Assessing the complementarity of common transport policy objectives : a scenario approach

This paper examines the extent to which the main objectives of the European Common Transport Policy (CTP) are complementary. A total of six scenarios are constructed, reflecting three different policy objectives and two futures of Europe. The three policy objectives considered are economic efficiency, regional development and environmental protection. The two assumptions about the future of the EU (called external frameworks) are ‘Cooperation ’ - which assumes greater harmonisation of European policies and actions, expansion of the EU and a high social acceptance of policy measures - and ‘Polarisation ‘, which presents more or less opposite developments. The outcomes of each scenario are examined using a selection of indicators to represent the main impacts. It is concluded that there is to some extent complementarity between environmental and efficiency objectives, while there is little complementarity with regional development objectives.