The Alpine Convention is a framework agreement for the protection and sustainable development of the Alpine region designed to preserve and protect the Alps (from an environmental, economic and social viewpoint) by applying the principles of prevention, “polluter pays” and cooperation between its members. At the beginning of June, the European Union ratified the Transport Protocol within the Alpine Convention. Thus, it is now effective in EU and becomes a European law.
The transport protocol was ratified by all the countries in the Alpine area: Germany, France, Italy, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Austria, Switzerland and Slovenia. In the administration of the alpine territory, the contracting parties of the Convention commit to consider transport-associated risks and dangers, such as pollution (phonic or chemical) and the safety of people and goods. In parallel, the signatories have to increase the profitability of transport, to improve the use of existing infrastructures, to consider the problems of transport in evaluating and implementing other policies and to involve territorial communities in the decision making. The objectives of the Protocol in the implementation of the Alpine Convention in transport include reducing the risks and dangers of the intra-alpine transport and helping habitats and economic areas develop thanks to a harmonised transport policy between different countries which integrates different transport modes, such as road-railway.
Even though the citizens living in the central and peripheral Alpine regions benefit from improved accessibility, the increasing environmental impact of transport is much higher than in plain regions. The narrow valleys accentuate the effects of polluting emissions and noise. Moreover, the construction and maintenance of the transport infrastructure high on the mountains are much more expensive, have a serious impact on the environment and are related to the consumption of limited natural resources. The intensification of road freight transport in the alpine transit areas has generated significant protests over the past years. Data show a much faster growth of road transport in the trans-alpine area than that of railway transport, the preferred mode of transport for environmental protection.
“The transport protocol is a very important instrument in protecting the sensitive Alpine environment and in promoting sustainable mobility in the Alps. It provides a pattern for international coordination and efficient trans-alpine transport management and strongly supports modal shift, especially by promoting the alternative modes of transport, other than road, mainly for freight transport”, declared Siim Kallas, the European Commissioner for transport.
The Alpine Convention also defines a number of specific measures and strategies such as a good coordination of the different modes of transport, the use of intermoda-lity and the shift of cargo transport from roads to railways.
This September, Poland will host the Alpine-Carpathian Cooperation Forum, with the participation of the members of the Alpine and Carpathian conventions, the establishment of the latter being inspired by the Alpine Convention. Romania is member of the Carpathian Convention.
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