Transforming a steam train: a historical institutionalist analysis of EU railway policy

Dyrhauge, Helene

doi:10.1080/07036337.2021.2012465

Cited by 2 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…This set out two strategies for reducing transport's negative environmental impact: 'first, reducing operational pollution and second, a demand-side centred approach, that is making more efficient use of existing capacities and shifting transport volumes to more environmental friendly [sic] means of transport' (Teutsch 1998: 121). Yet, this apparent environmental focus notwithstanding, Transport: evolving EU policy towards a 'hard-to-abate' sector 307 the EU's transport policy during the 1990s continued to focus on liberalization, as part of the Single Market programme (Dyrhauge 2022). Specifically, EU liberalization of the different transport modes removed national barriers and enabled free movements in transport services across borders, which contributed to traffic growth and, especially, increased intra-modal competitiveness (keeping prices down) in road haulage and passenger aviation.…”

Section: Eu Sustainable Mobility Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Setting up new international services can take years because the railway company, in addition to buying new rolling stock, must apply for safety certificates, vehicle type authorization and access to track. These technical administrative processes have traditionally been matters for national authorities, but the fourth railway package shifted the processes of certification and authorization to the European Railway Agency (Dyrhauge 2022). This, in theory, leaves only the application for access to infrastructure with the national authorities, which should reduce the administrative burden and speed up the process of setting up new railway services.…”

Section: Railwaysmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Transport: evolving EU policy towards a 'hard-to-abate' sector

Dyrhauge¹,

Rayner²

2023

Handbook on European Union Climate Change Policy and Politics

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Transport and fossil fuels have been intrinsically linked since the Industrial Revolution, from which time all transport modes (road, rail, waterborne, aviation) have come to rely on fossil fuel-based technologies. Transport's apparent addiction to oil in particular has become more problematic as climate change has moved ever higher up the political agenda. Historically, the EU has attempted to address the negative environmental externalities from transport by adopting different policy instruments on a mode-by-mode basis (van Lier and Macharis 2015: 120-121). Despite this, however, the EU has not been able to break the link between transport growth and emissions growth: between 1995 and 2018, overall passenger transport has grown by 30 per cent and freight by 40 per cent (European Commission 2020: 23), contributing to a rise in road traffic emissions from 620 to 786 million tonnes CO2 equivalent since 1990 (ibid). Transport's share of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the EU27 has increased, from 16.5 per cent in 1990 to 27.2 per cent in 2018, due to a combination of reductions in other sectors and the growth in transport volumes (European Commission 2020: 137). Thus, transport represents an acute climate challenge, and it is vital for the EU to act urgently if it is to meet its long-term goal of a 90 per cent reduction in transport emissions by 2050 (European Commission 2020b: 2). Achieving this reduction requires political support in particular for the replacement of fossil fuel technologies with batteries or alternative fuels. Some transport modes, like roads and railways, are further along in their technological development, compared to aviation and maritime which are only just starting their energy transitions. Thus, different transport modes face different challenges.Until the Commission's launching of its European Green Deal (EGD) in 2019, EU climate mitigation legislation covering transport relied largely on regulatory measures such as standards for fuel efficiency and vehicle emissions, or instruments to incentivize investment in alternative fuels, for example promoting renewable energy and biofuels. With the launch of the EGD and associated 'Fit for 55' package (European Commission 2021a), a turn towards more market-based instruments, including efforts to extend the scope of the EU emission trading system (ETS), became evident, alongside efforts to tighten existing emission standards.Historically, EU legislators have often been forced to water down policy proposals relating to environmental protection in transport, in the face of lobbying from structurally powerful incumbent industry actors, particularly large car manufacturers that often have close relationships with their national (Member State) governments (Dionigi 2017; Skete 2017). There have also been potentially effective policy instruments that have been neglected, or blocked, due to a lack of competence at EU level, especially regarding fiscal instruments which remain the responsibility of Member State governments, or which have been sty...

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Section: Eu Sustainable Mobility Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Railwaysmentioning

confidence: 99%