fight climate change is simply not true.
"We can break the transport system's dependence on oil without sacrificing its efficiency and compromising mobility."
He outlined the commission's plans at a debate organised by the European Policy Centre (EPC) in Brussels.
The debate, "Air transport and aviation policy in the EU", also included Billy Glover, vice-president of the environmental and aviation policy at Boeing.
Reaction to various parts of the white paper was swift with the transport forum of UEAPME, the European craft and SME employers' organisation, warning that while it supports such aims, the commission's strategy would have a "significant" financial impact on transport businesses.
Francesco Del Boca, who chairs the forum, said, "The commission has presented a strategy which correctly outlines some of the major challenges which the European transport system will face in a very near future.
"However, its approach to tackling these challenges fails to take into account that many transport businesses involved in transport of goods are SMEs with strong financial constraints.
"They have to deal with significant obstacles to investment and without support, for instance in the form of tax incentives and investment support schemes, they will be hit very hard by this strategy.”
The European Low Fares Airline Association (ELFAA) said it hopes the transport blueprint will mark a "turning point" for plans for a "much-needed" European single sky, whose aim is to harmonise air traffic control systems by 2020.
John Hanlon, secretary general of ELFAA, said, "Reform of the very outdated air traffic management systems and technologies is critically dependent on availability of public funding, at least initially. If this is forthcoming, the new system will greatly increase the efficiency of air travel across Europe, replacing the current, inefficient and highly-fragmented management of airspace by individual states".
"Bring on a real single European sky, and let's make European aviation fit for the 21st century.
Hanlon also hopes the white paper can act as a "catalyst" for greater public funding for research into new technologies and alternative aviation fuels.
He added, "The EU should abandon talk of any environmental tax on aviation and acknowledge that airlines' involvement in the emission trading scheme, together with continued investment in new technology, is the best way to address the impact of aviation on the environment."
Further reaction came from the European express industry which issued a statement saying, "By fully acknowledging that sustainability and competitiveness go together the white paper forges an ambitious policy framework which should enable the transport and logistics sector to increase both the competitiveness and sustainability of Europe's entire industrial base."
In a joint statement, three associations, the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), the European Rail Infrastructure Managers (EIM) and the European Rail Industry (UNIFE), warned that the focus must now be on how to implement the proposed measures for decarbonisation of the transport sector "if this vision is to become a reality in the next decade".
The American chamber of commerce to the EU, meanwhile, described the plans as "generally positive."
