The transport sector is Europe’s ‘problem child’ regarding environmental policies and a sustainable economy: it is the only economic sector that failed to reduce CO2 emissions in the last thirty years. Road transportation and air traffic are the most urgent problems. Emissions emerging from a growing number of cars, trucks and aircrafts have increased by 30% whereas all other sectors of the economy decreased by 30%. This is remarkable, considering that the European Union and national governments constantly declared their intention to reverse this trend. The European Union plays a key role because it had liberalized transport markets in the 1990s, resulting in a deep structural change of transport flows, value chains and mobility patterns. At the same time, the political promotion of technologies such as Europe-wide traffic information systems to optimize traffic flows or the promotion of e-mobility was intended to limit the negative effects on the environment. That competitive transport markets had their downsides has become increasingly clear since the 2000s. The question of how to react in terms of transport policy became increasingly urgent. Even the most dogmatic advocates of liberal approaches realized that the competitive approach had to be flanked by regulatory intervention. In view of the undeniable negative effects, the question now is how new goals such as reducing emissions or minimizing traffic congestion can be achieved through regulation or new technologies.

The panel zooms in on transport regulation in Europe since the 1980s. It asks: How have efforts to reduce CO2 emissions shaped the transport technologies and transport policies? Which regulations have sought to reverse the trend of increasing CO2 emissions from transport? Why have these efforts been unsuccessful? The panel draws on two DFG-funded projects on the foundations of the mobile society (traffic control systems) and on EC infrastructure policy since the 1980s.

Please send your proposals (in German or English) with a short synopsis of your planned lecture (one page), a CV and details of your most important publications by 15 March 2024 to ...

University of Siegen
PD Dr Christian Franke and Dr. Veit Damm
E-Mail: Christian2.Franke@uni-siegen.de, Veit.Damm@uni-siegen.de