Speaking notes for the UITP conference on the 21st of February on the future legislative framework for urban, suburban and regional public passenger transport in Europe

摘要

Dear Secretary-General of the UITP, Mr. Rat, and dear President of the UITP's EU Committee, Mr. Del Mese, ladies and gentlemen, I feel very honoured to be with you to share and exchange some ideas about the future legal framework and EU policy on public transport in Europe. After some years in the doldrums, it seems now that the European legislation procedure has gathered momentum and will and give the public transport sector the necessary regulatory basis which it urgently needs in order to be able to function in an environment characterised by globalisation, emerging strong private players, the respect of the autonomy of locally elected bodies, dwindling national and local budgets, ever stricter environment requirements, increasing congestion problems and last but not least, ever higher customer demands.