Political Steering Group Meeting in Venice, 13th Jan 2006
Recent European strategies for clean urban mobility strongly supported by CIVITAS cities.At their recent meeting in Venice five top politicians from the cities Debrecen (HU), Ljubljana (SL), Odense (DK), Toulouse (FR) and Venice (IT) have expressed their strong and unanimous support for recent initiatives of the European Commission aiming to better coordinate policies for a cleaner transport systems in Europe's cities.
At their recent meeting in Venice five top politicians from the cities Debrecen (HU), Ljubljana (SL), Odense (DK), Toulouse (FR) and Venice (IT) have expressed their strong and unanimous support for recent initiatives of the European Commission aiming to better coordinate policies for a cleaner transport systems in Europe\'s cities.The five cities who are working together in the MOBILIS Project are among the leading cities in Europe for creating a healthy and clean environment through innovative mobility policies. Through their participation in the European Union\'s CIVITAS Programme they are implementing a wide range of practical measures including gas and bio diesel buses, better services on high quality public transport corridors, redesign of public spaces, less polluting goods delivery services, car sharing, personal marketing schemes and many other - in total about 50 innovative measures. CIVITAS is supporting currently 36 cities with 100 million Euro, in addition to over 200 million from the cities\' own budgets. Hosted by Mr Enrico Mingardi, Deputy Mayor for Mobility and Transport of the City of Venice, the mayors and councillors from the CIVITAS - MOBILIS cities, Zoltán Pajna, Deputy Mayor of Debrecen, Anton Colarič, Councillor from Ljubljiana, Tina Bue Jensen, Councillor from Odense, and Christian Lavigne, Elected member of Tisséo-SMTC, the public transport authority of Toulouse, met in Venice in order to continue their exchange of the best clean mobility solutions.Meeting in the 15th century Palazzo Cavalli Franchetti, the politicians discussed also recent policy initiatives of the European Commission and agreed unanimously their support for recent policy initiatives by declaring:(1) In their current review of the Transport White Paper the European institutions should bear in mind that many of today\'s problems, including access to jobs and social services, security of energy supply, health and mobility for all citizens, and many other current issues - must be addressed mainly in the cities in order to arrive at a solution.(2) The recently published \clean vehicle initiative\ of the European energy and transport Commissioners, Jacques Barrot and Andris Piebalgs (21 Dec 2005), to require public organisations to spend at least one quarter of their purchases in trucks and buses on clean engines, is welcome. When adopted, this directive will not only be an important step to contribute to greater security of energy supplies, but also to help in creating a more stable and competitive market for clean vehicles in Europe.(3) With its \Thematic Strategy for the Urban Environment\ announced two days ago (11. Jan), the European Commission is urging cities to develop clean transport plans and offers to provide support for best practice exchange and training, as well as for demonstration projects. These planning processes will also need to involve the citizens directly. The MOBILIS politicians called also on the European Union, as well as the Member States, to closely coordinate this process with other EU policies, especially structural funds and research programmes.(4) The MOBILIS cities consider the CIVITAS Programme as a model for demonstrating and sharing know-how in the sustainable mobility field. The MOBILIS politicians were pleased that transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot announced that this excellent programme should be continued and that the take-up of successful practices would be further promoted. In conclusion, Enrico Mingardi, Zoltán Pajna, Anton Colarič, Tina Bue Jensen, and Christian Lavigne confirmed the ability and strong political commitment of the five CIVITAS - MOBILIS cities to contribute to a pan-European exchange and dialogue on creating cleaner and healthier cities.The MOBILIS partnership will continue for at least three more years. The next political meeting will be held in early 2007.Further information on CIVITAS - MOBILIS is available from:Alexandre Blaquiere (project coordinator)TISSEO-SMTC, Syndicat Mixte des Transports en Commun de l\'Agglomération Toulousaine7, Esplanade Compans-CaffarelliB.P. 6131 902 TOULOUSE cedex 9phone : +33 567 778 097fax : +33 567 778 003web: www.civitas-mobilis.org
Author: Alexandre Blaquiere
