This paper studies the spatial impact an important aspect European transport policy, namely road infrastructure investments in the context of the Trans-European Transport Network program. In its White Paper, the European Commission has laid down a comprehensive programme of transport policy, aiming at increasing the efficiency of the transport industry, developing the Trans-European Networks and bringing the prices of transport services closer to the true social cost. It is an important political issue whether the policy will enhance spatial cohesion in Europe or run counter the objective of a balanced economic development in the area of the EU. This paper studies the spatial impact of one aspect of these policies, namely road investments, with the help of a spatial computable general equilibrium model, called CGEurope. It is a static model with a large number of regions covering the whole area of the EU including the new member states, plus neighbouring countries. Regions interact by trade flows. Transport policies aresimulated by varying the costs of transport and quantifying the impact onthe welfare of households brought about by changes in goods and factor prices. Two policy scenarios on road transport are compared, evaluating their impact on spatial equality or inequality using a bundle of indicators ofspatial inequality. For the covering abstract see ITRD E139491.
Abstract