The single european transport area and sustainability of the transport industry

Maintaining sustainability within the transport industry is one of the major challenges facing the EU. Will the Single European Transport Area (SETA) facilitate sustainability by encouraging the various modes of transport to operate as one single industry rather than as separate and independent market operators providing road, rail, waterways, maritime and air transport services. The chapter provides first an historical context by examining the nature of the transport industry and the various stages in the development of the Common Transport Policy. It took almost 30 years for any significant progress to be made in establishing a Common Transport Policy and almost another 30 years for a SETA to become a key goal of the EU’s transport policy. The SETA focuses on the sustainability of the transport industry as a whole rather than on the separate modes of transport. The second part of the chapter will consider ways in which the 2011 White Paper seeks to promote sustainability of access and mobility of goods and people in respect of all modes of transport and, at the same time, ensure resource efficiencies and a less negative impact on the environment. The chapter concludes by making some brief general observations on how the SETA may contribute to the promotion of sustainability of the transport industry. It is also proposed that the European Commission, as the guardian of the Treaty, should use the powers already in its possession to ensure that a SETA is indeed achieved.