PLANNING FOR A SUSTAINABLE EUROPE? - TU Berlin

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different rhetoric, and propagate different paths of implementation. In the end, I am not
content with a general critique of EU transport policy that simply states the
transformation and cooptation of sustainability arguments as a fact. Instead, I am
interested in uncovering the details of this transformation. As a first contribution towards
this aim, the following section takes a closer look at specific sustainable transport and
mobility references in some key EU policy statements.
5.3.1 The White Paper on the Common Transport Policy
This important 1992 White Paper (Commission of the European Communities
1992c) provided the basis for EU transport policy throughout the 1990s, and in particular
for the Action Program on the CTP (Commission of the European Communities 1998g).
It identified serious imbalances in Europe’s transport system, noting that road freight was
now almost double its 1970 volume, with road transport now accounting for 70% of all
transport activity (§ 14). The paper called for an “integrated approach to sustainable
mobility.” However, the crucial term “sustainable mobility” is never concretely defined
in the entire 123 page document. It is vaguely defined it as “efficient, safe transport
under the best possible environmental and social conditions” (§123, also see §38-40) but
the paper ultimately falls short of a truly new, original approach to EU transport
development in several ways. The limits for environmental maneuvering are always
clearly delineated. For example, the “trends and tendencies” section concludes that
“transport is a growth industry” (§ 10), and instead of a commitment to reduce transport
volumes, one finds then references to accommodate transport growth (§12). The paper
even admits that “the risk of the development of the transport sector being unsustainable