Latest changes on emta.com

Italy boosts car-sharing
The Italian Ministry of the Environment launched in April a national plan of promotion of car-sharing, that will receive € 9.5m of governmental grants devote to help fund local car-sharing initiatives operated by local transport authorities. Ministry officials estimate that 100,000 motorists could take part in the new schemes by 2005, reducing CO2 emissions by

New version of the project of Regulation on public service requirements in passenger transport
The European Commission released on 21st February a modified draft of its project of new Regulation on public service requirements and public service contracts in passenger transport. In this new draft, the Commission accepts most of the amendments adopted by the European Parliament in its first reading of the text last November, concerning for example:

Towards a new rail package?
The first rail package, adopted in December 2000, will open up 50,000 km of the trans-European rail freight network to international goods services in March 2003, and the entire network in 2008. Following the suggestions contained in its White Paper on transport of December 2001, the European Commission unveiled on 23rd January the main proposals

The European Commission proposes to encourage alternative fuels for transport
The Commission adopted last month two proposals of new Directives so as to foster the use of alternative fuels, which should reach in 2020 a minimum level of 15% of all fuels sold in the EU. The European Union is indeed committed to an 8% reduction of its greenhouse gases emissions by 2010 and the

The European Parliament votes on the project of new Regulation on public transport services
The European Parliament adopted on November 14th at a large majority (317 against 224) the report of its Transport Committee on the project of new Regulation on public service requirements in passenger transport. This report amended the project released by the Commission in July 2000 by granting more freedom of choice to local authorities, more

EMTA Workshop: “What public transport authorities for the European Metropolitan Areas?” (Barcelona – 8 November 2001)
This workshop, organised at the invitation of ATM, the public transport authority of the metropolitan area of Barcelona, will propose to analyse and compare the organisation, the missions and the financing of the public transport authorities of the European large cities. It will be based on presentations of the organisational schemes and current evolutions in

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the project of European Regulation on public service requirements in passenger transport
The Committee released last May its opinion on the project of new Regulation prepared by the Commission. The Committee welcomes the Commission’s intention of introducing a market regime for public passenger transport based on controlled rather than full competition. It also approves the most important regulatory instruments proposed, such as the obligation for the competent

CIVITAS Initiative: 14 cities rewarded by the European Commission
The European Commission revealed last July the names of the fourteen cities which will benefit from a grant of € 50 m under the CIVITAS Initiative to help them implement innovative and integrated actions for radical improvements of their urban transport. The following projects were highlighted by the Commission : company mobility plans and travel

Revision of the European transport policy: decoupling of transport and economic growth, and rebalancing between the modes
The European Commission adopted last July the policy guidelines of the White Paper on transport policy, which will be formally adopted in September. The aim of the future common transport policy will be to decouple transport growth and economic growth, and to rebalance the modal shares towards more sustainability. The approach recommended is to support

Draft European Regulation on public services in passenger transport (26 July 2000)
The European Commission adopted a draft regulation on public services in passenger transport, which aims to improve its performance and transparency through a controlled competition . The new framework shall harmonise key aspects of the competitive procedures developed in the different Member States and promote legal certainty about the rights and duties of operators and