Policies

Committee on Transport and Tourism

The EPP Group, as the largest parliamentary group in the European Parliament, is a driving and innovative force for a common transport policy in the European Union.

The EPP Group's objectives for the next few years are the creation of a sustainable and environmentally-compatible transport system with sustainable mobility for European citizens and freight - reliable, safe and secure transport, transport and energy, optimising infrastructure, intelligent mobility and the global dimension in particular in the aviation sector.

Transport is an important element in the development of the European Union and thus makes a significant contribution to the completion of the single market, one of the major priorities of the EPP Group. The impacts of the financial and economic crisis on the transport sector call for a forward-looking policy with measurable targets to be set so as to tackle the social, economic and environmental challenges of the time. The EPP Group stresses the need for balanced solutions for better coordination of transport policy and other policies such as energy, environment and innovation as efficient and sustainable framework for the future for the European transport sector. As its high priority, the EPP Group strongly supports the Union’s engagement to improve safety in all modes of transport.

At the same time, the EPP Group's priority is the punctual and correct implementation and transposition of existing legislation, as well as the cooperation with the Member States and regions to improve legislation and to help achieving targets of transport decarbonisation and sustainability of mobility.

The EPP Group supports the idea of co-modality and advocates within the cooperation of the different transport modes a modest shift to more environmentally-friendly modes such as rail, buses and coaches, maritime transport and inland navigation. Furthermore, the EPP Group notes the importance of the added value of the Trans-European Transport Network programme (TEN-T) which cannot be achieved unless the entire network is completed. Therefore the EPP Group urges that new methods of financing transport infrastructures be developed and transport-related research programmes should be raised.

Similarly, the EPP Group advocates the better use of and the earlier introduction of intelligent transport systems, technology innovations and transport telematics in order to improve transport efficiency, reduce congestion and improve the safety and environmental performances of the different modes of transport. In this sense, the EPP Group urges the rapid introduction of intelligent systems and technological innovations such as SESAR (Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research Programme), ERTMS (European Rail Traffic Management System), RIS (River Information Services) and Galileo (the European satellite-based global navigation system).