Resolutions of the council of ministers of transport and reports approved in 1989 : activities of the conference, 36th annual report, 1989

158 Pages·1990·8.704 MB·English

by  OECD

EUROPEAN CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS OF TRANSPORT
36th Annual Report - 1989
RESOLUTIONS OF
THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF TRANSPORT
AND REPORTS APPROVED IN 1989
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EUROPEAN CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS OF TRANSPORT
36th Annual Report - 1989
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RESOLUTIONS OF
THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF TRANSPORT
AND REPORTS APPROVED IN 1 989
Edinburgh, 23rd May 1989
Paris, 22nd-23rd November 1989
THE EUROPEAN CONFERENCE
OF MINISTERS OF TRANSPORT (ECMT)
TheEuropeanConferenceofMinistersofTransport(ECMT),aninter-governmentalorga¬
nisationestablishedby aProtocolsignedinBrusselson 17thOctober 1953, constitutesaforum
fortheMinistersofTransportof19Europeancountries1. TheworkoftheCouncilofMinistersis
preparedbyaCommitteeofDeputies.
ThepurposesoftheConferenceare:
a) to.takewhatevermeasuresmaybenecessarytoachieve,atgeneralorregionallevel,the
mostefficient use and rational developmentofEuropean inland transportofinterna¬
tionalimportance;
b) toco-ordinateandpromotetheactivitiesofinternationalorganisationsconcernedwith
Europeaninlandtransport,takingintoaccounttheworkofsupranationalauthoritiesin
thisfield. ' ! ; ' ;. -. *
Amongthequestions generally studiedonecanmention globaltransportpolicy trends, in¬
vestments in this sector, thedevelopmentofinternational traffic andthe resulting infrastructure
needs, specific aspects linked to the developrheht ofrailtransport, road and inland waterway
transport,combinedtransportproblems,travelinurbanareas,trafficsafetyandsignsandsignals,
andtransportaccessibilityforhandicappedpeople. Thefutureofnewtechnologiesandenviron¬
mentalprotectionarenowsubjectsforregularconsideration. Annualstatisticalanalysesconcern¬
ingtrafficevolutionandinvestments arepublishedeveryyear.
TheECMTorganisesRoundTablesandSymposia. Theirconclusionsareconsideredbythe
competentorgansoftheConference,undertheauthorityoftheCommitteeofDeputies,sothatthe
lattermayformulateproposals forpolicydecisionstobesubmittedtotheMinisters.
TheECMTDocumentation CentremaintainstheTRANSDOCdatabase, availableon-line
throughtelecommunicationsnetworks.
TheECMTSecretariatisattachedfromanadministrativepointofviewtotheSecretariatof
the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) which distributes its
publications.
1. Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France,Germany (Federal Republic),Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxem¬
bourg,theNetherlands,Norway,Portugal,Spain,Sweden,Switzerland,Turkey,theUnitedKingdomandYugoslavia.(As¬
sociatedcountries: Australia,Canada,Japan,theUnitedStates. Observercountries: Hungary,Morocco,Poland.)
Publieenfrancaissousletitre:
366RAPPORTANNUEL 1989
ACTIVITESDELACONFERENCE
RESOLUTIONSDUCONSEILDESM1NISTRESDESTRANSPORTS
ETRAPPORTSAPPROUVESEN1989
© ECMT, 1990
ECMTpublications arepublishedanddistributedbytheOECDPublications Service,
2, rueAndre-Pascal,75775 PARIS CEDEX 16,France.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface. Introduction by the Secretary-General (cid:9) 5
Introduction. Outline ofthe structure and proceedings of the conference (cid:9) 7
Part One
ECMT ACTIVITIES
Chapter I. GENERAL TRANSPORT POLICY IN EUROPE (cid:9) 11
A. New Members of ECMT (cid:9) 11
B. Special ministerial session on transport and the environment (cid:9) 12
C. Studies in hand with a view to the conclusion ofa multilateral agreement on international road transport . . 13
D. The outlook for documentation (cid:9) 14
Chapter II. ACTIVITIES IN PARTICULAR FIELDS (cid:9) 17
A. Investment in the transport sector (cid:9) 17
B. Regulatory reforms in the transport sector: experiences and implications (cid:9) 17
C. Railways (cid:9) 19
D. Road safety and road traffic rules, signs and signals (cid:9) 20
E. Multilateral quota (cid:9) 21
F. Combined transport (cid:9) 22
G. Inland waterways (cid:9) 22
H. Urban transport (cid:9) 23
I. Transport for people with mobility handicaps (cid:9) 24
J. Transport, computers and telecommunications (cid:9) 25
K. Statistical activities (cid:9) 26
Chapter III. ECONOMIC RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION (cid:9) 27
A. Overview(cid:9) 27
B. Round Tables (cid:9) 28
C. Documention (cid:9) 36
Chapter IV. EXTERNAL RELATIONS (cid:9) 39
Part Two
TRENDS IN THE TRANSPORT SECTOR 1970-1988
Introduction (cid:9) 43
General situation (cid:9) 43
Freight Transport (cid:9) 43
Passenger Transport(cid:9) 45
Road Accidents (cid:9) 48
Traffic on the River Rhine (cid:9) 48
Part Three
RESOLUTIONS OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF TRANSPORT AND REPORTS APPROVED IN 1989
General questions
Resolution No. 66 on Transport and the Environment (cid:9) 53
Resolution No. 67 on Dimensions of Loading Units (cid:9) 59
Resolution No. 68 on Transport for People with Mobility Handicaps (cid:9) 62
Resolution No. 69 on Admission to the Occupations of Road Freight Haulage Operator and Road Passenger
Transport Operator in National and International Transport Operations (cid:9) 66
Roads
Resolution No. 55 on Road Safety (cid:9) 69
