Table Of ContentEUROPEAN CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS OF TRANSPORT
VOLUME I
29th Annual Report- 1982
ACTIVITY OF THE CONFERENCE
RESOLUTIONS OF
THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF TRANSPORT
AND REPORTS APPROVED IN 1 982
Ecmu
EUROPEAN CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS OF TRANSPORT
VOLUME I
29th Annual Report- 1982
ACTIVITY OF THE CONFERENCE
RESOLUTIONS OF
THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OFTRANSPORT
AND REPORTS APPROVED IN 1982
J3ublin, 25th-26th May,1982
Paris, 25th November,1982
EClilC
THE EUROPEAN CONFERENCE
OF MINISTERS OF TRANSPORT [ECMT]
The ECMT is an inter-governmental organisation independent from OECD, but its
Secretariat is attached, from an administrative point of view, to that of the OECD, which
distributes its publications.
TheEuropean ConferenceofMinistersofTransport (ECMT),established byaProtocol
signedin Brusselson 17th October 1953,constitutesaforumfortheMinistersofTransportof
19 Europeancountries1.The workofthe CouncilofMinisters isprepared bya Committeeof
Deputies.
The purposes of the Conference are
a) totakewhatevermeasuresmaybenecessarytoachieve,atgeneralorregionallevel,
the most efficient use and rational development of European inland transport of
international importance;
b) toco-ordinate and promote the activities ofinternational organisations concerned
with European inland transport, taking into account the work of supranational
authorities in this field.
Major problems which are being studied by the ECMT include: transport policy; the
financial situation and organisation of railways and road transport; problems concerning
inland waterway transport and combined transport; development ofEuropean trunk lines of
communication; problems concerning urban transport; the prevention ofroad accidents and
co-ordination,atEuropean level,ofroadtrafficrulesandroad signsandsignals; traffictrends
and long-term traffic forecasts.
Moreover, the ECMT organises Round Tables and Symposia. Their conclusions are
consideredbythecompetentorgansoftheConference,undertheauthorityoftheCommittee
ofDeputies, sothatthelattermayformulateproposals forpolicydecisions tobesubmittedto
the Ministers.
Inaddition,theECMTisequippedwithacomputerisedDocumentationCentretowhich
inquiries concerning transport economics may be addressed.
1. Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Yugoslavia
(associated countries: Australia, Canada, Japan, United States).
Publie en francais sous le titre:
ACTIVITES DELA CONFERENCE
RESOLUTION DU
CONSEILDES MINISTRESDESTRANSPORTS
ETRAPPORTSAPPROUVESEN1982
© ECMT, 1983
ECMT publications are distributed by the OECD Publications Office,
2, rue Andre-Pascal, 75775 PARIS CEDEX 16, France.
CONTENTS
I. TRANSPORT ANDTHEACTIVITY OF THECONFERENCE
PartOne
GENERALACTIVITY
ChapterI. STRUCTURE AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONFERENCE (cid:9) 7
ChapterII. ECMTACTIVITIES (cid:9) 9
ChapterHI. EXTERNAL RELATIONS (cid:9) 13
PartTwo
ECMT ACTIVITIES INPARTICULARFIELDS
ChapterI. ORGANISATION OFTRANSPORT (cid:9) 17
A Liberalisationandreducingdistortionsofcompetition(cid:9) 17
B Railway policy orientations(cid:9) 18
C Combined transport (cid:9) 19
D Cabotage andshort-seashipping (cid:9) 20
E Transport and theenvironment(cid:9) 21
ChapterII. SPECIFIC PROBLEMS(cid:9) 25
A Road traffic,signsand signals (cid:9) 25
B School transport (cid:9) 26
C Urban transport(cid:9) 26
D - Activities oftheEUROFIMACompany (cid:9) 27
ChapterIII. ECONOMIC RESEARCH ANDDOCUMENTATION (cid:9) 31
Part Three
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS INTHETRANSPORT SECTOR (November 1982)
General situation(cid:9) 41
Freight transport(cid:9) 41
Passengertransport (cid:9) 41
Traffic on theriverRhine (cid:9) 43
II. RESOLUTIONS OFTHE COUNCILOFMINISTERS OF TRANSPORTS
AND REPORTSAPPROVED IN 1982
Railways:
Resolution n" 22 onrailway policy orientations. 47
Roads:
Resolutionn° 43 onmonitoringcompliance with speedlimits and trafficlights(cid:9) 54
RECOMMENDATION on the facilitationofinternationalremovalstransport by road. 61
REPORTS APPROVED BYTHECOUNCILOF MINISTERS
The ECMT's Programme ofwork (cid:9) 65
Generalreport on workonliberalisationandreducing distortionsofcompetition (cid:9) 69
Report on the role of coastal and short-sea shipping in the organisation ofinland transport in Europe
(Recommendations) (cid:9) 84
Report onpiggybackroutes (cid:9) 92
Report onschool transport: organisationandsafetyproblems (cid:9) 113
Report onthe organisationoftaxiservicesin towns(cid:9) 116
Recognition ofpapers whose holders are exempt from compulsory wearingofseat belts(Recommenda¬
tion) (cid:9) 118
Signing ofpark-and-ride facilities(Recommendation)(cid:9) 125
ANNEXES
Annex I. Agreement of the international carriage of passengers by road by means of occasional
coachand busservices(ASOR)(cid:9) 127
Annex II. ECMT organisation chart(cid:9) j3g
AnnexIII. 1. List ofofficers ofthe ECMT(cid:9) 139
2. ListofDelegates atthe Dublin andParissessions (cid:9) 140
I. TRANSPORTANDTHEACTIVITY OF THE CONFERENCE
PartOne
GENERALACTIVITY
ChapterI
STRUCTUREAND PROCEEDINGS OFTHECONFERENCE
In organising its activities and proceedings, the European Conference of Ministers ofTransport (ECMT)
took full advantage of the opportunities afforded by the 1978 reform of the Conference's working methods and
structures.
