International

SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong will oppose the proposals on local and regional transport services presented today by the European Commission.

Explaining his opposition, De Jong says, “You’d think that the European Commission would understand that people in Europe simply want decent public transport services, including in areas where little or no profit can be made from them. Today’s proposals show that the Commission has nothing to say on that. They’re still drunk on the noxious moonshine of liberalisation. For the Commission regional transport is simply another market and their proposals are exclusively aimed at encouraging competition. Great news for big transport firms, but it has nothing whatsoever to offer the rest of us. These proposals must be rejected, lock, stock and barrel.”

According to the Commission amending the rules on coach and bus services would persuade more people to take the bus instead of their car. “That’s total nonsense,” says De Jong. “Opening up the regional transport market leads eventually only to losers. Bus companies are interested only in profitable lines between cities and so they compete with the rail network. Regional transport providers compete with international corporations, as a result of which unprofitable lines disappear. In a world in which public transport is already under pressure, this is a road we shouldn’t be going down.”