EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ««« « « « « 1999 « « 2004 ««« Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy 2001/0229(COD) 22 February 2002 OPINION of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy for the Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Decision No 1692/96/EC on Community guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network (COM(2001) 544 – C5-0478/2001 – 2001/0229(COD)) Draftsman: Marialiese Flemming AD\461312EN.doc PE 312.627 EN EN PE 312.627 2/14 AD\461312EN.doc EN PROCEDURE The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy appointed Marialiese Flemming draftsman at its meeting of 6 November 2001. It considered the draft opinion at its meetings of .... At the last meeting it adopted the following amendments unanimously. The following were present for the vote: Caroline F. Jackson, chairman; Marialiese Flemming, draftsman; Per-Arne Arvidsson, María del Pilar Ayuso González, Hans Blokland, David Robert Bowe, John Bowis, Niels Busk, Martin Callanan, Dorette Corbey, Alexander de Roo, Jillian Evans, Anne Ferreira, Karl-Heinz Florenz, Pernille Frahm, Laura González Álvarez, Robert Goodwill, Anneli Hulthén, Marie Anne Isler Béguin, Christa Klaß, Eija-Riitta Anneli Korhola, Bernd Lange, Torben Lund, Jules Maaten, Minerva Melpomeni Malliori, Erik Meijer, Jorge Moreira da Silva, Emilia Franziska Müller, Riitta Myller, Giuseppe Nisticò, Mauro Nobilia, Ria G.H.C. Oomen-Ruijten, Marit Paulsen, Dagmar Roth-Behrendt, Guido Sacconi, Giacomo Santini (for Carlos Costa Neves), Karin Scheele, Inger Schörling, Jonas Sjöstedt, Renate Sommer (for Avril Doyle), María Sornosa Martínez, Catherine Stihler, Astrid Thors, Antonios Trakatellis and Rainer Wieland. (for Cristina García-Orcoyen Tormo). AD\461312EN.doc 3/14 PE 312.627 EN SHORT JUSTIFICATION In adopting Decision No 1692/96/EC, Parliament approved the Community guidelines for the development of a trans-European transport network (TEN-T) by 2010. Article 21 thereof requires the Commission to review every five years the decision on the planned priority projects, as well as the outline plans and criteria for identifying other projects of common interest. The Commission is to submit a report indicating whether the guidelines should be adapted to take account of 'economic developments and technological developments in the transport field, in particular in rail transport'. The White Paper published by the Commission in 2001 on European transport policy for 2010 also serves as that report. The proposal for the European Parliament and Council Decision amending Decision No 1692/96/EC sets out the details of the changes which the Commission proposes to make to Decision No 1692/96/EC to update the guidelines. The purpose of the revision is to concentrate infrastructure policy on eliminating bottlenecks in the rail sector and developing key transport routes, to improve the position of peripheral regions and to deal with the increase in traffic likely, especially in border regions, as a result of EU enlargement. The list of priority major projects is to be updated. Support is to be given in particular to developing corridors in which freight traffic has priority and a Europe-wide high-speed network. Liberalisation of international rail transport is also planned. The Commission's aim of increasing the share of safe and environment-friendly modes of transport in Europe and hence breaking and reversing the current trend is welcomed by the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy, as is the planned EU- wide standardisation of quality criteria. The amendments proposed are made in the light of the 2001 White Paper on European transport policy for 2010 and of the 2001 Gothenburg European Council. They are the first step in a process of which the next stage will be to define, on the basis of a new proposal in 2004, new outline plans to cope with the evolution of the Union's (transport) policy priorities and enlargement. The Gothenburg European Council recognised that the integration of sustainable development into sectoral policies, as fostered by the EU, requires environmental objectives to have the same status as economic and social objectives. As regards transport policy, the Commission has been asked to submit the relevant revised TEN guidelines by 2003 and the new infrastructure pricing directive by 2004. The Gothenburg European Council stressed the need to decouple economic growth and transport growth. PE 312.627 4/14 AD\461312EN.doc EN AMENDMENTS The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy calls on the Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following amendments in its report: Text proposed by the Commission1 Amendments by Parliament Amendment 1 Recital 2 (2) Requirements for the protection of the (2) Requirements for the protection of the environment must be integrated into the environment must be integrated into the definition and implementation of policy in definition and implementation of policy in the field of the trans-European networks in the field of the trans-European networks in accordance with Article 6 of the Treaty. accordance with Article 6 of the Treaty. This entails the promotion of modes that This entails the promotion of modes that cause less damage to the environment, cause less damage to the environment, namely rail transport, short sea shipping namely rail transport, short sea shipping and inland waterways shipping. and inland waterways shipping. The maximum EU financial contribution should be increased from 10% to 20% in order to promote cross-border projects of trans-European significance. Justification Self-explanatory. Amendment 2 Recital 2 a (new) (2a) It is necessary to define health and environmental quality objectives for transport, in particular the TEN, based on health and environmental criteria, standards and sustainability requirements. In all Member States, traffic accidents, 1 OJ C …. AD\461312EN.doc 5/14 PE 312.627 EN and in particular road traffic accidents, are a major cause of death and serious injury. Road transport is a major contributor to human exposure to air pollution. A considerable number of people in Europe are exposed to levels of traffic noise that cause not only serious annoyance and sleep loss but also communication problems, and even learning problems in children. Heavy road traffic and major transport infrastructures can divide communities, reduce opportunities for social interaction and worsen people's quality of life, and can be associated with reduced interpersonal networks of support at local level. Transport activities can contaminate soil, water and air, through accidents involving dangerous goods and contamination from transport infrastructures. The impacts of the TEN on the environment and health have therefore to be minimised. The TEN should contribute to an improvement of the environment and health quality. Justification Self-explanatory. Amendment 3 Recital 2 b (new) (2b) The enforcement of current road safety legislation needs to be strengthened. The ratification of legally binding UN/EC instruments relevant to transport, environment and health by Member States that have not yet done so needs to be encouraged. PE 312.627 6/14 AD\461312EN.doc EN Justification Self-explanatory. Amendment 4 Recital 3 a (new) (3a) As an interim solution, the Laeken European Council asked the Commission to submit a proposal for an extension of the ecopoint system, as provided for in Protocol 9 to the Act of Accession of Austria, in order to conclude the transport chapter in the accession negotiations before the end of the year. Justification Self-explanatory. Amendment 5 Recital 3 b (new) (3b) The headline objective of decoupling transport growth significantly from growth in gross domestic product in order to reduce congestion and other negative side-effects of transport, as proposed by the Commission in its communication on a European Union Strategy for Sustainable Development1, needs to be implemented. Justification Self-explanatory. 1 COM(2001) 264 AD\461312EN.doc 7/14 PE 312.627 EN Amendment 6 Recital 8 a (new) (8a) Transport infrastructure needs to be assessed in eleven candidate countries and requires a strategic environmental assessment reflecting the principles and procedures set out in Directive 2001/42/EC on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment. Funding for transport infrastructure development in these countries through the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession (ISPA) must be compatible with the provisions of Community environmental legislation, in particular Council Directive 79/409/EEC on wild birds, Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild flora and fauna and Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment, as amended by Council Directive 97/11/EC. Justification It is essential that transport infrastructure development projects in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe do not conflict with the acquis communautaire, especially as far as EC nature conservation legislation is concerned. A recent study by BirdLife International, 'An assessment of the potential impact of the TINA network on important bird areas in the accession countries', concluded