Rendere i trasporti più ecologici, Greening Transport

Brussels, 8.7.2008

COM(2008) 433 final

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN

PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL

Greening Transport

{SEC(2008) 2206}

1. INTRODUCTION

Mobility is key to our quality of life and is vital for the EU's competitiveness. It is

the backbone of the economy making the links between the different stages of

production chains and allowing service industries to reach their clients, as well as

being a significant employer in its own right. As such it is key to achieving the goals

of the EU's `Lisbon' strategy for growth and employment. This is all the more so

given that the sector is growing rapidly: between 1995 and 2005, goods and

passenger transport in the EU grew by 31.3% and 17.7% respectively and this growth

is predicted to continue.

But mobility also imposes costs on society due to the impacts it causes. Transport

emissions threaten our health, negatively affect our local environmental quality and

make a significant and growing contribution to climate change. CO2 emissions from

the road sector are 30% higher than in 1990 and transport is the only sector of the

economy where emissions are predicted to increase in the future. Noise and traffic

jams are an everyday annoyance for many citizens, and transport accidents kill many

people each year.

"Sustainable mobility", that is disconnecting mobility from its harmful effects, has

been at the heart of the EU's Transport Policy for several years. In its 2006 review1

of the 2001 White Paper, the Commission pointed to the need to use a broad range of

policy tools, ranging from economic instruments and regulatory measures to

infrastructure investment and new technologies in order to achieve sustainable

mobility.

"Getting the prices right" is essential. Transport users already pay a significant

amount, but the price they pay often bears little connection to the real costs on

society of their choices. They have thus no incentive to adopt less costly behaviour.

By making payments smarter2, economic instruments (taxes, charges or emission

trading schemes) can encourage transport users to switch to cleaner vehicles or

modes (including walking and cycling), to use less congested infrastructure or to

travel at different times. As such they represent an effective way to make mobility

sustainable.

Price signals will be even more effective if the market offers realistic alternatives,

cleaner vehicles at an affordable price, or an appropriate level of service in another

1 COM(2006)

314.

2 For example, for congestion charging, allowing this to reflect the location and time of day.

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mode of transport. These alternatives may not always exist, in particular where there

is underinvestment in infrastructure and in research and development because of

markets failures. As a result other, complementary, policy measures are also needed,

including regulation. These measures should neither lock-in nor favour one particular

technological approach or solution.

The Commission is therefore putting forward two different types of initiatives to

redouble its efforts to make transport greener and more sustainable. The first type is

to "get the prices right" through internalising the external costs of transport. Here the

Commission's strategy is to act in a way that is tailor-made to each impact and

transport mode, taking into account the fact that the EU has already started work in

this area. As such the EU rules on energy taxation and the Commission's proposals

to include the aviation sector in the EU's Emissions Trading System are significant

first steps in the strategy. The second type is a set of complementary measures

comprising regulatory instruments, infrastructure measures and research and

development measures. Here too there are many EU measures on which efforts can

build.

This Communication begins by summarising the existing and proposed EU measures

in the field of sustainable transport. These measures are and will continue to be

complementary to action taken by Member States, which are a vital element in

achieving sustainable mobility. Next it describes the two accompanying initiatives on

internalising the external costs of transport - an overall strategy and a proposal to

revise the directive on heavy goods vehicle charging for infrastructure use. Finally

the communication describes a further accompanying communication on reducing

rail noise and sets out the complementary initiatives that the Commission will take

over the coming months.

All these initiatives are particularly important given the current political context.

Both the European Parliament3 and European Council4 have recently stressed the

importance of a sustainable transport policy, particularly in the context of combating

climate change. Transport will clearly have to contribute to the ambitious goals that

the European Council set itself in 2007: reducing greenhouse gases by 20% (30% in

the framework of an international agreement), increasing the use of renewable energy

sources to 20% and reducing energy consumption by 20%, all by 2020.

2. BUILDING ON WHAT EXISTS...

The accompanying Greening Transport Inventory shows that the EU has already

done a lot in all transport modes and many different policy areas ranging from

research and development to energy policy and from transport to environment policy.