Resolution No. 56 on Advertising that Conflicts with Road Safety Aims (cid:9) 70
Inland Waterways
Resolution No. 11 on Transport by Inland Waterways (cid:9) 77
REPORTS APPROVED BY THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS
Report on regulatory reform in the transport sector: Experience and implications (cid:9) 83
Report on the output balances and balances of taxes/charges relating to international road haulage (cid:9) 84
Report on the amount of the insurance premium for commercial vehicles and ofthe tax on such insurance in the
ECMT Member countries (cid:9) 110
Report on possibilities for introducing automatic coupling for goods wagons (cid:9) 115
Report on the means ofavoiding empty return runs in international road haulage (cid:9) 124
Report on the development ofcombined transport after completion of the internal EC market (cid:9) 128
Report on the need for a Common Strategy for the Development ofCombined Transport in Europe (cid:9) 131
Report on Information for Passengers and New Technology (cid:9) 133
Proposals for the adjustment ofthe multilateral quota as from 1990 (cid:9) t (cid:9) 135
ANNEXES
I. ECMT Organisation chart (cid:9) 139
II. List ofOfficers ofthe ECMT(cid:9) 140
III. List of Delegates at the Edinburgh and Paris Sessions (cid:9) 141
IV. Eurofima Report (cid:9) 152
PREFACE
The year 1989, the two-hundredth ofanniversaryofthe French revolution, was probably the most remarkable
and bestyearyet in this troubled century. We have been overwhelmed by the rapidity and intensityofthechanges
in Central and Eastern Europe and we feel a deepjoy that a basis is thereby provided for new friendship and co¬
operation between the nations of our continent.
The changes are first and foremost ofa political nature, important for all citizens irrespective of their sphere
of activity, but two elements are of particular importance for ECMT's work:
First, there is the need foreconomic change, because democracy and economic performance go hand in hand,
and that will have consequences for transport in Europe. Secondly, institutions will have to change - including
ECMT itself.
It seems likely that the events in Central and Eastern Europe will generate a substantial increase in transport.
For several years now the rate of growth in the transport sector has been higher than that of the economy as a
whole, probablyowing to liberalisationofeconomicrelations like the establishmentofthesingle European market.
The planned-economy countries, now in process of becoming economies in which market mechanisms and free
trade are important elements, may also have tocope with a marked increase in transport even before the expected
changes actually occur. It is essential that the infrastructure and organisational structures needed to meet this
challenge should be available in time. Transport will be a vital instrument of East-West integration in this new
Europe.
It will not be easy. More than two-thirds ofgoods transport in Western Europe is by road, less than one-third
by train, while in Eastern Europe the figures are reversed. A balance has to be struck between two very different
systems, soan all European transport scheme must bedeveloped, i.e. a plan totransportgoods and persons from A
to B in the most efficient, safe and environmental-friendly way, where A and B may be anywhere in Europe.
During the process of change the Ministers of ECMT will have to decide how and when the international
transport policies are to be adapted to accommodate the non-ECMT European countries. When can the multilat¬
eral quota system be extended? Can the rules facilitating border crossing be applied? What is to be the approach
to social rules, market access, cabotage?
There were a number of major institutional developments within ECMT in 1989.
Hungary and Poland are now associated with the Conference with observer status.
The Ministers ofTransport from the West and East of Europe met twice during the year- in London and in
Budapest - to hold informal discussions on possible forms ofco-operation. The agenda in Budapest also included
road safety, a matter ofconcern toevery country. Over the coming years it will be up to the ECMT to determine
what structure is most practical for resolving the transport policy problems of Europe as a whole. In short, the
evolving political scene in Europe is heralding a difficult process ofeconomic change in the countries concerned. It
will have far-reaching consequences for transport and oblige such institutions as ECMT to reappraise their
structure, the way they function, and their patterns of co-operation.
As the decade of the nineties begins, we are now only three years away from the date on which the free
market is to be established within the EC. Much has beendoneand much remains to be done in Brussels (the slow
pace of harmonization of excise taxes poses particular problems for transport), but entrepreneurs are preparing
themselves. Although the actualstatistical data isscarce, itcan beseen that transportgroups in Europearesetting
up networks which enlarge the geographical scope of the enterprise and provide regular longer-haul transport
services. The traditional transport sector is slowly being re-shaped: thepattern ofsupplyoftransportcapacity is on
a larger, more commercial scale calling on the new technologies. Shippers expect to find a Europe-wide transport
network in which the information systems are compatible.
