EU transport policy – from the first to the third White Paper
<\/strong>The EU transport policy, the general assumptions, objectives, and forms of which were defined in the TEC, has been implemented for over 17 years by the main Community bodies based on detailed ten-year programs developed by the EC and included in so-called White Papers. So far, two White Papers have been issued, defining the main directions, detailed objectives, and instruments, as well as a generally outlined schedule for the implementation of treaty arrangements regarding the development of the transport sector in the EU and its integration into the structures of the single market. The second one, from 2001, updated as part of the so-called mid-term review in 2006, containing a program for building the foundations of a common EU transport area based on the principle of sustainable mobility, defined in the perspective up to 2010, is, however, nearing the end of its validity period. In this situation, the EC has taken steps to develop the foundations for the next, new program for the implementation of EU transport policy for the next decade of the 21st century, i.e., until 2020, which will be presented in 2010 in the next, third White Paper of the EC.<\/p>
To this end, the EC published a Communication in 2009, which serves as the basis for preparing the draft Common Transport Policy (CTP) program in the perspective up to 2020. This Communication contains not only a general assessment of its development to date, identifying future trends in the main areas of the transport sector and the likely challenges they may pose to society, but also indirectly defines the objectives of this policy, while also pointing to some available instruments and possible forms of intervention necessary to achieve these goals.<\/p>
Assessment of the implementation of the EU transport policy program from 2001-2009
<\/strong>It is still too early for a full assessment of the implementation of the Common Transport Policy (CTP) in the first decade of the 21st century. It is difficult to speak of all the transport and non-transport effects of the actions taken during this period using the available instruments and tools defined in the 2001 White Paper and, thus, to assess the effectiveness of achieving the established partial objectives and tasks. Nevertheless, the EC states in the issued Communication in general terms that, in general, the CTP in this period achieved the objectives set out in the basic strategic Community documents, contributing significantly to the development of the European economy and the growth of its competitiveness, mainly by facilitating the opening of markets and their integration through the establishment of high quality standards in terms of transport safety, passenger rights protection, and improvement of working conditions.<\/p>
In a systemic, rather than sectoral, approach as proposed by the EC, the effects of implementing the EU transport policy, as the basic instrument of the regulatory mechanism for the transport systems of member states, should be analyzed in relation to its two main scopes, i.e., the policy of transport system development (transport infrastructure) and the shaping of the transport market. This issue is presented schematically in Figure 1.
The basic achievements of the current decade regarding the sphere of transport system development actually boil down to:<\/p>
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increasing capacity of European transport systems, supported by solutions in the field of logistics and supply chain management, for the efficient and effective handling of growing freight volumes and passenger traffic flows;<\/div>
<\/li>growth in the importance of this sector of the Community economy in creating its GDP (currently about 7%) and in total employment (over 5%);<\/div>
<\/li>significant improvement in the transport infrastructure network layout – in all aspects, both quantitative and qualitative; the expansion of its priority components, included in the TEN-T sub-system, has also led to the streamlining of coordination processes for planning the development of infrastructure projects in member states;<\/div>
<\/li>a clear increase, in all areas of transport, in safety standards and, thus, environmental protection. In this sphere, despite the fact that this was not assumed in the 2001 program, significant effects have also been achieved in the field of broadly understood supply chain security<\/em>, by introducing legal regulations regarding transport safety and for so-called critical transport infrastructure;<\/div>
<\/li>the negative environmental impacts of transport have also been limited, although to a much lesser extent than expected – especially in relation to the SDS [COM (2007) 642].<\/div>
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<\/ul>In the second regulatory area of transport, significant effects have been obtained, expressed in the form of significant progress in the field of building a common transport area. It is, after all, the strategic goal of the CTP, and its creation is impossible without the construction of efficient, effective transport markets operating on uniform principles. Improving their mechanisms – including pricing, as well as forms and structure of organization and types of links with other markets (the role of logistics and SCM) was therefore an important sphere of EC influence. The main achievements reached in this area in the current decade boil down to:<\/p>
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opening subsequent market segments to competition and improving the functioning mechanisms of transport markets already liberalized in the previous decade – primarily in air and road transport. The result of these actions was the progressive process of integration of these markets and an increase in their efficiency;<\/div>
<\/li>growth in the quality of transport services offered to users and their connection with logistics services;<\/div>
<\/li>standardization of individual social aspects and qualification-professional issues in transport, in order to create uniform standards for access to the market and the profession of carrier, which facilitates the portability of labor and capital resources in the transport sector and increases mobility;<\/div>
<\/li>building a new form of organization and management of the transport market, based on the model of organizing network industries in the EU.<\/div>
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<\/ul>The article comes from the journal “Logistyka” 1\/2010.<\/p>