Single European Transport Area on the right track for commerce
Date
Sections
Today the Transport and Tourism Committee of the European Parliament adopted its Report on a “Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area – Towards a competitive and resource efficient transport system.” EuroCommerce welcomes the outcome of this vote, seen as a further step towards facilitating freight transport for commerce in Europe.
Commenting on the outcome of the vote, Director General of EuroCommerce Christian Verschueren said, “the specific needs of the commerce sector have been taken into consideration today. The challenge now is to ensure that these measures are accurately and efficiently implemented if we want to achieve a real internal market for transport as well as meet the environmental challenges.” EuroCommerce welcomes measures aimed at reducing red tape and the negative consequences of freight transport such as excessive traffic and bottlenecks.
On urban mobility, commerce supports all the proposed measures aimed at setting up an efficient and sustainable urban transport system. Mr. Verschueren added, “an integrated transport system based on resource efficiency is a good way to ensure a better internal market for transport, facilitate the free-flow of goods in Europe and at the same time reduce carbon emissions.” This implies a policy which takes into consideration the various modes of transport, while recognising that to date there is no real alternative to road transport for the “last mile”.
Furthermore, Christian Verschueren commented: “commerce and city centres depend on each other to prosper. As a major economic actor, Commerce wants to be part of the solution.”
The vote in plenary is scheduled to take place in January 2012.
Contacts
Christel Davidson
Senior Adviser on Environment & Logistics
T: +32 2 737 05 90
Marjolein Raes
Director Advocacy & Communications
T: +32 2 737 05 99
EuroCommerce and the commerce sector
EuroCommerce represents the retail, wholesale and international trade sectors in Europe. Its membership includes commerce federations and companies in 31 European countries.
Commerce plays a unique role in the European economy, acting as the link between manufacturers and the nearly 500 million consumers across Europe over a billion times a day. It is a dynamic and labour-intensive sector, generating 11% of the EU’s GDP. One company out of three in Europe is active in the commerce sector. Over 95% of the 6 million companies in commerce are small and medium-sized enterprises. It also includes some of Europe’s most successful companies. The sector is a major source of employment creation: 31 million Europeans work in commerce, which is one of the few remaining job-creating activities in Europe. It also supports millions of dependent jobs throughout the supply chain from small local suppliers to international businesses.