Europe's half a billion people depend on the more than 200,000 km of motorways that criss-cross the bloc EUOBSERVER / FOCUS - Transport of people and goods are crucial for the European economy and its competitiveness as well as for bringing citizens and cultures closer to each other. But the sector is in desperate need of a makeover to deal with its growth, its environmental impact and Europe's dependency on oil imports - which currently costs the bloc one billion euros a dayTransport in the European Union More than 500 airports, 190,000 km of railways, 200,000 km of motorways. 35,000 km of waterways and 1200 seaports caters for the European Union's half a billion people every single day. The transport sector accounts for some €1000 billion - or over 10 percent of the EU total gross domestic product (GDP) - and employs 10 million people. But the increase in traffic in the last few decades has created serious congestion problems in urban areas across the bloc, which in turn cause health problems and delays that could at the present rate cost the 27-member bloc one percent of its GDP by 2010 and therefore dent Europe's economic competitiveness on the global market.
EUOBSERVER / FOCUS - Transport of people and goods are crucial for the European economy and its competitiveness as well as for bringing citizens and cultures closer to each other. But the sector is in desperate need of a makeover to deal with its growth, its environmental impact and Europe's dependency on oil imports - which currently costs the bloc one billion euros a dayTransport in the European Union
More than 500 airports, 190,000 km of railways, 200,000 km of motorways. 35,000 km of waterways and 1200 seaports caters for the European Union's half a billion people every single day. The transport sector accounts for some €1000 billion - or over 10 percent of the EU total gross domestic product (GDP) - and employs 10 million people.
But the increase in traffic in the last few decades has created serious congestion problems in urban areas across the bloc, which in turn cause health problems and delays that could at the present rate cost the 27-member bloc one percent of its GDP by 2010 and therefore dent Europe's economic competitiveness on the global market.
Notice i wrote nothing about the grid? Skennah Kowa
