Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-01-17-Speech-3-316"
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"en.20010117.11.3-316"2
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"Mr President, I should like to thank the rapporteur, Mr Costa, for his excellent work on what is a very difficult, detailed but important dossier.
Congestion, pollution, gridlock, global warming, floods, freak weather. Is it the end of the world? No, it is just rush-hour in my region. The same problems are occurring in regions and Member States across the European Union. We all have the same transport crisis and there may be common solutions to these common problems. We must all accept the fact, for example, that the fastest growing source of global warming gases is the transport sector. Something surely, colleagues, must be done.
However, as we all know, everyone wants someone else to do it. That is our challenge. I hope Mr Costa's work, his report and the conclusions we will reach tomorrow will provide a framework within which we can begin to tackle these problems. We must promote better understanding of our common problems and, indeed, find common solutions to them across the European Union, but on the basis of consensus and mutual understanding.
Secondly, we must promote an exchange of ideas. Many localities and regions have excellent ideas, and that knowledge and information must be disseminated throughout the European Union.
Indeed, that is my third point: Europe has a key role to play here in disseminating best practice as to how best we tackle the transport challenge.
Fourthly and finally, in terms of what Europe's contribution can be within the framework of this particular initiative, I hope that governments, local authorities and those implementing taxes and charges can do so within a framework that is developed and integrated at a European level, and do it together.
However, I want to say that there is great concern and anxiety about this particular Commission initiative and, indeed, about Mr Costa's report, although I personally feel that many of those concerns were fully addressed in committee where, I know, there was widespread cross-party support for Mr Costa's work. There were concerns, for example, about subsidiarity. But that was more than adequately addressed when we said to the Commission: you have a key role to play in trying to pull this research together. But, clearly, Member States and their role will be fully respected in terms of their rights to determine their own taxation levels.
Indeed, the work we have done has already gained and secured widespread support. I can refer to a letter from the organisation that represents the motoring clubs across Europe, including, for example, the AA and RAC, who are broadly sympathetic and supportive of our work, because they know that unless Europe takes a lead on this issue, unless we begin pulling together the best of the ideas from across the European Union, then the cities, towns and rural areas, will continue to suffer from unacceptable levels of congestion and pollution.
I commend Mr Costa's report, his work and, above all, his ability to bring us all together in a single common objective of trying to tackle the transport crisis."@en1
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