EUROPE: Making the EU's cities greener was the focus of a Brussels policy forum, writes Frank McDonald
Most politicians "lack the guts" to curb car use in European cities "because they fear the onslaught of a citizens' revolution", according to Belgian environment minister Bruno Tobback.
He was speaking yesterday at a policy forum on the theme "Greening Our Cities", organised by Friends of Europe, an influential Brussels-based think-tank, as part of the European Commission's annual Green Week.
Despite the acknowledged success of London's congestion charge and the public approval rating of its mayor, Ken Livingstone, Mr Tobback said sustainable transport remained one of the key challenges facing urban planners.
Ironically, the youthful environment minister was late for the symposium because his car was held up by heavy traffic on a wet morning in Brussels. He blamed poor urban planning for creating high levels of car dependency.
Dutch MEP Dorette Corbey said air pollution caused by traffic was "shortening people's lives". Each city or region needed to have its own action plan and she suggested that "dirtier cars" should be banned from entering urban areas.
As chairwoman of a working group on cleaner cars, she said strict limits on emissions would encourage innovation in the motor industry. Higher oil prices were "a blessing in disguise" because they would make alternative fuels more competitive.
Peter Danielsson, environmental manager of the Volvo Bus Corporation, told the symposium that new diesel technology had led to buses with 40 per cent lower emissions and there were also good prospects for low-emission bio-fuels.
British Liberal Democrat MEP Chris Davies noted that an EU directive on end-of-life vehicles, coming into force on January 1st next, would require motor manufacturers or car dealers to pick up "bangers" from people's homes, free of charge.
"Five years ago, when this was under discussion, we had the European car industry ganging up on us, claiming it would be the end of the car industry in Europe. But now they say they might even make a profit on it because of the price of scrap metal".
Dr Jacqueline McGlade, director general of the European Environment Agency, said governments should tax the use of resources, rather than employment, to encourage best environmental practice. "That will in the end make us smarter consumers."
Gavin Neath, chairman of Unilever UK, agreed that fiscal policies should be used, as his company had found that it was "notoriously difficult" to change consumer habits. "The only reliable drivers of change are greed, fear and self-interest."
He said the "green option" for consumers needed to be "either better, cheaper or more convenient to use. If you want more people to cycle, then provide cycle lanes. If you want to encourage them to recycle waste, pick it up from their homes."
Swedish MEP Anders Wijkman said people paid attention to certain issues only some of the time, and he blamed the media for creating more confusion. "One day, you read that some product is dangerous, the next day another one is."
He complained that there was still no sign of a common, EU-wide eco-labelling system after 15 years of discussion.
The European Parliament was not setting an example by wasting €197 million a year by maintaining a second home in Strasbourg.
Fouad Hamdan, director of Friends of the Earth Europe, called on MEPs to resist a proposal by the European Commission to reclassify incineration as "waste recovery", saying there was a "great risk" that it would be treated as equivalent to recycling.
Shirley Rodrigues, head of environment for the city of London, said it had two "mass-burn" waste incinerators and plans for a third which had been on the stocks for 10 years. However, she did not favour going ahead with it because of public opposition.