PLANNING FOR A SUSTAINABLE EUROPE? - TU Berlin

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has to do with the very institutional nature of the EU, namely its make-up of independent
nation-states. Kirazidis (1994:116), for example, concludes his study on European
transport as follows:
The main argument of [my] book is that European transport policy rests on the
national transport polices of the twelve component parts and national governments are
still the pivots of political and economic activity. This does not provide an appropriate
framework for resolving dilemmas in transport with respect to economic efficiency,
social justice and environmental quality.
Similarly, Cole and Cole (1997:174) warn that “the EC has neither the legal nor
the financial instruments to guarantee the consistency and continuity of the various types
of specific local aid granted in the transport infrastructure sector”. (Nijkamp and Vleugel
1995:5) also point to the nationalistic and segmented character of previous European
policy making, and then distinguish between reactive, demand-oriented policies where an
increase in mobility is simply followed by an expansion of physical infrastructure, and
proactive, supply-oriented policies where infrastructure supplies are used as a tool to
manage influence and possible redirect transport demand. While clearly favoring the
latter approach, they find European transport policy has so far failed to adopt this
preferable approach mainly due to inertia in policy making and user behavior (i.e.
continued dependence on motor vehicles). From an institutional perspective, a more
long-term, pro-active approach to transport policy is therefore necessary, they argue. In
the end, institutional approaches view the European project much more from a
perspective of “building the European House” – a house in need of solid foundations and
fixed structures. This stands in clear contrast to very liberal modernization approaches,
which tend to favor additional deregulation to create a competitive, free Single European
Market. In the end, however, the institutional perspective is a cross-cutting, and often