Competitive and resource-efficient urban mobility

Key EESC messages

• The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) endorses the Commission communication of 17 December 2013 and attaches great importance to the continuation of programmes that support the development of effective and sustainable urban mobility such as CIVITAS, IEE, etc. The combination of ambitious projects, such as those proposed, and the scarcity of available financial resources calls for a thorough and careful review of all options for urgent initiatives in the area of sustainable mobility.
• The EESC considers it essential to:
  • adopt realistic integrated and coordinated plans, that are continually monitored and which focus on both mobility of persons and the logistic chain and which cater for all members of society, especially those with reduced mobility;
  • harness the principle of subsidiarity, just as the Commission has wisely struck a balance between the various levels of responsibility, particularly by actively involving the Member States;
  • promote the harnessing of financial resources, also by making use of private capital;
  • involve the general public, social organisations and civil society, in order to make sustainable mobility a challenge that is taken up by the whole community;
  • support the exchange of good practices, through a comprehensive single European portal;
  • boost the Covenant of Mayors;
  • increase the financial commitment of the EU and the EIB, which should be the drivers for European-scale implementation of the sustainable urban mobility project, which would affect 70% of EU citizens;
  • step up coordination between public authorities and private-sector players that deliver supplementary urban transport services, taking a holistic, targeted approach;
  • endeavour to attain consistent logistics, actively geared to achieving the objectives of "resilient" or "transition" towns, in which all stakeholders work together to enhance the living conditions and health of the local population;
  • manage public-private complementarity, opening the market to competition, provided that there is full compliance with social safeguards, price control and environmental sustainability;
  • devise standard guidelines for the specifications of public transport vehicles, creating a European market in which economies of scale can be achieved with centralised purchasing.
• The EESC agrees on the strategic role played by urban mobility in the drive towards smart cities that are on a human scale, able to meet environmental challenges, and adapt to new situations, and emphasises the continuous need to overcome the sector-specific approach that frequently still characterises transport policies.

Contact the TEN Section secretariat for more information