EU Transport Ministers meet in Litoměřice
The informal meeting was attended by 11 Transport Ministers, including the Czech host. Also Vice President of the European Commission Antonio Tajani was present. A total of 33 delegations took part, 26 of them from EU Member States. On the agenda was the issue of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). Possible measures to prevent the spread of swine flu were also discussed. Czech Minister of Transport Petr Bendl chaired the meeting.
A joint statement on measures to prevent the spread of swine flu was formulated by Vice President of the European Commission Antonio Tajani during the meeting: “For the time being we cannot establish a response in the transport area. Tomorrow’s extraordinary Council of EU Health Ministers in Luxembourg will decide.“
In accordance with the opinions of the other participants in today’s meeting Transport Minister Petr Bendl expressed his willingness and preparedness to call an extraordinary Council of Transport Ministers if the need arises to adopt joint measures to fight the spread of swine flu also in the transport area. However, he also warned against spreading unnecessary fear or even hysteria.
During the meeting of Transport Ministers a notified protest organised by the Czech association of road transport operators Česmad Bohemia took place in Litoměřice. The programme of the meeting was not affected, though. “I am sorry that the blockade – despite all the promises made by the organisers that they did not want to take the public hostage – ended up affecting daily life in Litoměřice. We did all we could to prevent the negative effects of the protests. Still, I would like to apologise to the people of Litoměřice for the complications today’s meeting of ministers created for them indirectly. I believe that the positive effects of our meeting will outweigh them,” stated Transport Minister Petr Bendl.
At the opening of the informal meeting German Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee called for standardisation and introduction of compatible solutions in the area of intelligent transport systems as soon as possible. He also emphasised that in the future it will be necessary to let transport information flow across the borders.
The chair of today’s meeting, Czech Transport Minister Petr Bendl, repeated the conclusions of the Council, which called on Member States to harmonise their policies in this area in order to allow for elimination of barriers that prevent rapid exchange of information on the basis of a common ITS framework architecture.
The ministers in their speeches concurred on the significant economic potential of ITS systems, particularly in the development of the related industrial sector. They expressed their expectations that the creation of conditions for technological innovation in the transport sector will contribute towards overcoming the current economic downturn.
They repeatedly stated that it is necessary to strengthen the cooperation between the private and public sector in this area. Romania remarked that private investors could provide significant help with the cost of quality ITS because increased fluency and safety of road transport is in their interest.
The ministers also evaluated the significance of ITS for increasing road safety and for lowering the volume of fatal accidents. Fully operating ITS could prevent serious accidents, for instance, by:
a) rapidly ascertaining rare and dangerous transport and meteorological conditions,
b) providing information on current restrictions in the existing infrastructure,
c) adoption of necessary informational and administrative measures for the decrease of negative impacts of accidents on future traffic,
d) providing accurate information on the location and nature of accidents,
e) providing exact instructions to emergency staff and shortening their response time,
f) informing traffic participants about current speed limits and warning people against exceeding them
g) stabilisation of traffic in case of traffic jams and prevention of frequent stop-and-go situations that may lead to accidents.
Transport Minister Petr Bendl, who is the President in office of the Council of EU Transport Ministers, emphasised that the Czech Republic has much to offer in this very area. He highlighted that the services of the National Transport Information Centre, which circulates information on highway signs and via RDS-TMS also in navigation systems or newsrooms of radios and other media, are improving.
In the context of the meeting the Dean of the Faculty of Transportation Sciences at the Czech Technical University in Prague, Petr Moos, introduced the new hybrid tolling regime that combines satellite and microwave technology, which is currently undergoing tests. According to Moos this pilot project could be the future solution acceptable in the whole of the EU. However, according to the statement of the Transport Ministers it will be necessary to determine technical specifications and norms for tolling regimes that are based on global navigation satellite systems (GNSS).
The ministers also agreed that a European electronic tolling regime should be created in such a way that it would not burden the companies currently paying toll, while respecting regional procedures.
Contacts:
- Martin Kupka, spokesman, Ministry of Transport of the Czech Republic
mobile: +420 724 345 456, e-mail: martin.kupka@mdcr.cz
- Lada Hlaváčková, Presidency spokeswoman, Ministry of Transport of the Czech Republic
mobile: +420 607 946 989 e-mail: lada.hlavackova@mdcr.cz
Last update: 16.8.2011 15:25
