Speeches - Antonio Guilhermino Rodriguez

Ladies and Gentlemen,

My country feels particularly honoured for being chosen to assume the presidency of this intergovernmental organisation for the third time.

I would like to point out that Portugal is one of the founding members of the ECMT, and has participated in its activities since 1953.

At present, nearly all European countries are members of this organisation, thus making it a privileged forum for the political debate at highest level, on issues concerning the transport sector on a European level.

The most complex of these issues is the definition of a concerted strategy which ensures the development of the transport system based on a commitment optimising the economic and social benefits while at the same time minimising the environmental, social and economic costs it entails.

In fact, the continuing increase of traffic has such a significant impact on the ecosystem that it can seriously threaten the quality of life of future generations.

If the present growth rates are maintained, there will be an increase of road traffic of 30 to 40% during the next decade. In this context it needs to be pointed out that already in 1995 the transport sector accounted for approximately 26% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union.

It is therefore an urgent challenge to integrate the demands of sustainability into transport policies. Due to the complexity of the task, it requires the shared responsibility of all parties involved: the political decision-makers, the automotive industry, the energy sector, the transport enterprises and the users.

I am pleased to note that the organisers of this symposium are aware of this challenge. As a prove there is the IRU Charter for Sustainable Development adopted at its 1996 World Congress in Budapest, followed by the initiative "Driving towards Sustainable Development", and the upcoming publication of a "Guide to Sustainable Development", which intends to achieve co-responsibility of all transport operators.

Apart from the continuous effort to improve environmentally friendly behaviour and the safety of vehicles, the voluntary agreement of the European automotive industry on environment, concluded between the industry’s representative associations and the European Union, deserves to be mentioned. It contains the commitment to reduce the average CO₂ emission of new passenger cars by 25% between 1995 and 2008.

During the past decade, the problematic issue of sustainable development has been a central concern of the major international organisations. As a starting point the Earth Summit has to be mentioned, which took place in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 under the auspices of the United Nations.

With regard to the European Union, the 1992 publication of the White Paper on the Future Development of the Common Transport Policy was a touchstone, followed by innumerable communications and legislative proposals that led to the adoption of important regulations.

This process culminated in the review of the Treaty on European Union in Amsterdam. Article 6 enshrines the obligation to integrate environmental protection into the elaboration and implementation of the Community’s sectorial policies.

In this context, the Transport Council adopted a strategy in order to integrate issues concerning the environment and sustainable development into the Common Transport Policy, which was approved by the Helsinki European Council in December 1999.

In addition to other objectives, this strategy intends to contribute to the Community’s ability to ensure the fulfilment of the environmental standards set out in the Kyoto Protocol.

With regard to the United Nations I would like to highlight the Declaration and the Common Action Programme, adopted in November 1997 at the Regional Conference on Transport and Environment, which was held on the initiative of the Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

As a practical result of this Conference an agreement on regular environmental inspections of road vehicles was opened for signature. It contains specific rules with regard to the verification of conformity with the standards for emissions and noise.

Later on, the UN’s activities further developed with the adoption of a United Nations/World Health Organisation Charter on Transport, Environment and Health with the aim of taking into account not only impacts on the environment, but also impacts on health when elaborating transport policies.

The ECMT was certainly the pioneer of all efforts aimed at the environmental improvement of the system of ground transports, in particular road transports.

In fact, for a long time this organisation has been committed to ensuring that the transport policies elaborated by the Member States include concerns about environmental protection as well as concerns about the promotion of road safety.

The ECMT’s activities in this area have been translated not only into the adoption of innumerable Resolutions on environment and road safety, but also into the promotion of scientific studies and events about issues as important as the social costs of transport, the reduction of CO₂ emissions or the transport of people with reduced mobility.

The ECMT is developing its activities in close concertation with the OCDE, the European Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe with the objective of avoiding duplication of tasks and also in order to ensure coherent action focusing on the creation of a pan-european transport system.

On the other hand, it maintains a permanent consultation process with the IRU, the international body for the representation of the national associations of road transport enterprises, as well as with the associations representing the car manufacturers. In this context, it is important to mention the joint declaration with the OICA and the ACEA with the purpose of significantly reducing the CO₂ emissions of new passenger cars.

I would especially like to emphasise the cooperation between the IRU and the ECMT in areas such as taxation, the simplification of border controls, the fight against crime and fraud in transport and, above all, the implementation of the ECMT contingent.

In addition to being the only instrument of multilateral access to the international road transport market for operators in non-member states of the EU, this contingent is an instrument for the promotion of as well as an incentive for the utilisation of vehicles which fulfill the ever more demanding standards concerning road safety and environmental protection.

A sustainable transport system can by definition not lead to any aggravation of economic and social inequalities between different countries and regions.

Therefore the implementation of such a system is a challenge and at the same time a complex task to be put into practice step-by-step, based on differenciated measures adapted to the geographic, economic and transport situation of every country and region, complemented by coordinated action on a global level.

On the other hand, the creation of this system must be the result of policies based on a balanced combination of economic, regulatory and technical measures which together serve to increase the efficiency of transport and reduce the current unsustainable volume of traffic.

It is important to recognise the progress that has already been made, in particular in terms of the reduction of polluting emissions (NOx, CO and CO₂, as well as particles) and noise, due to the technological enhancement of vehicles required by the national or community regulations.