The ECMT Council of Ministers was thus able to deal in a satisfactory and practical way with current
problems regarding the organisation of European surface transport in areas and in the manner described in more
detail below.
1. TheproceedingsoftheConference
The Council of Ministers held two sessions in 1982: the first (55th Session) in Dublin on 25th and 26th
May, and thesecond (56th Session) in Paris on 25th November.
The Officers of the Council in 1982 were the Minister ofTransport of Ireland (Chairman), the Minister
of Housing, Public Works and Transport of Portugal (First Vice-Chairman) and the Minister of Transport of
Norway (SecondVice-Chairman).
At the Council of Ministers' Session on 25th November, 1982, the following were elected Officers of the
Council for 1983: the Minister of Portugal (Chairman), the Minister of Norway (First Vice-Chairman) and the
MinisterofTransportofItaly (SecondVice-Chairman).
The Committee ofDeputies held six sessions : 14th and 15th January, 20th and 21st April, 24th May,
1stJuly, 14th and 15thOctoberand 24th November.
The Steering Committee, comprising the Delegations for Ireland, Portugal, Norway, France, Greece and
Spain met six times in 1982. The Australian Delegation took part in the Committee's work as representative of
theAssociateMembers.
This Committee holds its meetings either immediately after the sessions oftheCouncil ofMinistersorjust
prior to the Committee of Deputies' two main sessions, Spring and Autumn, for the purpose ofmakingthorough
preparationsforthe Ministerial discussions.
It has a central role in shaping the activities of the Conference in compliance with the decisions taken by
the Council of Ministers with respect to the policy issues of interest and the ways in which they should be dealt
with. This Committee is also responsible for organising the ECMT's work, deciding the terms and conditions
for action by the Secretariat and setting out the lines ofco-operation between the Conference and other inter¬
national organisationsconcerned with transport.
2. ECMT structures
Thethree StandingCommitteesthathave beenretained, namely:
theCommittee for RoadTraffic, Signsand Signals;
the Road Safety Committee;
the Economic ResearchCommittee;
proceeded in accordance with their terms of reference, as did the Urban Transport Co-ordinating Group, the
Annual Report Drafting Group which is responsible for the presentation and analysis of European transport
investment and traffic statistics the CombinedTransportGroup whichhadbeenrequestedtopursueitswork,
giving priority to the preparation of the list of routes on which piggyback transport might be introduced or
developed and studying all the aspects ofcombined transport involvinginparticulartheuse ofmaritimetransport
and the DocumentationManagementGroup.
The following ad hoc Groups were active during 1982 in preparing the Council's discussions at the two
sessionsin thatyear:
the Group set up toconsideradjustments to the ECMTmultilateral quotaforinternational transport of
goods by road;
the Group onrailway policy orientations;
aGroup setup to study short-seashippingand cabotage;
a Group appointed to study the interface between transport policy and environmental considerations;
a Group setup to study the problemsofschool transport,itsorganisationand the safety ofthe children
carried.
In addition, an individual rapporteur was assigned the task of submitting a reporttothe Council ofMinis¬
ters based on the work done prior to this by a special ad hoc Group and incorporating all of the considerations,
arguments andproposalsconcerning"theproblemsasregardsliberalisationandreducingdistortions ofcompetition
with aviewto facilitatinginternationalgoods transport".
