B Explanatory Memorandum
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1. The Fourth Report on the activities of the European Conference of Ministers of Transport is not only most interesting in itself but should be particularly gratifying to the Consultative Assembly, in view of the careful consideration given there to the comments and suggestions made by the Assembly in Resolution 138, adopted in October last in reply to the Third Report of the E. C. M. T.
2. Although transport may appear to most a technical matter for specialists, that it is a matter of vital concern to everyone is evident from the figures given in the Report. For example, in the ECMT countries for which figures could be obtained, inland transport consumes more than one-tenth of the total energy used, and absorbs about one fifth or one sixth of total investment, while the operation of the various means of transport accounts on an average for 6 %-7 % of the total labour force. Close and continued collaboration between European parliamentarians and the E.C.M.T. is therefore extremely important if the Conference's work is to be made widely known in member countries, and if there is to be a fruitful exchange of views between parliamentary opinion and governmental experts.
3. In paragraph 2 of the draft Resolution, comment is made on relations between the ECMT, the European Economic Community and the 0. E. E. C. in connection with the last-named's work on the Free Trade Area. With the institutions of the Common Market in process of being set up, and those of the Free Trade Area a possibility for the near future, it is clear that these must be organised in such a way that there is no duplication of work and no waste of the specialists who are in such short supply. Yet there have been press reports indicating difficulties in ensuring the necessary degree of integration even of such closely connected offices as the Transport Commission of the High Authority of the E. C. S. C.„ and the corresponding department which will be required in the European Commission of the Common Market1
Note. It is clear that, if a rational organisation of technical services in a field like this cannot be ensured, the outlook for a sound system of institutions in Europe as a whole is very poor indeed. The time has now come to consider whether the transport clauses in the ECSC Treaty should not be cancelled by common agreement, as .soon as the transport department of the European Commission can take over the work done by the Transport Commission of the High Authority.
4. The question of cooperation between the E. C. M. T. and non-governmental organisations in the transport field is stressed in paragraph 3 of the draft Resolution. This is a delicate matter, since it is inevitable that the nongovernmental organisations concerned should support, first and foremost, the interests of the particular sector of transport which they represent, whether it be road, rail or water. Yet when we remember that all forms of transport have a particular interest to support, it is clearly difficult for an organisation which, like the Conference, is responsible for transport development as a whole, not to appear at some time or another, to give too little weight to the representations of an individual branch of transport. Thus an organisation such as the International Union of Inland Waterways may come to feel that the procedure in force for cooperation with the E. C. M. T. " does not promote any continuous work nor the confidence which would be essential for fruitful cooperation". Nevertheless, the Assembly should, in your Rapporteur's opinion, recommend that the very wide experience and expert knowledge of these non-governmental organisations be fully utilised by the Conference, and that they have a full opportunity at all times to present their case on any given topic.
5. In paragraph 4 of the draft Resolution the Assembly calls for a serious effort on the part of the Conference, together with the Conference of European Statisticians in Geneva and the relevant departments of national civil services, to begin building up comprehensive statistics, which are essential if a sound and coherent transport policy is to be developed. It is true, as the Conference's Report states, that " in statistical studies there are considerable difficulties in defining for each country the extent of the transport industry and measuring exactly what it covers ". The Report states also that " owing to differences in the structure of this industry from one country to another, it is impossible to make international comparisons". On the other hand, it is certain that more could be done, and the Assembly should continue to press for further efforts in this direction, though it is grateful meanwhile for the facts and figures given in the Resolution " on Prospects for the trend of transport in the period 19561-960 and on the influence of that trend on investment ".
6. On particular branches of transport, the draft Resolution first discusses points concerning railways. The details given in Appendix I to the Report, on measures adopted by member countries to give effect to Resolution No. 10 of the Council of Ministers on the financial situation of the railways, are particularly interesting. It is encouraging to read that in the Netherlands " the railways are considered as an industrial undertaking: they are operated on commercial principles, and their accounts are based on modern ideas of commercial economy". We are also told that " as regards their financial situation, profits in recent years have been sufficient to cover the amount needed to finance the continuous modernisation of equipment in addition to normal depreciation. Thus no special measures are necessary, since the aims mentioned in the Resolution of the Council of Ministers are already attained." Your Rapporteur hopes that his colleagues in the Assembly will forgive him for pointing to this flattering description of the situation of the Dutch railways (in this connection he is aware that population density and competition from road and water transport are also part of the picture). Attention should be drawn to the fact that at least some important railway administrations, the British, Danish and French, are not recorded as having made any communication to the Conference at all on what they have been able to do in connection with Resolution No. 10. A few of the communications made refer to studies in progress on what can best be to give effect to the recommendations of Resolution No. 10. In Austria, for example, a Ministerial Committee has been set up " to make concrete proposals for the normalisation of rail-wray accounts and to relieve the railways of general economic obligations". In Luxembourg the Transport Council of the railways has been asked " to draw up proposals on the measures to be taken, particularly on the normalisation of railway accounts". The Assembly should continue to follow up the work which is in progress on this problem in all member-countries of the Conference.