The creation ofa single market forthe EC countries is a great achievement for Europe but it becomes clearer
each year that Europe is larger than the EC. Where transport is concerned, it would certainly be to the advantage
ofboth EC and non-EC countries ifthe geographical area covered by the policiesadopted were toincludeas much
as possible of "the common European home". To promote this is one of ECMT's main tasks.
The ECMT's annual leaflet issued in the autumn shows that inland freight traffic in member countries
increased on average by 6.6 per cent in 1988, which is manifestly a very healthy trend for the sector. Rail freight,
after years ofstagnation, was 2.5 percent upon theprevious years, while road haulage showed a 6.9 percent rise.
It is becoming increasingly evident however that infrastructure cannot be constructed at a fast enough pace to
keep up with the growth in traffic at a number of points in Europe. What must therefore be faced in this last
decade ofthe century is the question of how to ensure the provision ofthe volume oftransport needed for healthy
economic development, while at the same time avoiding congestion and limiting damage to the environment to an
acceptable level. This dilemma is now a regular feature on the agenda of Ministers ofTransport and ofa number
of groups in our society.
The urgency ofthe matterwas underlined by the fact that in 1989 a Special session ofthe ECMTCouncil of
Ministers was held on the subject "transport and the environment", the first time in ECMT's history that
Ministersdevoted anentireday toone item. The Ministersagreed thattransport is notonlyessential forprosperity
and well-being, but that it is also a source ofpollution and that there are clear signs that the situation is getting
worse. They acknowledged that in connection with these problems Governments must act, and notjust react. A
more detailed report on the meeting is given in this document.
In short, all thoseconcerned with Europeantransport, and hence ECMT, arefacing a monumental taskin the
decade now opening. The geographical scope ofoperations becomes that much vaster with imminent participation
of Central and East European nations in a free market system - vaster and more complicated since it must be
expected that for years to come these nations will be in various stages of transition from a planned to a free
economy. In the meantime, the process of liberalising the Common Market will continue, but it will gradually
become more evident that- so far as transport is concerned at any rate - those West European states that do not
belong to the EC must find some means of associating themselves with that free common market. If they do not,
the pattern of discontinuities will be aggravated to the disadvantage of the European countries as a whole.
What this all leads to is an increase in traffic at a rate much faster than that of economic growth.
Notwithstanding considerable efforts to channel much of the new traffic towards rail and inland waterways, the
major part will continue to go to the road haulage sector with severe consequences in terms of congestion and
damage to the environment.
There is nosinglesolution tothis tangleofproblems. What iscalled for is a policy mixofmeasures, incentives
and bans which can only be effective ifimplemented on a sound basis ofinternational co-operation. The growth in
traffic is most marked in the international transport sector. Pollution does not stop at frontiers.
If we are to progress towards solutions, the ideas must be thought through and put into effect in an
international context.
Jan C. Terlouw
Secretary-General
INTRODUCTION
OUTLINE OF THE STRUCTURE AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONFERENCE
As the organisational chart in Annex I shows, aside from the Council ofMinisters itselfand its Committeeof
Deputies, the Conference has three types of working unit, and the following were active in 1989:
Standing Committees and Groups
- Economic Research Committee;
- Committee for Road Traffic, Signs and Signals:
- Road Safety Committee;
- Combined Transport Group;
- Urban Transport Co-ordinating Group;
- Group of Statisticians;
- Management Group (Documentation System).
Ad hoc Groups
- Group responsible for preparing aspects of a multilateral agreement on international road transport;
- Technical Group on issues relating to harmonization and liberalisation;
- Group on transport and the environment;
- Group on regulatory reform;
- Group on railways;
- Group on the adjustment of the multilateral quota;
- Group on inland waterways;
- Group on transport, computers and telecommunications (with a sub-group on road/vehicle
communication);
- Group on transport for persons with mobility handicaps;
- Group on trends in international traffic.
Restricted Groups
- Restricted Group "A" (EEC member States);
- Roads Restricted Groups.
The reports produced by these bodies are considered by the Committee of Deputies and submitted, once
approved, to the Council of Ministers.
The Officersofthe Conference in 1989 were the United Kingdom's MinisterofState forTransport, Sweden's
Minister of Transport and Communications (First Vice-Chairman) and Turkey's Minister of Transport and
Communications (Second Vice-Chairman).
The Council of Ministers held two sessions in 1989: the first (69th Session) in Edinburgh on 23rd and
24th May and the second (70th Session) in Paris on 22nd November (Ordinary Session) and 23rd November
(Special Session on "Transport and the Environment").
The Committee of Deputies held its six sessions in 1989 on 12th January, 13th and 14th April, 23rd May,
29th June, 19th and 20th October and 22nd November.
It should also be noted that, as is customary each year, the Conference held a number of Round Tables in
1989 on specific topics in transport economics. It also organised an International Seminar on "Public transport by
bus for people with mobility handicaps" on 29th November 1989 in Dunkirk, France.
The proceedings of the Conference are briefly desfibed hereafter.
Part One
ECMT ACTIVITIES