The year 1992 is considered the beginning of the creation of the internal transport market in the European Union (then the European Economic Communities). It took almost 15 years to establish a liberalized internal transport market. The milestones were the White Papers of 1992 and 2001. The goals of transport policy have not undergone fundamental changes – that is, to ensure competitive, reliable, safe, and environmentally friendly transport options for goods and people. Transport should be sustainable, i.e., meeting the needs (and demand) for freight traffic and the mobility needs of the population, both within the Union and in external relations. The Union fully maintains its sensitivity to the negative impact of transport on the natural environment, especially in the context of global warming.
Transport policy assumes a comprehensive approach and integrated actions at the community, national, regional, and local levels, with the participation of entrepreneurs and citizens. This will require cooperation and dialogue. Economic rationality requires adherence to the principles of efficiency, effectiveness, and performance in transport business activities. The European Union and member states pursue a policy of equal competitive opportunities between companies, including competition within individual transport sectors. Until 2006, a policy of preference for rail transport and support for multimodal transport was pursued. The revision of the 2001 White Paper introduced the concept of co-modality, that is, the effective use of all transport modes, adequate to their individual technical-operational and economic specifics, and in cooperation in multimodal and combined transport. Optimizing the use of each transport mode, infrastructure, and other available production resources is the path to balance in the transport system, to ensuring an appropriate level of population mobility and freight turnover, and to minimizing negative effects on the environment.
In accordance with the above approach to co-modality, actions are being taken, namely:
• investment programs in transport infrastructure
• technological innovations and modern support systems, such as Marco Polo II or Galileo
• expenditures on research and development in the 7th Framework Programme
• regulatory packages within individual transport sectors (3rd Railway Package, Maritime Package, Road Transport Package, etc.)
• logistics report
• instruments for improving population mobility in agglomerations
• increasing the level of interoperability
• new EU and national institutions supervising and monitoring compliance with EU rules.
Significant attention is paid to the human factor, working conditions of employees, qualification requirements, training, and transport education.
Co-modality is therefore intended to serve rationality and fair competition throughout the European Union in order to increase its cohesion, raise the economic competitiveness of the Community, and improve the quality of life of citizens. Transport users (logisticians in freight transport and citizens in passenger transport) are to make final choices on the market within the framework created by transport policy.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 2/2008.