Brussels, 02.02.2007

A New Role for Urban Transport within the European Transport Policy

The debate on the Green Paper on Urban Transport started today with a major stakeholders conference in Brussels on Urban Transport: Problems, Solutions and Responsibilities. The conference was organised in the context of the EU Sustainable Energy Week. Around 400 representatives from all sectors that have an interest in urban transport were present. High level representatives from European cities and from the European Institutions presented the expectations of local authorities from the Green Paper and addressed the added value of actions at the European level.

Commission Vice-President, Jacques Barrot, in charge of transport, re-affirmed the importance that he attaches to urban transport "I am convinced that, while fully respecting the principle of subsidiarity, the European Union can add value to actions at local level. In partnership with the cities, we will identify whether there are obstacles to successful urban transport policies and, for specific actions, propose joint solutions."

Mr Barrot continued, "The Green Paper on Urban Transport was announced in the mid-term review of the Transport White Paper. It is among the 21 strategic priorities of the Commission for 2007. We will consult all interested parties and, based on their contributions, we expect to publish the Green Paper in the autumn. The Green Paper and its follow-up activities will form the basis for a European Policy on Urban Transport as part of the European transport policy."

In order to collect the different views, a number of technical workshops and a final conference in June 2007 will be organised. The first workshop on "Urban Transport and Green Propulsion" took place in the morning. Three more workshops are foreseen, "Urban transport financing: experiences from different cities", "Public transport, intermodality and intelligent transport" and "Integrated urban transport approaches for successful and attractive cities".

The Green Paper will examine whether obstacles to successful urban transport policies exist at the EU level. In addition, it will examine where, whilst fully respecting the subsidiarity principle, there is a consensus among stakeholders to develop and implement joint solutions. The Green Paper will form the basis for the development of a European policy on urban transport as part of European transport policy. The Green Paper will address all transport modes, including walking, cycling, motor cycles and motor vehicles, and will cover both urban freight (and logistics) and passenger transport.

 

Source:
Press Releases of the European Union, Reference: IP/07/118 and
Website of the European Commission: Clean Urban Transport