PLANNING FOR A SUSTAINABLE EUROPE? - TU Berlin

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document stands out in that it is steeped in competitive language that presents transport
networks as “the lifeblood of EU competitiveness:”
Traffic jams are not only exasperating, they also cost Europe dear in terms of
productivity. Bottlenecks and missing links in the infrastructure fabric; lack of
interoperability between modes and systems. Networks are the arteries of the single
market. They are the life blood of competitiveness, and their malfunction is reflected
in lost opportunities to create new markets and hence in a level of job creation that
falls short of our potential.
(Commission of the European Communities 1993:Section 3.1) 10
This document is light-years away from the EU’s current SDS that calls for a
decoupling of transport and GDP growth. Arguing quite the contrary, this White Paper
argues that “by developing the movement of people and goods Europe has been able to
marry economic prosperity, quality of life and commercial efficiency” (CEC 1993,
Development Theme II, p.1). The gist of this White Paper is that faster and more travel is
unequivocally better – better for economic development and better for the EU.
Environmental and safety concerns appear as but an afterthought. In the section
‘Development Theme II: Trans-European transport and energy networks – Why?’ the
Commission placed the following framed sentence in special print: “Making traffic
faster, safer and more environmentally compatible, facilitating and boosting trade, and
bringing Member States closer to their Eastern and Southern neighbours would herald the
advent of the European Union..” Clearly, speed, increased trade and connectivity are key
themes in this paper. In sum, the paper is remarkable mainly in its lack of sustainability
rhetoric just one year after the Rio Earth Summit.
10 The online version of the document is divided into several html files that are each individually numbered.
See http://www.europa.eu.int/en/record/white/c93700/ch02_1.html