PLANNING FOR A SUSTAINABLE EUROPE? - TU Berlin

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I structured the resulting inquiry around six different propositions on EU transport
sector decision-making. These will be approached in consecutive order throughout the
study. The following discussion of these six consecutive propositions therefore also
serves as an overview of the overall structure of this dissertation.
1.8.1 The Ill-Defined Concept Proposition
1) The EU does not implement ‘a sustainable transport agenda’ because it is a flawed
concept that is internally contradictory
In the first theory-building chapter of Part I of this study (Chapter 2), I present
different international definitions for sustainability and sustainable transport. Sustainable
development is typically presented as having three dimensions, namely ‘growth,’
‘equity,’ and ‘environment’. I show that these different connotations connected to the
terms sustainability and sustainable transport are indeed contradictory, i.e. not congruent
with each other. I also discuss the complex and disputed relationship between transport
and economic development in general. Note that the Ill-Defined Concept Proposition
precludes the option of taking a normative approach of simply “picking” one particular
set of sustainability definitions as the “correct” ones. Instead, I pursue my investigation
through the following key proposition:
1.8.2 The Dominant Discourse Proposition
2) The EU employs a discourse in which the concept of ‘sustainable transport’ is
distorted to favor growth objectives at the expense of equity and environmental
preservation. More precisely, EU transport sector decision-making is dominated by the
discursive framework of ecological modernization.