EU transport groups call for more government transport spending

EU transport groups call for more government transport spending    Eleven European groups representing various sectors of the transport industry have expressed support for the European Commission’s 220-billion-euro ($258 billion) plan for a trans-European transport network comprising a series of road, railway and maritime transport infrastructures and initiatives.
   In a joint appeal to the presidency of the European Union, the European Intermodal Association, the Alliance of Maritime Regional Interests in Europe, the Community of European Railways and other groups urged the EU governments to act and implement the proposed plan.
   “The transport industry views the insufficient transport infrastructure in EU countries with considerable alarm,” the industry groups said in a statement. “Even in the currently depressed economy with declining traffic flows there are perilous bottlenecks.”
   In particular, the industry groups stressed that cross-border links are insufficient.
   The enlargement of the EU in May to include eastern European countries requires “a unitary Europe-wide transport network of the 25 EU countries linked up to neighboring countries,” the industry groups said.
   They said the EC report on EU transport infrastructures, prepared with the help of former EC commissioner Karel van Miert, provides “new impulses” to address transport issues.
   The European Intermodal Association and other transport groups expect European finance ministers to approve “a package of 220-billion-euro aid for infrastructure projects” during a meeting on Thursday.
   However, the industry groups warned: “enthusiasm could be held back or even completely eliminated by institutional problems and the counter tendencies they facilitate.” The reference to the principle of “subsidiarity,” whereby national governments retain the right to make decisions, “will make it easier for governments to evade their European responsibilities,” the industry groups said in their joint appeal.