Future of Transport: conference in Brussels

Publication date: 11 March 2009

On 9-10 March Brussels hosted a major conference on the future of transport. The Czech Presidency, represented by Deputy Transport Minister Pavel Škvára, outlined its approach to the future of the EU transport policy.

“The Presidency motto is a ‛Europe without Barriers’. It is therefore essential to tackle the main obstacles to an efficient EU transport system and to look for ways to overcome them in the future”, said Pavel Škvára at the conference.

The key objective of the conference was to launch a discussion on the main challenges and opportunities in transport in the long term. The aim is to draw up a communication on the future of transport which the European Commission is expected to adopt in June 2009.

Other speakers at the conference, held under the auspices of the European Commission, included the Chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Transport and Tourism, Paolo Costa, and the Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Transport, Antonio Tajani.
Speaking at the conference, Commissioner Tajani highlighted the role of the freedom of movement, in particular with regard to the White Paper on ‛European Transport Policy for 2010’.
“Any future sustainable and efficient transport system must be built on three principal pillars – economic, social and environmental ones”, said Pavel Škvára in his final remarks on the conference.

Source: Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union