Transport policy

Abstract

A common policy in the field of transport was one of the fundamental objects named in the Treaty of Rome, though the Treaty itself reflected the lack of common vision of the purpose and dimensions of any such common policy. The Treaty explicitly covered only transport by rail, road and inland waterway. For transport by air and sea there was merely a provision enabling the Council to decide on ‘appropriate provisions’; there was no indication of the purposes which such provisions might serve, and any decision must be unanimous. As the basis of a constructive transport policy must include a common view of the roles of rail and air transport in relation to one another, as a basis for decisions on investment in these modes, the failure explicitly to include air transport restricted the scope for any action programme; and the exclusion of sea transport did not help any plans for integrated means of access to the ports.