Transport in an Integrating Europe: Sustainable Development and Cohesion

• Main Author: Roger Vickerman
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: AECR 2003-01-01
• Series: Investigaciones Regionales - Journal of Regional Research
• Online Access: http://www.aecr.org/images/ImatgesArticles/2007/13%20Roger%20Vickerman.pdf

The process of European integration, and particularly the enlargementof the EU, has substantial consequences for transport and the way it interacts with therest of the economy. Transport intensity has been increasing and changing transportcosts have different impacts on different sectors and regions depending on both traditionalfactors such as value to weight ratios and the competitive structure of industry.This paper explores some of the factors lying behind the rise in transport intensity,how it relates to trade and to changing activity patterns and the endogeneity of transportwith the process of specialisation and regional concentration. This is set againstthe pressures arising from EU enlargement. This leads to questions concerning thesustainability of exiting transport policies which place emphasis on mobility. The paperexplores the dynamics of the relationship, highlighting the way in which the modellingof the transport system needs to interact with that of the rest of the economy.