EU and the transport policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

EU and the transport policy - Essay Example Furthermore, the creation of one market or single market like the EU needs a well developed transport industry. Policies play an important role in shaping a transport industry which will increase the economy of the countries involved. The EU Transport Policy The policy adopted by the EU seeks to find ways of creation of an economical transport sector so that it can curve in major challenges in the industry like road congestion, barriers to transport systems and emission of green house gases such CO2. Additionally, the policy helps in the creation of infrastructure for the transport industry, investment in the industry and innovation. Furthermore the use of fossil fuels by the machines in the transport sector is also addressed by the policy. The policy was meant to tackle challenges facing EU nations with regard to the transport sector like road congestion and cross-border tariffs. This paper will address the policies made by the EU for the transport industry and the achievements they have made since the creation of such policies (Rodenburg et al 2002). The European countries came together with policies for transport systems such as roads, rail and inland waterways. The EU common markets pushed for a common transport policy because they encouraged free movement of goods and people throughout Europe. The policy signed in 1957 called the treaty of Rome was meant to allow free movement of goods and people across all the nations in Europe but the policy was not taken seriously until 1980 (Ionescu, 2012). The policy was only put into use after a court process which took place in 1983 involving the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers. This increased the process of the formation of a single market involving European countries with the inclusion of transport in the act which was signed. Ionescu (2012), shows that the signing of the single treaty made many changes in the transport industries which also gave a chance for Europeans countries to work together a cross different states. The treaty signed was also meant to address cases of environmental degradation caused by pollution. The policy was for the development of rail, road and waterway structures. This is because there had been disparities in transport systems in European countries with most Western countries having better and well developed transport systems, mostly high-speed rail systems, than that of the Eastern European countries. Furthermore the policy was made to address environmental challenges as mentioned above. The main target of the policy was to address the development of the rail system, roads and waterways. The combination of the three transport systems is referred to as the Transport European Networks (TENs). The European Union transport policy was made to tackle the creation of transport infrastructure which would link Eastern and Western Europe. This was later addressed in a white paper singed in 2004. The policies in the white paper were later changed in 2011 to make three changes by 2050. For example, the EU is to stop the use of more fossil fuel and find alternative energy, increase the use of the rail system, and use fuel in the aviation industry producing less than 40% carbon. The policy was meant to ease movement of freight and people across national boundaries hence the border tariffs would be removed (Ionescu 2012). The EU is committed in applying the set policies and has so far achieved the set targets. Goals of the EU policy The reduction of