European Parliament action plan on urban mobility

Polis welcomes adoption by European Parliament of report on action plan on urban mobility

From Polis - http://www.polis-online.org

Polis, the European network of cities and regions supporting innovation in local transport, welcomes the vote of the European Parliament report on an action plan on urban mobility.

According to Councillor Francesc Narvaez from Barcelona, the current president of Polis, this report is "an important milestone towards the implementation of a coherent and comprehensive European policy on urban mobility".

Councillor Narvaez added that under the impulsion of MEP Gilles Savary (PES), and thanks to the cooperation of all parties in the Transport Committee, the European Parliament has delivered a text of high quality. The report adopted last Thursday 23rd of April indicates the next steps for the consolidation of this policy on urban mobility.

The first step should be the adoption by the European Commission of the Action Plan on urban mobility itself. Polis members hope that this will be an opportunity for the European Commission to confirm its commitment to the CIVITAS programme, as stated in the report of the European Parliament, and that new projects will be funded during the second half of FP7.

Councillor Narvaez also expresses his hope that as suggested by the European Parliament, the current policy trend "will pave the way towards the creation of a new European financial instrument for urban mobility in the future financial perspectives".

The improvement of urban mobility is critical for the achievement of several objectives of the European Union, for instance on climate change and on the competitiveness of our economies, and can contribute significantly the European objectives of economic recovery.

Polis members call for the achievement of the new urban mobility culture and for this purpose also welcome the emphasis of the Parliament's report on public transport and soft modes.

Polis member Stéphane Coppey, Président of Tisséo (Toulouse) insists that he hopes that the upcoming action plan which is expected to follow the vote of the European Parliament "will support public transport, soft modes such as walking and cycling, and help to improve intermodality".

European Parlliament page on report - http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&reference=A6-2009-0199&language=EN

Report text: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+REPORT+A6-2009-0199+0+DOC+PDF+V0//EN

More on Polis: http://www.polis-online.org

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