As ever their implementation is key to their effectiveness. The measures are grouped

according to their major negative impact, namely climate change, local pollution,

noise pollution, congestion and accidents. A summary of the initiatives addressing

each impact is given below.

3 Resolution of 11.3.2008 on sustainable European transport policy, taking into account European energy

and environment policies - Rapporteur: Mr Albertini.

4 March 2008 European Council.

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2.1. Climate

change

Climate change is now the priority environmental problem with the most significant

EU measures having recently been proposed by the Commission and awaiting

agreement between the Council and European Parliament. These include measures to

limit CO2 emissions from new cars, to include aviation in the EU Emissions Trading

System (ETS), to apply differentiated annual circulation and registration taxes for

cars based on their CO2 emissions and to ensure that all means of transport not

covered by the ETS contribute to achieving national targets for limiting greenhouse

gas emissions.

Member States should meet objectives for increasing the share of renewable energy

used in road transport and the Commission recently proposed making a 10% target

binding. The Commission has also proposed that fuel suppliers reduce greenhouse

gas emissions from fuel across its life-cycle by 10% by 2020. For motor fuels, EU

rules set minimum tax levels; nevertheless most aviation and maritime uses are

exempt, although Member States can limit these exemptions to international

transport.

In addition, there are particular EU requirements for some road vehicles concerning

equipment such as air-conditioning systems. The Commission is developing

initiatives on gear-shift indicators and recently proposed a framework for tyre

pressure monitoring systems.

2.2. Local

pollution

As far as tackling local pollution is concerned the EU has already achieved a great

deal, but there remains a significant amount of work still to do. Measures to limit air

pollution have been developed in the framework of the Single Market and vary

considerably between the means of transport but are focused on limiting emissions

from new vehicles (the "EURO" standards), vessels or recreational craft. There are

also maximum levels of certain pollutants in fuels, such as sulphur in marine fuel and

lead in petrol, and rules to reduce emissions during fuel storage and distribution.

For waterborne transport there are requirements to limit water pollution. All transport

modes are covered by general legislation on where and how waste can be disposed of

and there are specific requirements for some types of road vehicles and their

components (e.g. tyres, batteries).

In terms of vehicle procurement the Commission has recently proposed5 that all

public purchases of cars, vans, buses and lorries use a methodology that takes into

account the energy consumption, CO2 and pollutant emissions costs during the

vehicle's use over its lifetime. Most new transport infrastructure projects are also

subject to rules on environmental assessment and some also to the rules on nature

protection.

5 COM(2007)

817.

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2.3. Noise

pollution

EU measures to limit noise pollution have focused on providing a general framework

for assessing noise and for limiting noise emissions from all new, motorised, inland

transport modes in the framework of the Single Market.6 Limits also exist for

aircraft, and more stringent restrictions can be put in place at certain EU airports.

Airports, large towns (including their ports), heavily-used railways and roads must

also be mapped for noise and action must be taken to reduce it where necessary.

There are also limits for tyre noise which come into force in 2009 for replacement

tyres.

2.4. Congestion

EU measures have helped finance increased and alternative infrastructure capacity

and EU policy has aimed to move transport away from the most congested modes,

while at the same time developing common charging frameworks. There are existing

measures for charging heavy-goods vehicles for infrastructure use and also specific

requirements for rail infrastructure. In addition, the Commission recently made a

proposal on airport charging. Rail, inland waterways and maritime transport receive

most funding for infrastructure provision under the Trans-European Networks and

the Marco Polo programme, mainly in order to encourage a shift from road transport.

There are measures in the air and rail sectors that aim to increase infrastructure

efficiency, and work on technological improvements in the road sector is ongoing.

All sectors will benefit from the possibilities that Galileo will offer for fleet

management, optimising transport routes to avoid congestion and preventing

accidents.

2.5. Accidents

Safety has been one of the key parts of EU transport policy since its very beginning.

