Dr Renate Sommer
MEP
European Parliament

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure for me as representative of the European Parliament to be invited to your high-level congress.

Our moderator already mentioned it in his introduction:

Evolving from the European Parliamentary Assembly 50 years ago and for quite some time only holding consultative power, the European Parliament has since long ceased to be a paper tiger. Today, Parliament is on an equal footing with the Council of Ministers in about 75 % of all legislation, hence an integral part of the European Legislative.

As regards transport policy, we have been co-legislators for many years already. The same holds true for environment policy which is a horizontal mainstreaming task of EU legislation and influences transport policy in a considerable way - and this not only since the discussion about climate change.

With the Reform Treaty of Lisbon which is currently being ratified in the Member States, we as Euro-Parliamentarians will have a say in more than 95 % of EU legislation. The European Parliament being the only European Institution which is democratically legitimized by constant elections, this change is of the utmost importance: For we are the representatives of the citizens of Europe.

By now, we have 500 million European citizens and they have an enormous need for mobility, especially if we take into account the economic sector, and here essentially industry and commerce, whose needs exceed the needs of individual mobility by far. Commerce in the Single Market of the 27 Member States is booming. And we export far beyond the external borders of the EU to the entire world.

This secures our economic survival in the face of an ever faster proliferating globalisation. It is exactly for this reason that the EU needs particularly efficient transport routes - within its own borders, but also in the neighbouring countries and far beyond.

Transport and logistics are therefore the great topics in the European discussion.

We know that modern transport infrastructures are an indispensable prerequisite to economy and competition. They are a decisive factor for growth and employment. This was true, back when the Silk Road was at its heyday from about 150 BC until the sixth century AD. And it holds still true today:

Roads are the life-giving veins of our countries!

The historical Silk Road was one of the longest and one of the oldest trade routes connecting the North-West of China to the Mediterranean. Today, we gladly point to the glamorous history of trade between East and West along the Silk Road, for the Silk Road connected people and countries of Eurasia. Civilisations and religions met. Skills and knowledge were exchanged. People got to know each other and to learn from each other.

In the mid-1990s, a plan for a "new Silk Road" was developed and it was to be a new "Eurasian Land Bridge". This inspired a great number of infrastructure projects between Europe and Asia in order to take up the legacy of the great past and resuscitate the Silk Road of old. This is in the interest of all parties concerned, for the world is growing together faster and faster. Today, trade between Europe and Asia is prospering and transport routes between both continents become ever more important.

The Silk Road was a widespread network of caravan roads.

But the EU also has its own "Silk Road": The Trans-European Network (TEN) establishing connections between the different transport networks of the Member States and eliminating traffic bottlenecks. The Trans-European Network consists of a high quality infrastructure for road, rail, and water transport, encompassing the satellite radio-navigation system Galileo. The TENs are of pivotal importance for the Single Market: The bulk of the entire transportation of goods and persons within the EU is being conducted using the Trans-European Network.

A coherent network leads to the encouragement of prosperity and employment. The completion of the TEN networks plays therefore a decisive role in the realisation of the objectives of the Lisbon Agenda. Efficient and rapid transport connections increase not only the competitiveness but also the economic and social coherence of an enlarged European Union.

The main responsibility of the development, the financing, and the realisation of the projects lies with the Member States. Nevertheless, the EU contributes considerably to the improvement of the networks by giving incentives and by subsidising projects financially.

The European Parliament supports this policy.

However, we also see it as our task to give more importance to the environmental relevance. In the transport sector, we need sustainability. And this we can reach by environmental standards, technical progress, interoperability of technical systems, intelligent transport management systems, and in general a coherent transport infrastructure. The question of whether the internalisation of external costs for the various modes of transport is possible and whether it makes sense in the end will certainly keep us busy for the next months to come.

These reflections are also important for our neighbour states, because the European Union wants to create an efficient transport market with its respective neighbours. By applying the rules and regulations of the Single Market, the legal provisions, standards and technical specifications of our most important partners in trade are to be compatible with those of the EU. Furthermore, infrastructures need to be improved, customs formalities streamlined, and bureaucracy reduced.

This promotes trade, sustainable growth, and social coherence.

The extension of the most important Trans-European transport axes to our neighbouring countries comprises five trans-national axes. They include a number of ancillary routes in regions which have a relatively low traffic volume due to political instability. Therefore, they aim at strengthening the regional collaboration and integration. These axes connect the European Union with Russia and the Black Sea. Moreover, the network leads from the EU to the Balkans, to Turkey, the Caucasus and via the Middle East to Egypt. Another axis connects the EU with Egypt via the Maghreb countries.

The creation of a common transport market is part of the European Neighbourhood Policy which was developed with the aim of preventing the emergence of new dividing lines between the EU and its neighbours: The European Neighbourhood Policy aims at encouraging peace, stability, security, growth, development, and prosperity in neighbouring countries. For we want to contribute to the modernisation of the economy and the society. Incidentally, this is not done out of charity but in our very own interest. We need neighbours with stable political systems. And naturally, trade between the EU and its neighbours must be facilitated and encouraged by efficient transport connections. Here, it is necessary to concentrate on a limited number of key cross-border connections in order to guarantee that trade and economic growth may be stimulated perceptibly.

This is a policy which is notably important with regard to Turkey, as the on-going accession negotiations with the EU are an open-end process. They do not lead inevitably to an EU membership! In the end, a decisive factor will be the integration capacity of the EU. After the extensive enlargement to the East in recent years, the capacity of the EU to further enlargement is rather exhausted. First of all, we have to consolidate what we have. So if Turkey is to become a member of the EU in a few years from now, Turkey could for quite some time only become a second class member. We, however, want close co-operation with a first-class neighbour!

Turkey is a very special partner to the EU. Therefore, this country takes part in the concept of the community corridors as well as in multilateral agreements. Thereby, Turkey can be included in the European transport market; it may use the advantages of the EU community transport network, without being a member as such.

The TRACECA Corridor, the so-called Transport Corridor Europe - Caucasus - Central Asia, aims at reviving the old Silk Road. It is a part of the five trans-national axes; it connects Europe with Turkey and then goes on to Central Asia via the South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia). In addition to the road network, railway routes are expanded and ferry connections across the Black and the Caspian Sea improved. Additionally, the modernisation of infrastructure is continuously pushed further. Today, the "new Silk Road" has become the most important transport corridor between Europe and Central Asia. Trade and economic relations are facilitated, intensified and made more cost-effective.

Europe profits as partner in a region of great economic growth. Furthermore, the concept of trans-national axes is of vital importance for a long-term pacification of the entire region. The inclusion of the various nations and the common interest of all participates to the maintenance of the newly gained prosperity, helps secure happiness and peace. All participants profit from trade and will in their own interest eschew conflicts among themselves. And this, in the end, serves the very interest of the European Union.

I thank you for your attention.

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