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The European Transport Policy: Euro - sceptic Perspective

The European Transport Policy: Euro - sceptic Perspective. Hrvoje Butković Institute for International Relations, Zagreb. Introduction. Theoretical Framework for Euro-scepticism

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The European Transport Policy: Euro - sceptic Perspective

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  1. The European Transport Policy: Euro - sceptic Perspective Hrvoje Butković Institute for International Relations, Zagreb

  2. Introduction • Theoretical Framework for Euro-scepticism • The EU Transport Policy: Is there Place for Euro-scepticism (history, main characteristics, recent initiatives) • “Hard” Euro-scepticism on the EU Transport Policy (development context, academic criticism) • “Soft” Euro-scepticism on the EU Transport Policy (criticism from international NGOs) • Conclusion

  3. Theoretical FrameworkforEuro-scepticism Paul Taggart categorisation of Euro-scepticism • “Hard” Euro-scepticism: implies outright rejection of the entire project of European political and economic integration • “Soft” Euro-scepticism: involves contingent or qualified opposition to European integration. It may take the form of: a) policy Euro-scepticism b) national interest Euro-scepticism

  4. The EU Transport Policy: Is there Place for Euro-scepticismHistory • Treaty of Rome: an entire chapter on transport ; limited to movement of freight by road, rail and inland waterways • Single European Act: stimulated effort to remove institutional barriers to free trade in transport services • Maastricht Treaty: reinforced the political, institutional and budgetary foundation for the Common Transport Policy; unanimity in the Council in principle replaced by the qualified majority; the concept of Trans-European Network accepted; removed restrictions on trucking movements across national boundaries; cabotage phased in

  5. The EU Transport Policy: Is there Place for Euro-scepticismMain characteristics • Transport falls in the area of EU mixed competences • Common Transport Policy is linked to the idea of the Single European Market • Transport is one of the most problematic EU policy sectors because of the negative impact on the environment; absolute emissions from the transport sector constitutee about a quarter (25%) of all EU greenhouse gas emissions

  6. The EU Transport Policy: Is there Place for Euro-scepticismRecent Initiatives • Sustainable Development Strategy (third pillar of the Lisbon Strategy) • efforts invested into developing ofco-modality • Commission is working on generally applicable model for the assessment of all external transport costs • Galileo satellite system to be operational from 2010

  7. “Hard” Euro-scepticism on the EU Transport Policy“Alpine political culture” (Daniele Caramani) - context for development of “hard” Euro-scepticism • traditional values dominate over contemporary approaches • sceptical rejection of modern societal developments, from social roles to social structures • work ethics as distinct identitarian character • nature and its preservation as the issue of primary importance • three German terms express the “ethnic”perception of the group: Volk (nation), Gemeinschaft (community), Heimat (locality) • political arena seen as the site of compromises and loss of “purity” in which the (bourgeois) values of “hard work” and efficiency are absent • perception of a threat is a central element

  8. “Hard” Euro-scepticism on the EU Transport PolicyHerman Knoflacher – “Das kritische EU-Buch: Warum wir ein anderes Europa brauchen” (2006) • today transport only flows through the Alps without stopping there; therefore there are no benefits for the local communities • “growing mobility” and “saving of time” are only myths connected with the increase of transport velocities • contemporary European economy is not efficient since for the same economic output one must constantly keep increasing the mobility “Wer es nicht im Kopf hat, muss es in den Beinen haben” • European integration has broken the base of the regional development producing winners and losers. Winners are big ports and big concerns; looser is the rest of society • one must ban the truck transport through particularly sensitive zones such as the Alps, further ban truck transport during the night; and completely internalise costs made by the road transport

  9. “Soft” Euro-scepticism on the EU Transport PolicyCEE Bankwatch Network – “Heading down dead ends: Transport sector financing in CEE” (2004) • from the pre-accession and structural funds financing has un-proportionally been flowing towards new motorways and roads construction(trans-European corridors) • between 1997-2001 private car ownership in CEE rose by 36% creating environmental and safety problems • no criteria to determine weather national transport strategies conform to the EU’s sustainability principles • massive motorway construction programmes increase foreign debts in CEE countries • CEE countries have not taken measures to internalise the external costs of road transport • In CEE countries there wasno public discussions on possible advantages and disadvantages of motorway construction programs

  10. Conclusion “Hard” Euro-scepticism of the EU transport policy is not targeted towards the European level but exclusively towards national regional and local levels where it tries to mobilise support among “losers” of integration process. “Soft” Euro-scepticism of the EU transport policy can be considered legitimate within broader dialogue on the future of transport in Europe. However, its criticism is primarily targeted towards implementation at the national level (lack of internalization of external transport costs; lack of transparency; lack of fiscal and social harmonisation within member states etc.)and only to a lesser degree towards EU transport policy as such. “Soft” Euro-scepticism of the EU transport policy shows that “We need more Europe”: a) more mutually complementary actions at all levels (European, national, regional and local) b)deeper level of integration

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