There are many different EU safety requirements for new road vehicles, as well as

requirements for obtaining driving licences, limiting the speed of buses and coaches,

and ensuring the roadworthiness of vehicles and the infrastructure itself. There are

also a variety of safety measures in the rail and inland waterways sectors, addressing

both the rolling stock and vessels, while in the rail sector infrastructure and

organisations are considered. In the maritime sector there are many measures to

increase safety, prevent accidents involving ships, passengers and crew and reduce

the environmental impacts of accidents; these are all backed up by inspections. In the

aviation sector safety measures include the aircraft's design and maintenance, use

and personnel licensing. The aviation, rail and maritime sectors have requirements on

accident investigation and reporting.

3. GETTING THE PRICES RIGHT ...

Capitalising on the existing policy instruments is crucial to making transport more

sustainable and addressing the five different negative impacts of transport. As

mentioned above, getting prices right is one significant way of doing this and is

central to the Commission's approach. The Commission is therefore presenting two

6 Including, for example, the technical specifications for interoperability in the rail sector.

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initiatives along with this communication that aim to do this: a communication on

internalising the external costs of transport; and a proposal to revise the existing

directive on infrastructure charging for heavy goods vehicles.

3.1. Internalising the external costs of transport

This communication and its annexes contain two elements. The first is a common

framework for estimating the external costs of transport. This is based upon the

results of Commission-financed work to review best practices, suggest a

methodology and produce a handbook containing reference values that can be used

for external costs. The communication provides guidance on how to use these values

for external costs.

The second element of the communication is a strategy that sets out how external

costs can be internalised in all modes of transport. In so doing it meets the

requirement of the directive on heavy goods vehicles charging.7 The strategy takes

into account that for some impacts - such as noise and congestion - the costs that

transport users impose on society vary in space, time and depending on the mode in

question, while for others, such as greenhouse gas emissions, this is not the case. As

a result the strategy is both mode and impact-specific.

Over the years the Commission has consistently stressed the importance of using

economic instruments to achieve its policy goals. Within this framework, efforts to

internalise the external costs of transport were a key part of the 2001 Transport

White Paper and its 2006 Mid-Term Review. The EU has already started to

internalise these external costs through the aforementioned rules on motor fuel

taxation, as well as with the Commission's proposals to include the aviation sector in

the EU's ETS and to incorporate a CO2 component in registration and annual

circulation taxes for cars. This strategy builds on these initiatives.

In the road sector the strategy launches immediate action to allow more effective and

efficient internalisation with the proposal on infrastructure charging for heavy goods

vehicles (see section 3.2). Private transport is not covered because of subsidiarity, but

the Commission encourages Member States to implement a charging system for all

road transport and not just heavy goods vehicles as this would create incentives for

all road users to change their behaviour, thereby increasing the significant positive

impacts.

In the rail sector the proposal on internalisation for heavy goods vehicles will also

have a positive impact by giving further opportunities to internalise in the sector,

provided that other modes also internalise.

The strategy also sets out subsequent steps in other modes. For inland waterways it

announces the internalisation of all external costs in the sector, and, for maritime,

where internalisation has yet to begin, it commits the Commission to acting in 2009

if the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has not agreed concrete measures

to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by then, something the EU is actively working

towards. Commission action may include integrating the sector into the EU's ETS.

7 Directive 2006/38/EC amending Directive 1999/62/EC on the charging of heavy goods vehicles for the

use of certain infrastructures.

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For maritime transport, the strategy will be developed in line with the new European

Integrated Maritime Policy.8

At the same time the strategy announces a cross-cutting internalisation measure for

later in 2008: the revision of the Energy Taxation Directive. This will ensure that

energy taxation better complements the EU ETS and better reflects the EU's climate

change, energy and air quality goals.

The strategy will be evaluated in 2013.

3.2. Road charging

Road transport accounts for the majority of external costs from transport so getting

the prices right in this area is particularly urgent. Revising the heavy goods vehicles

charging directive to encourage Member States to implement differentiated charging

systems will improve the efficiency and environmental performance of road freight

transport, something that is particularly important given its significant contribution to

traffic and emissions.