7. It is pleasing to note that two further Member-States of the E. C. M. T. (Greece and Turkey) have now joined Eurofima, the first report of which is given as Appendix II to the Report of the Conference. Assembly representatives from the Austrian, Belgian, French and Italian delegations could perform a useful service here in pressing in their national parliaments for ratification of the Eurofima International Convention. This is particularly important because the 80 % of the registered capital of the company prescribed in Article 15 of the Convention for its entry into force has not yet been reached. (The Convention is being applied, in fact, only provisionally). With the accession to the Convention of Greece and Turkey most Member States of the Council of Europe have joined Eurofima
Note.
8. Though this is a most welcome development, Eurofima's work has not yet gathered any real momentum. The first report of the Eurofima company states that " with regard to orders it must be admitted that the grouping of orders for several networks with a single manufacturer, (the only means of achieving mass production and therefore lower prices) was not possible, particularly owing to the level of customs duties, and also to the fact that, for national reasons, administrations which would find it advantageous to import, did not agree to the placing of orders abroad ". (Rapporteur's italics). If this is already the policy in a period of shortage of labour, the consequences could be very serious in times of a high level of unemployment. At a time when the European Economic Community has been set up and a wider Free Trade Area is being negotiated, representatives should do their utmost in national parliaments to ensure that national thinking of this kind is replaced by a more constructive international approach as quickly as possible. Perhaps Assembly members could help the E. C. M. T. in this matter if particular difficulties arising on this score are brought to the Assembly's attention in future reports of the E. C. M. T. A suggestion in this sense is accordingly made in paragraph 8 of the draft Resolution..
9. As regards road transport, the increase in the number of restricted groups is welcomed in paragraph 9 of the draft Resolution, and we must hope that the improvement of Greek and Turkish road communications will be of assistance in developing the economy of these countries. Members of the Assembly will note that a call is made in the same paragraph for the setting up of restricted groups in which Italy takes part, to see whether further improvements can be made in road communications to that country. Attention is drawn in the draft Resolution to the question of financing such schemes, important not only for the countries setting up the " restricted groups " but for European transport as a whole.
10. Paragraph 11 of the draft Resolution deals with the failure to make progress on the problems of weight, dimensions, payload and speed of road vehicles, while paragraph. 12 deals with the work going on to standardise rules of the road and regulations on the equipment of road vehicles. When we read in the Report that, " as far as road transport is concerned, it is expected that the number of vehicles in circulation will increase by at least 50 % by 1960 ", it is clear that this problem is daily becoming more acute, and if we look at the matter from a standpoint in which the general public is more directly interested — the problem of road accidents — the figures indicate how desperately urgent it is to make further progress in this field. 41,000 deaths and 1,150,000 cases of injury are reported in the countries of the E.C.M.T. in 1955, and these figures are expected to show an increase of 10 % for the year 1956. Your Rapporteur proposes, in paragraph 11 of the draft Resolution, therefore, that European road tests be carried out on the lines of the United States road tests described in the Report, as a matter of urgency, so that progress can be accelerated in fixing acceptable standards for road vehicles and road structure. And in paragraph 12 representatives from all national parliamentary delegations are urged to press for greater unification of rules of the road.
11. This brings us to the problem dealt with in paragraph 13 of the draft Resolution — road investment and the failure of road improvement and equipment to keep up with the increase in traffic. We have already mentioned the fact that, according to the Report, transport absorbs at present about one-fifth or one-sixth of total investments, and the fact that the number of vehicles in circulation will increase by at least 50 % in the period 1956-1960. Yet we are told in the Conference's Report that " the improvement in equipment of road infrastructure lags considerably behind the increase in traffic... and in order to catch up on these arrears in the period 1956 to 1960, while covering new traffic needs, the level of investment for that period would have to be at least double what it was in 1955 ". The need for appropriate action in member countries on this score is thus evident.
12. Paragraphs 14 and 15 of the draft Resolution refer to Inland Waterways. Although member countries primarily interested in these problems are those of the Six, it is important to make further progress in this matter, since the E. C. M. T. has been asked by the Six to do what it can to bring about an agreement.
13. Two last points remain. In paragraph 16 of the draft Resolution the Assembly welcomes the mention in the Report of the Channel Tunnel project. A meeting was held between members of the Economic Committee's Subcommittee on the Channel Tunnel project with M. Massigli, French Chairman of the Study Group set up on the initiative of the Suez Canal Company. When the results of the studies at present going on are available, this Sub-committee is to take the matter up again. Meanwhile, the Assembly should welcome the cooperation offered by the E. C. M. T. to the Study Group, and it would be interesting to learn in a subsequent report details of what help has been given.
14. Finally, there is the question of tourism. The Report mentions that the Tourism Committee of the 0. E. E. C. has been requested to inform the E. C. M. T. of specific points towards which cooperation between the two bodies might be directed. Tourism is a matter of particular concern to the Assembly. As a result of the work of the Council of Europe in this field progress has been made in the simplification of frontier formalities, particularly in the abolition of customs documents for private motor vehicles. This is likely to result in a considerable increase in tourist traffic in the near future, which the various authorities concerned must be ready to meet. The Assembly should, therefore, certainly ask for details of the cooperation that is instituted in this field.