The followinggroupshavecontinued theirworkonon-goingprojects:
theGroup setup toprepareareport on future transportpolicy orientationsforthe Council ofMinisters
Sessionin LisboninMay 1983;
the Group appointed to formulate common rules and principles for the allocation ofinfrastructure
costs;
the Group setup to study inlandwaterways ofinterest to Europeasa whole.
Furthermore, pursuant to the conclusions reached at the Council ofMinisters' discussions in Dublin, two
groups were setup andhave started work on railway problems:
aGroup oncommercial actionin the field ofrailways;
aGroup onimprovinginternationalraillinksfrom thepointofviewofinfrastructure andoperation.
The foregoingparagraphsprovidenomore thanan overviewofthe ECMT'sactivities1.
Transport economics research, another important aspect of the Conference's activities, aims to provide
the necessary objective data to be used as a basis for policy decisions. The work in this sphereisdescribedin the
relevantchapterofthisreport.
All the essential information concerning the full range of the Conference's activities is set out in the
following chapters.
1.SeealsointhisconnectiontheConference'sorganisationchartfor 1982inAnnexII ofthisreport.
ChapterII
ECMTACTIVITIES
In 1982 the Conference and Council of Ministers were required to address problems ofvery immediate
concern to the organisation of transport in Europe with due regard to the prevailing economic and social climate
and the outlookforthefuture.
The fact is that the overall trend as regards traffic has remained sluggish, as can be seen from the data
on recent developments in the transport sector which are given in Part Three of this report. Freight activity in
particular is affected, more specifically the railways andinland waterways, whileroad transportcontinues to show
somegrowth,chiefly oninternational routes. Passengertraffichasalsoincreased but only slightly.
These are of course Overall trends and greater diversity is found when individual routes or countries are
considered.
It may not be unreasonable to suggest, moreover, that no recovery can be expected in the foreseeable
future, so this will necessarily influence any steps taken to implement a surface transport policy for Europe as a
whole.
The Conference has to consider the implications of the present situation from the standpoint of policies
to be adopted to ensure that the transport system meets overall requirements in terms of passenger and freight
traffic. It has to try to assess how the organisation ofinland transport in Europe will beaffectedby all the struc¬
tural changes in the worldwidepattern ofproductionand trade arisingfrom thepresenteconomiccrisis, since such
changes will inevitably influence the volume, type and geographical breakdown of traffic in the future, although
itisnoteasy to sayhowand to whatextent.
The situation is all the more complex because a sectoral approach is no longer possible. When shaping a
transport policy, due consideration must be given to the full scope offered by the various modes and to all the
external factors, so as to ensure the greatest possible efficiency ofthe transport system at bothnationaland inter¬
nationallevels,havingregard toall the operational constraints, whethertechnical, economic orsocial.
It is becoming increasingly clear that goods transport has to be seen as a part of the production process.
Firms and the manufacturing sector as a whole have to adopt an approach whereby, in the overall process of
incorporating transport into their scheme of operations, they products and purchasing input materials but also
ofthe termsandconditionsrelevanttosecuring suppliesand shippingtheirfinishedproducts.
The aim as regards passenger transport will be to take due account of foreseeable trends in theuseofthe
car in all spheres not simply in towns and plan the adjustments that will be called for with respect to other
modes, moreparticularly therailways,in thelightoftheeconomic andsocialconstraints.
The need for a comprehensive examination of these problems has already been recognised and provided
for in the guidelines laid down for the Conference's activity subsequent to the Council ofMinisters' discussions
and the decisions taken on the problems of transit traffic at the Belgrade Sessionin 1979 and on European trunk
lines ofcommunicationatthe Bonn Sessionin 1980.
The main topics on the Council's agenda for the Dublin Session provide a good indication of the course
adopted by the ECMT in its approach to transport policy bearinginmind the objectivesto be achieved and the
constraints which have to be taken into consideration since the Ministers were called upon to consider the
followingissues:
liberalisationandreducing distortions ofcompetition;
railway policy orientations;
combinedtransport:reportonpiggybackroutes;
transportand theenvironment.
These topicsclearly reflectthe widerangeofissuesinvolvedinshapingatransportpolicy.
The Conferencecontinuesto bereceptive toanyproposallikely to facilitate transportoperationsin Europe
andit wasin this spirit thattheproblem wasapproachedattheCouncil ofMinisters'sessionin Dublin.
Clearly, the problem of international trade and the supporting role played by transport deserves special
attention.
However, the interests of individual States are highly complex since each has to contend with a difficult
social and economic situation and cannot therefore give unqualified support to a general system for the liberali¬
sation of transport. Full liberalisation has never as yet been achieved, although substantial progress was made
duringtheperiod ofmarkedeconomic expansionin the 1960s.