At present the directive effectively stops Member States from making the most

effective use of their tolling systems or the systems they are developing. Charges

cannot currently be calculated and varied on the basis of external costs. This means

that Member States cannot put in place sufficient incentives for operators to

modernise their fleet with cleaner vehicles and to adapt their route planning and

logistics to make them more sustainable.

The proposal would change this by giving Member States a framework to better vary

charges9 according to the local pollution (air and noise)10 and congestion that the

particular vehicle causes at the time it is used. By reducing congestion it will also

contribute significantly to reducing CO2 emissions.

To ensure that the tolls are both proportionate to the actual environmental damage

and congestion caused and that the internal market continues to work properly the

Commission is proposing that a common and transparent method is used for

calculating external costs. The directive would also insist that any revenues from the

scheme are earmarked for reducing the environmental impacts of transport and

congestion11 and that, after a transition period, charges are levied using electronic

systems.

8 COM (2007) 575. This policy includes several proposals improving the sustainability (greening) of

maritime transport. For more details see section 4 of the Greening Transport Inventory Commission

Staff Working Document SEC (2008) 2206.

9 As long as only infrastructure costs are recovered and subject to a number of conditions, which include

that no additional revenue is generated, the existing directive allows limited differentiation of tolls.

10 Costs for CO2 will be tackled through fuel taxes as part of an envisaged review of the Energy Taxation

Directive.

11 For example, alternative infrastructure, traffic management and research.

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4. TAKING COMPLEMENTARY MEASURES

As stated above, both action to get the prices right and complementary action are

needed to tackle the negative effects of transport. This is all the more so because, as

the strategy part of the Communication on internalisation underlines, prices for some

products and services, such as transport, may not lead to a change in behaviour (i.e.

demand is rather inelastic). As a result complementary measures are essential. The

Commission is therefore presenting, at the same time as this communication, a

further communication to reduce rail noise from existing wagons and will, over the

next 18 months, take additional steps focused on different modes and impacts. These

are outlined below.

4.1. Reducing rail noise

Estimates show that 10% of the EU's population is exposed to high rail noise levels

and they are one of the main factors limiting the further growth of the sector.

Reducing noise will have a positive effect not just of itself, but also in terms of

making the development of rail transport and infrastructure more publicly acceptable.

If, as a result, rail infrastructure can be more easily expanded and more flexibly used,

this in turn should help shift passengers and freight away from road transport and

onto rail thereby reducing the overall societal impacts of the transport sector.

Given that EU rules already limit the noise emissions from new rolling stock, this

communication focuses on existing wagons and sets out measures to equip the

majority of them with low-noise brakes. The strategy combines noise emissions

ceilings, voluntary commitments and legislation setting financial incentives.

The Commission will propose the legislation in 2008 to ensure that, by adapting the

existing rules on track access charging, charging schemes are harmonised across

Europe. Quieter wagons will be charged less than noisier ones to allow payback of

the necessary investment. Fitting with low noise brakes should be finished in 2015.

After retrofitting, higher charges should be introduced for the remaining noisy

wagons with Member States introducing noise emissions ceilings to cap the overall

amount of noise on a particular stretch of track - and hence provide an incentive to

use lower noise wagons - if they so wish.

To speed up implementation, the Commission also encourages voluntary

commitments to pass on price signals to wagon owners before the legal deadlines.

4.2. Measures that will be taken in the next 18 months

4.2.1. Climate

change

As climate change is probably the number one challenge for the EU and for

transport, the Commission will come forward with measures that go beyond those

mentioned above for internalising external costs. For aviation, it will propose

legislation on emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from aviation, while in the road

sector, the Commission will, by the end of 2008, propose reducing the CO2

emissions from new vans, a system for tyre labelling and revising the existing car

labelling directive.

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4.2.2. Local

pollution

Many EU measures already exist to tackle local and regional pollution, so new

initiatives concentrate on strengthening and complementing them.

Given the contribution that volatile organic compounds make to smog, limiting their

emission during the refuelling of passenger cars at petrol stations is important. The

Commission will therefore propose legislation to achieve this. The aforementioned

NOx from aviation proposal should also contribute to reducing local air pollution.

