Transport firms to get more green freight funding

Publication date: 24 April 2009

MEPs meeting in Strasbourg on Thursday have backed a deal struck with governments in mid-April to increase green freight funding and make it easier for transport firms to apply for it. The money will be allocated under the bloc's Marco Polo funding scheme.

EU lawmakers agreed to lower a proposed eligibility threshold for three categories: motorways of the sea, inland waterways and modal shift. This means more transport firms shifting freight from road to greener modes of transports such as rail will be able to apply.

The agreement closely mirrors a draft resolution adopted by the European Parliament's transport committee at the end of March, an aide to rapporteur Ulrich Stockmann told ENDS. It must now be formally endorsed by EU ministers before becoming law.

*In a related development, MEPs adopted a first-reading position on a draft directive laying down a framework for the deployment of intelligent transport systems (ITSs) in road transport. They also approved an own-initiative report welcoming an EU action plan to harmonise and increase the use of ITSs across the EU.

MEPs and governments are expected to reach a deal on the draft law in the second half of this year. The parliament wants ITSs in road transport to be compatible with all other modes of transport, and stricter measures to safeguard the privacy of transport data.

**Meanwhile MEPs adopted an own-initiative report setting out proposals for an EU action plan on urban mobility due later this year. The move is intended to put pressure on the commission, which initially planned to issue the action plan last year. The parliament's proposals follow on from an own-initiative report adopted last year.

Source: ENDS