A Sustainability Analysis of the Common Transport Policy

Abstract

This article reviews the sustainability of the Common Transport Policy by reference to accessibility, equity and environmental protection. It starts by considering those concepts underpinning the policy, and then goes on to consider the detail of land transport legislation. That the policy generally lacks a clear purpose is one of its most striking problems. Even those principles that do guide it, relating to profitable business and public service, mobility and accessibility, and the overarching protection of free movement, are not coherently recognised, let alone balanced sustainably. This lack of balance and purpose is reflected in the legislation constituting the policy, legislation that often attempts to do much in the combat of pollution or the promotion of road-transport alternatives to achieve a sustainable system. The review of the sustainability of the legislation shows that the revolution of thought implied by the sustainable development concept is not undertaken and that the Union is some way from achieving a sustainable transport policy.