Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-11-13-Speech-2-153"
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"en.20011113.8.2-153"2
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"Mr President, you will not be surprised to learn that I see things in quite the opposite way to Mr Schmitt. What is true is that we need a European legal framework for public local transport, as there is legal uncertainty and the market has already been opened up. The question is, though, how closely to the citizens Europe's decisions must be taken on a given subject. Local public transport is, in my view, primarily the responsibility of local authorities and that is how it should stay. Towns and parishes should themselves decide whether they want to run their local public transport by their own enterprise, and then whether they are able to do so.
It is also clear that those who say they are going to do it themselves must not be allowed to compete elsewhere. I wish to thank Mr Meijer, the rapporteur, for pursuing this basic idea with, if I may say so, a certain stubbornness, as this issue of community decision-making is an important point.
My second point is that where there is competition in local public transport provision, it can lead to minimal wages and social dumping. My dear Mr Schmitt, a bus driver working on regular services does not earn a fortune – barely DM 200 above the social security rate in Germany. It is for that reason that social minima must be maintained when there is a change of operator.
My third point is that local public transport is run in many Member States' rural areas by small and medium-sized enterprises. These must not be unnecessarily squeezed out of the market, quite the contrary. I believe they must also have a chance in the market when routes or networks are awarded directly. The situation prevails in any case, in many areas of Germany, that up to 90% of local public transport is to and from schools, and here too, the direct awarding of contracts must be given more of a chance. I think we can agree that the Commission's time limits for contracts and handing-over are both too short, and we strove together for their extension. As regards the other things, our opinions simply differ and, unlike Mr Schmitt, I believe that tomorrow will not see a catastrophe, but that we will be very close to the communities in deciding in their favour on public local transport."@en1
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