ENERGY AND TRANSPORT PAGE

Energy and transport are at the heart of all European political and economical agendas.

Transport and energy are at the heart of European policies and have a considerable impact on the everyday life of citizens. There can be no unified area without these energy and transport bridges between countries and people.

Transport policy, plans for which began in 1957, is aimed at sustainable mobility by combining Europe’s competitiveness with the welfare of its citizens. The ideal goal is to make for greater safety and security and enhanced rights.

These ideals are an essential component of the Lisbon strategy and contribute to the EU’s social and territorial cohesion. Energy policy also dates back to the beginnings of European integration, with the ECSC Treaty on coal and steel and the Euratom Treaty on the civil use of nuclear energy. However, it really took off in the 1990s with the creation of a genuine internal market for electricity and gas, the promotion of new energy sources and a more coordinated approach to security of supply.

The structure and tasks of Energy and Transport DG
Since November 2004 Jacques Barrot, Vice-President of the European Commission, has been in charge of transport policy, and Commissioner Andris Piebalgs has been in charge of energy policy.

The Directorate-General (DG) for Energy and Transport, headed by Matthias Ruete, has a staff of over 1,000 in 10 Directorates located in Brussels and Luxembourg. The two Directorates in Luxembourg are responsible for coordinating nuclear policy, nuclear safeguards and radiation protection inspections. The DG exercises political scrutiny over the aviation, maritime and railway safety agencies, the Galileo Joint Undertaking and the Europoean GNSS.

Supervisory Authority.
In addition to the development of community transport and energy policies, the DG is responsible for managing the financial support programs for the trans-European networks, technological development and innovation, totaling on average €1 billion per annum for the period 2000-2006.

The action carried out in recent years has substantially altered the European landscape of energy and transport:

• A real internal market for transport and energy is being created to make the EU more competitive (in the context of the Lisbon strategy) – the purpose of this new integrated market is to guarantee effective supply of quality services at affordable prices.
• Major infrastructures and high-quality networks are being built – real arteries now crisscross the entire European area and boost the European economy.
• Safety and security requirements are growing. Isolated national action is insufficient to meet increasingly transnational and global challenges. Action to combat maritime pollution, malevolent acts and unsafe roads require concerted action by all countries.

Globalization requires flanking measures. The EU is a vehicle for organization and regulation. While transport and energy issues are becoming increasingly global, only resolute coordinated action by Europe can avert the risks in terms of security of supply and promote worldwide action based on cooperation and interdependence.

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