Recent developments concerning trunk communications and regional planning in Europe
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 24 January 1978 (20th and 21st Sittings) (see Doc. 4096, report of the Committee on Regional Planning and Local Authorities). Text adopted by the Assembly on 24 January 1978 (21st Sitting).
The Assembly,
1. Having considered the report of its Committee on Regional Planning and Local Authorities, on recent developments of trunk communications and regional planning in Europe (
Doc. 4096),
2. Expresses its thanks to the Conference of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe for having put the principles set forth in
Recommendation 631 and
Resolution 471 to the test by arranging a direct dialogue with the accredited representatives of the numerous European regions most directly concerned, and for having formulated its opinion as requested in
Resolution 471 ;
3. Invites the Conference to pursue its enquiries and consultations on the specific problems of European regions in the matter of infrastructures and communications by means of direct dialogue with the elected representatives of the regions concerned ;
4. Repeats to the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT) its conviction that the co-ordination of member states' communications and transport policies, which is its chief function, ought resolutely to seek a larger framework, with a higher priority, namely the improvement of the way of life of all Europeans ;
5. Urges all responsible authorities to intensify their dialogue and co-operation with non-Council of Europe countries in the field of transport infrastructures planning ;
6. Considers that in international discussions concerning trunk communications the principle of users making a reasonable contribution to the cost of building and managing them should be recognised ;
7. Expresses its conviction that this end could best be sought by means of organic co-operation at all levels between ECMT and the European Conference of Ministers responsible for Regional Planning (CEMAT) ;
8. Welcomes accordingly the holding in November 1977 of a first joint ECMT/CEMAT seminar, devoted to questions of transport and regional planning, and hopes that the technical co-operation thus instituted will develop into ministerial co-operation leading, in due course, to the convening of a joint ministerial conference to discuss matters of common interest ;
9. Invites the European Conference of Ministers responsible for Regional Planning (CEMAT) to pursue its thinking out of the implications of transport infrastructures for regional planning, and to study specific aspects such as the impact of investments in transport infrastructures on regional development, and their structurising effects on the territory traversed and on the establishment of development axes ;
10. Invites CEMAT to make a thorough analysis of the concept of development axes, taking as a concrete example the Rhine corridor, which is facing at one and the same time problems of over-concentration and of under-equipment, which call for a common strategy applied to the whole area ;
11. Encourages CEMAT to continue its work on a harmonised set of European thematic maps, and requests it to co-operate with ECMT and other international authorities concerned to produce a set of transport infrastructure maps suited to the needs of regional planning ;
12. Instructs its Committee on Regional Planning and Local Authorities to follow developments in this area, in particular the Transalpine and Balkan links, and to bring to its notice the European regional planning prospects opened up by the coming inauguration of the major North Sea-Rhine-Danube-Black Sea waterway, and the commencement of work on the Rhine-Rhone-Mediterranean link.
