Outcome of the Seminar on the Economic Crisis in Road Transport

Date: 9/12/2009

Source: European Commission

On 23 October 2009 the European Commission held a seminar with academics and representatives of the road haulage industry to analyse the effects of the economic crisis on them and to discuss potential exit strategies.

The main point to come out of the discussions was that short term measures that could damage the transportation sector in the long term must be avoided. Instead, attention must be directed to maintaining the sector's capacity so that it can cope with the recovery and with the increase in demand that is expected from further globalisation.

One of the areas highlighted as deserving particular attention in the post-crisis situation was the EU’s climate change policy, particularly in view of the commercial vehicle sector’s current constraints to develop new technologies.

Keywords: Environment, European Commission, Freight, Policy