The objective of this paper is to summarise the European experience in the field of energy conservation in the transport sector. Although European countries, to a certain extent, have been able to cushion the effect of the oil crisis on the general functioning of their economies, transport has remained a sensitive sector, and this "sensitivity" tends to increase, whereas in other sectors of the economy the tendency is the opposite. Energy conservation in the transport sector has been the focus of several intergovernmental European organisations. These organisations have tries to inform and warn their member countries of the consequences and the advisable measures in this field. One can cite the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) of the United Nations (UN) whose Inland Transport Committee (ITC) has co-ordinated efforts and produced a number of documents on the subject in the past five years: the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (), which encompasses nineteen Western European countries, including Yugoslavia and Finland, has produced one report on the subject and another to be submitted to the Council of Ministers in May, 1981; the OECD and the International Energy Agency (IEA) have also dealt with the subject as part of the overall energy reporting in their member states. Finally, the European Economic Community (EEC) also has produced dome reports and taken steps toward co-ordination of efforts in the transport and energy field. This paper will analyse the existing data and provide an overall view of the situation and trends in energy and transport. The bulk of the information is from various sources in Western Europe. Additional information is from ECE/ITC reports which do not cover all Eastern European countries. Thus, the paper refers mainly to Western Europe and is based on reports by the above mentioned international organisations and on replies to a special questionnaire issued by the author to the appropriate energy authorities of some twenty European countries. (A)
Abstract