THE European Court of Auditors (ECA) has recommended that
EU scrap programmes to shift freight away from trucking to other modes because
it failed to meet targets or show evidence of their value.
There was no reliable data to assess benefits on the
environmental impact of freight transport, road congestion or road safety, said
the auditors' report.
In future, said the auditors' report, such programmes
should not be launched unless there is first a "proper impact
assessment" after which realistic targets should be set with EU funding
based on results.
"Little impact was achieved in shifting freight off
the roads and there was no data to assess the achievement of the policy
objectives or environmental benefits," said the lead author of the report.
Half of the audited projects were of limited
sustainability and one of the main findings was that there were serious
indications of "deadweight", that is, projects which would have gone
ahead even without EU funding.
European Union-backed "Marco Polo" programmes,
aimed at shifting freight away from the roads to rail, inland waterways and
short sea shipping, have been have been part of the EU transport policy
objectives.
The audit found there were not enough relevant project
proposals put forward because the market situation and the programme rules
discouraged operators from taking advantage of their schemes.
Source : HKSG.
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