This is an interactive process as clearly expressed in programmes like Auto Oil I and Auto Oil II which used to serve and still do serve as the basis for the elaboration of proposals and directives concerning the emissions caused by motor vehicles and the fuel quality and which will enter into force in 2000 and in 2005.

However, measures taken until now did not turn out to be efficient enough to attain the desired objectives, since road transport has increased at an exponential growth rate, and forecasts expect these trends to intensify even more with the planned enlargement of the European Union.

It is thus an imperative to break the vicious circle of economic growth and the growing volume of traffic and replace it by a new relation between quality/efficiency of transports and economic development.

What is to be done?

Above all, sustainable transport development must first of all begin by reducing the number of victims of road accidents which still is unacceptably high, despite the progress achieved with regard to vehicles and equipment.

Against this gloomy background, the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union has chosen safety as a main priority of its Programme in the area of Transport.

As a result, the Council (Transport) held in June adopted a Resolution containing some fundamental ideas to be further developed by the transport industry.

Thus, considering it fundamental to achieve progress concerning behaviour, for example the compulsory use of the seat belt, the Resolution refers to the necessity to undertake work to promote the installation of devices reminding the use of the seat belt, in order to enhance the efficiency of legislation.

Among other measures, this Resolution calls on the industry to evaluate the possibility of equipping vehicles with devices that prevent the driver from starting the car if the driver’s blood alcohol concentration exceeds the legal limit.

I am confident that training drivers and raising their awareness of the use of modern technologies oriented towards sustainable mobility will lead to improved behaviour on the streets, in terms of safety as well as in terms of environmental protection, and will povide the enterprises with an added value in terms of quality and efficiency. Therefore, initiatives with the objective of enhancing professional training – basic or continuing – have to be promoted.

I would like to take this opportunity to repeat my appeal that marketing campaigns should promote vehicles focusing on road safety instead of focusing on the engine performance. In addition to that, each vehicle sold should be accompanied by appealing handbooks on good driving behaviour, especially with regard to the respective vehicle.

At the same time, as a way of putting telematic applications to the service of road safety, it is of primary importance that vehicles are equipped with board devices which provides real-time information necessary for optimising the journey.

Working to promote road safety to a large extent also implies promoting the environment, since many measures in the field of road traffic management, as is the case with the regulations of speed limits, have an immediate impact on the reduction of fuel consumption and polluting emissions.

The current oil crisis must constitute a challenge to the imagination and creativity of the automotive industry, in order to accelerate the development of vehicles running on alternative fuel and with reduced fuel consumption.

However, environmental protection also requires specific measures to promote the rationality and efficiency of transport, reducing its volume without causing any detrimental effects on the regular development of commercial exchange.

Among these measures the use of telematic applications and the promotion of intermodality deserve to be stressed.

With the objective of implementing the "polluter pays" principle in the transport sector, which must lead to the allocation of the marginal social cost, the ECMT as well as the European Union have supported research aimed at defining a methodology on a common basis for cost calculation.

The application of this principle must obviously respect the principle of subsidiarity in order not to aggravate the disparities between different levels of economic development that might put economic and social cohesion at risk.

The impact the internalisation of external costs has on the competitiveness of road transport of goods will depend on the sector’s capacity to adopt management models and practices that are compatible with sustainable development.

Telematic applications allow for better fleet management, for the reduction in the number of trips with zero occupancy rates and, simultaneously, for a better flow of transit traffic at the borders, through the use of electronic data transmission in customs procedures.

It is thus fundamental to conduct research in this field, in accordance with the European Union’s 5th Framework Programme for Research and Development.

Measures confined to road transport, however, are not sufficient for the promotion of sustainable development.

In fact, the reduction of the impact on the environment requires the concerted utilisation of the various transport modes in an intermodal chain which can only be a real alternative to road transport if there is an incentive for the competitiveness of combined transport in its various modalities.

Furthermore, investments in infrastructure are indispensable in order to overcome the existing constraints with regard to inter-operability which at present translate into technical incompatibility and lacking or insufficient interfaces between different modes.

The right policy for the development of combined transport cannot be based exclusively on the positive discrimination of initial and terminal road sections, but must above all concentrate on the improved performance of the transport chain as a whole.

In this context it is pivotal that the combined transport projects benefit both from lines of financing and regulations that allow governmental aid.

Furthermore, it is necessary to develop ways of supporting the activities of transport integrators as well as the management of intermodal platforms, which must be open to all operators in accordance with the rules of the market. These need their own management that does not coincide with that of the dominant modal operator.

There is increasing awareness of the fact that the development of the Strategic Environmental Assessment of policies, plans and progammes is essential in order to ensure the integration of environmental considerations into all levels of the decision-making process.

Finally, in full support of the conclusions of the recent political debate at the latest Council of Ministers of Transport of the ECMT in Prague, it is fundamental to call on the entire transport sector, other sectors of the economy and in general also on Regional Planning to concert their policies and decisions with the transport administration, pooling forces instead of accumulating difficulties with the common objective of reducing the need for transport.

When the strategic aspect of the decision-making process is given priority, the politicians responsible for transport will chose an ever more pro-active approach and gradually abandon the attempt of simply trying to ensure mobility, as a first priority, in scenarios where development is often insustainable.

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