Europe's freight transport policy: analysis, synthesis and evaluation

This book chapter maps the changing nature of European Union (EU) surface freight transport policy since 2000. Over this period the policy, based on the liberalisation of the Single European Market in the ten years before 2000, changed from purely national to supranational, on a pan-European scale. This period saw the expansion of the EU to the East and the changing make-up of the Union and the Commission and witnessed how the political nature of the policy adapts. The research is the first accessible, objective and independent review of overall EU surface freight policy.

The review show that, by 2011, intervention, modal shift and intermodalism have been replaced by 'smart', 'green' and 'integrated' themes, alongside economic competitiveness and growth. The key change is that policy now looks to separate mobility from its negative effects; for example, behavioural change orientation programmes, such as road pricing for freight, have declined in importance. Innovative technology, by contrast, is the chosen tool of the current EU freight policy to meet ambitious emission reduction targets, led by the decarbonisation of road haulage. The tension between technocracy and explicit political intent is evident in the development and is discussed. Successful and unsuccessful freight policies are also drawn, discussed and concluded.