Further reducing the sulphur content of liquid fuels has been identified as being a

cost effective way to reduce air pollutant emissions. To achieve this the Commission

will come forward with a proposal in 2009 which will take into account the

significant recent progress on the issue in the IMO and which will include maritime

transport fuels.

4.2.3. Noise

Given the growing nuisance noise causes, its impact on health12 and the effect this

has on limiting transport infrastructure improvements, the Commission considers it

very important to continue its efforts to reduce noise emissions from transport. In

addition to the legislative proposal on rail noise (see section 4.1) the Commission

may take further action to limit noise at EU airports by revising the existing directive

on aircraft noise. In 2009, the Commission will also propose revising the directive on

environmental noise.

4.2.4. Congestion

With road congestion estimated to cost around 1.1% of EU GDP per year, the

Commission considers tackling it a priority. Internalisation of external costs through

smart road charging systems will be the key way to do this and the proposal to revise

the directive on infrastructure charging for heavy goods vehicles will be the main EU

instrument in the road sector. This will be accompanied by the Commission making

funding available under the Trans-European Network programme for actions on

electronic toll systems, where tolling systems have been implemented together by at

least two Member States. The Commission will also clarify to what extent and under

which conditions interoperable on-board tolling equipment may be included.

In the aviation sector the recent Single Sky Package aims to increase the capacity of

European airspace three-fold while reducing air emissions per flight by up to 10%.

4.2.5. Cross-cutting

measures

The Commission will also come forward with actions that will have positive effects

on several negative impacts, especially in the rail and inland waterways sectors,

which offer an alternative to road transport. For rail, the Commission will adopt a

legislative proposal on rail freight and one revising the directive on rail infrastructure

charging (which will incorporate the changes mentioned in section 4.1).

12 See, for example on airport noise, COM(2008) 66.

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The action plan on urban mobility will consider all five negative impacts and propose

actions with a clear EU added value while respecting the subsidiarity principle. It

will differentiate between actions that can be taken in the short term, and those that

can be taken over the medium to long term.

The Green Paper on the Trans-European Transport Networks will review existing

policy, draw lessons, and consider how best to take this policy forward in the years to

come. This will include reinforcing the networks' sustainable development

dimension and considering how they can best contribute to tackling climate change.

The action plan on Intelligent Transport Systems for Road, which will be

accompanied by a legislative initiative, will set out a common approach to get

existing technologies onto the market and used. It should help identify a set of core

Europe-wide ITS applications, work out their business case, organise the necessary

research and validation, and manage their implementation across Europe by road

operators, industry, service providers and road users. These technologies will help to

reduce congestion, while increasing safety and fuel efficiency by allowing shippers

and the travelling public to plan their journeys to avoid traffic jams and by allowing

governmental authorities to direct traffic away from areas where it would contribute

significantly to local air pollution. In addition, using existing infrastructure more

efficiently will mean that less new infrastructure will be needed, avoiding habitat

fragmentation and soil sealing. Making use of future Galileo applications will also be

part of this plan.

5. CONCLUSION

Achieving sustainable mobility requires efforts from all stakeholders and not just the

Commission. While the three new initiatives accompanying this communication (the

communications on internalising the external costs of transport and on reducing rail

noise, as well as the proposal to revise the directive on infrastructure charging for

heavy goods vehicles) and the other measures set out within it are a further

contribution from the Commission to meeting the challenge, concerted action by all

stakeholders is needed to increase their effectiveness.

The three new measures accompanying this communication build on the large body

of existing initiatives set out in the accompanying inventory in order to make

progress in the short to medium term; however, the Commission is also looking to

the longer term. In 2009, it will present a report on long-term scenarios for the

development of transport policy over the next 20-40 years and it will begin internal

reflections on the follow-up to the current transport White Paper, which will come to

end in 2010. It is clear that, when developing any future policy a number of issues

will have to be followed closely, including responding to any agreed post-2012

follow-up to the Kyoto Protocol and exploiting the numerous possibilities offered by

Galileo.

The Commission invites the European Parliament and Council to endorse this

approach.

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