Toespraak van minister Schultz van Haegen bij de TEN-T Dagen 2015

Toespraak | 23-06-2015

Ladies and gentlemen,

Standing on this podium in Riga as a Dutch minister feels very special.

Some 500 years ago, my Dutch forefathers came to Riga to buy grain and wood. They shipped their goods to Dutch ports where they traded them with other countries, in Europe and beyond.

The success of this trade depended on good access to our ports, good hinterland connections and international cooperation. It led to enormous economic development.

Today, the European network is still of vital importance to the Dutch economy. Especially to our maritime ports in Rotterdam and Amsterdam, which import 536 million tonnes of goods every year. Most of these are shipped on to destinations further inland, travelling by road, rail or water via three of the TEN-T core networks. That’s why we are always investing in improving access to our part of the European network. Access to our maritime ports remains a priority. Because they are still our gateways to Europe – just like they were 500 years ago.

So I’m pleased that the work plans of three TEN-T coordinators acknowledge the importance of investing in maritime ports.

And one of my key messages here today will be that it is important not only to invest in cross-border projects on the TEN-T network, but also to invest in its access points. How else would would you get in or out? But it’s not all about investing in hard infrastructure. We also need to focus more on smart solutions to guarantee smooth and sustainable transport in the future.

I believe the technological innovation we’re seeing today will help us enter a new era. We can shift this development up a gear. What we need is a pioneering spirit and a willingness to experiment. But it’s also important for public and private parties to agree on concrete, feasible goals.

These are the principles underpinning the Netherlands’ approach.

Like the National Energy Agreement signed in 2013 by the Dutch government and a large, varied group of stakeholders. This energy agreement includes ambitious targets for the transport sector, so that by 2035 all new cars in the Netherlands will be zero emissions. This will also be key to achieving the 2050 climate targets set out in the EU White Paper on Transport.

The agreement is a hands-on coalition. 

Companies in 15 Dutch cities are working together with local authorities and environmental groups to develop smart urban logistics.

For example:

• Large, long-distance lorries drive to distribution points near the city boundaries where goods are transferred to smaller electric or hydrogen-fuelled vans or electric scooters.
• And big supermarket chains are working together with truck manufacturers to develop a new series of smart and clean vehicles for this city distribution system. The result: fewer lorries in the cities, cleaner air and new business opportunities.

International ambition is needed to take new ideas to the next level. In particular, ambitious goals on decarbonising the European transport sector.

That’s why - firstly - the Netherlands urges the Commission to propose new carbon dioxide (CO₂) reduction targets for cars and vans in 2016, as well as challenging new targets for 2025. It is a strategy that has proven effective in the past.

And secondly, I fully endorse the Commission’s ambition to make better use of the multimodal features of the TEN-T corridors. Strong connections between inland waterways, roads and railways can make transport easier and more sustainable. Especially in a densely populated and industrialised country like the Netherlands.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We're on the brink of a new era in car technology.

I welcome the rapid development of self-driving cars and cooperative driving. Over the next 20 years, the car industry will make more progress than in the past hundred years.

In many ways, this is a time of great opportunities. To make transport easier, cleaner and safer, and to improve traffic flows.

For instance: grouping lorries into platoons leads to a 5 to 15% decrease in fuel use. This generates benefits for the environment and it reduces operating costs.

My country wants to be a testing ground for large-scale experimenting with self-driving vehicles. I recently adapted our legislation to allow these experiments. We’ve already conducted initial trials with platooning trucks.

Now I am also working with Germany and Austria to make the Rotterdam-to-Vienna corridor suitable for smart trucks. But real progress demands far more intensive international cooperation: between the Commission, the Member States and industry.

In March I addressed the board of the ACEA, the European association of car manufacturers. We talked about the importance of ensuring that new systems are compatible.  After all, nobody wants the ITS solutions developed by Volvo to be totally different from Renault. Smart cars need to be able to read each other’s signals in order to communicate.

We also talked about the balance in investments in hard infrastructure like roads, and investments in digital Vehicle-to-Vehicle and Vehicle-to-infrastructure systems. In our investment decisions we have to be more aware of those possibilities.

For example, do we any longer need road signs and signals along our roads in the future, or will your in-car system tell you the speed limit?

We also discussed how we could prevent Europe from becoming a patchwork of rules and procedures for smart innovation. Let's avoid the mistakes we made with the international rail network! We created more than 20 different rail safety systems. And now billions have to be invested to create one universal safety system.

We clearly have work to do!

Firstly, we need more uniform international legislation. One practical point for instance: there are big differences between Member States in the legally required distances between cars. We have to harmonize these requirements to make cross-border platooning of lorries possible.

Secondly, we need to update international legislation. Since 1968 the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic has made international traffic easier. But it needs an update. One existing provision is for instance:

'Every driver shall at all times be able to control his vehicle or to guide his animals.'

Need I say more?!

In summary:

My motto is: learning by doing. It’s a strategy that worked 500 years ago. And I’m certain it will work today, bringing us closer to a clean and smart European network.

The Netherlands will hold the EU Presidency in half a year’s time. I can’t wait. Our central theme is smart and green mobility. Who knows, we may take the Transport Council for a spin in self-driving cars!

I'm proud the European Commission decided to hold the TEN-T Days 2016 in Rotterdam: from 20 to 22 June. I look forward to seeing you all there, and together taking new steps towards a clean and smart mobility network.

Thank you.