Turning to regional transport, Kallas said that public demand for such services must be satisfied. ``We need fair competition and direct and transparent subsidies," he told InnoTrans delegates. ``We intend to revise the rules for public service obligation grants in the next couple of years." He also called for more competitive tendering for regional services as a way of achieving this.
Kallas says he wants to make it easier to implement projects. ``We must cut European bureaucracy and we need simpler planning laws," he said. ``We can't have a situation where anyone can stop a project. We also need stability to stop political interference." As major rail projects take years to implement, Kallas said it was unacceptable for projects to be halted just because there is a change of government in a country.
Kallas also wants to see a greater role for the private sector in investing in infrastructure projects because public funding resources are limited. ``There is a lot of money looking for good infrastructure projects and Europe is attractive because of its transparency, good legal framework, and lack of corruption. But an essential element is strong regulators.
``Let's do everything we can to make European railways competitive - we can't wait for things to change in the outside world," Kallas concluded.
Kallas sets his vision for European railways
IRJ at InnoTrans: The vice-president of the European Commission Mr Siim Kallas set out his vision for European railways at the opening session of InnoTrans in Berlin today. Kallas said that rail should play an essential role in reducing Europe's dependence on fossil fuels and cutting greenhouse gas emissions. But in order to do this, there need to be radical changes in the structure of Europe's railways, which he described as ``obsolete". Kallas called for the creation of Europe-wide infrastructure managers and pan-European independent operators.
IRJ at InnoTrans: The vice-president of the European Commission Mr Siim Kallas set out his vision for European railways at the opening session of InnoTrans in Berlin today. Kallas said that rail should play an essential role in reducing Europe's dependence on fossil fuels and cutting greenhouse gas emissions. But in order to do this, there need to be radical changes in the structure of Europe's railways, which he described as ``obsolete". Kallas called for the creation of Europe-wide infrastructure managers and pan-European independent operators.
