This overview paper on road freight transport in Europe, deals with some of the main trends and policy challenges as the author sees them from the perspective of public policy. He takes as a starting point the vital economic importance of road freight. Most goods move reliably, efficiently and safely by road and this is not going to change dramatically in the near future. The author examines how the complex mix of policy concerns can be satisfactorily dealt with using the instruments that we have. These concerns include efficiency, environmental, safety, social and infrastructure issues. It is impossible to be comprehensive and the paper will give an overview and some personal observations on how the different concerns can be reconciled. (A)
Samenvatting