Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-07-04-Speech-2-297"
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"en.20000704.12.2-297"2
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"Mr President, ten years ago, Mr Cornelissen found himself in exactly the same debate. If I were to read out his text, nobody would bat an eyelid. The train is at a standstill, and to stand still is to regress. Who in their right mind would take a train that moved backwards?
Thanks to the internal market and
commerce, the flows of traffic and commodities within the European Union have increased by 70% over the past ten years. To accommodate this increase, we need all the types of transport we can think of, ranging from internal waterways, air, roads and trains, all of which should be just in time and clean.
So far, trains have not contributed in any way. In percentage terms, the train has lost a considerable share in the transport market and it is difficult to detect any movement within European rail. At the same time, the train has proved the European Union right, namely that more competition keeps you on your toes and on the ball. Due to a lack of competition as a result of excessive protectionist behaviour on the part of the Member States, the train has been relegated to the second division in this century too. But from now on, the railways need to take down the barriers that are obstructing the cross-border transport of goods, by using each other’s infrastructure. They need to make their equipment considerably more hard-wearing because they are hopelessly lagging behind road transport in this respect.
In the next phase, the following points will be particularly important, in my opinion. Honest, non-discriminatory access should be granted to the infrastructure. Transport companies should be separated from the management of the infrastructure. It is vital for these components not to be controlled by one and the same body. Safety takes absolute priority and cannot be monitored by the transport companies themselves.
A second key element is the opening up of the railway infrastructure or, in other words, a liberalisation of the market, which is different from privatisation. This is vital if we want to breathe new life into the transport of goods. In this way, new operators are attracted who bring with them new insights and a new management culture.
Liberalisation, as mentioned in the common position, is a good start but is not enough. Only when railway networks open up once and for all will railway undertakings and their employees have a chance. Liberalisation should, however, work both ways. Nobody should have to tolerate competitors on their infrastructure that refuse or are unable to grant the same access at home."@en1
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