The European Commission hosted a high-level conference in Brussels last week on the future of the European transport system.
The event marked the closing of two public consultations that the Commission launched in June 2009 with its Communication ‘A sustainable future for transport’ and its Green Paper ‘Trans-European transport network: A policy review’.
The conference, opened by European Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani, brought together stakeholders’ contributions and discussed concrete ideas that have emerged during the consultation process. A White Paper, defining a vision for the future of transport and specific steps to be taken in the next decade, will follow next year.
Vice-President Antonio Tajani, in charge of Transport, said: “Transport has charted the progress of mankind for millennia. The development of transport modes and infrastructure has led to the discoveries of new worlds, new routes, new styles of living – just to name a few benefits.”
“Our future transport policy should reflect the main objectives Europe is pursuing today and in the years ahead: decarbonisation of transport, advancing people’s Europe and boosting new sources of growth and competitiveness. I for example would personally like to see the creation of green corridors, the creation of a dedicated fund for transport in the broad sense of the word or the formation of a core network of TEN-T projects. I am delighted with the public response to the consultation process thus far and today’s meeting represents a further opportunity for stakeholders and interested citizens to concretely influence how we respond to the important challenges we face ahead.”
