Keyword effects; facilities; services; eco-driving

In line with economic and social development in Europe, and the integration of the European economies and societies, transport, including the international transport of goods and people, has increased steadily in the past years. In particular, transport volumes and the number of motor vehicles have been growing steadily over the past 30 years. In the EU, passenger and freight transport have more than doubled over the past 25 years and private car ownership is approaching the figure of one car for every two inhabitants. Private passenger cars now account for more than 80% of traffic volumes in developed market economies. Public and rail transport used to play an important role in Central and Eastern Europe, but they are quickly losing ground to private road transport. According to the Indicators in Transport and Environment Integration in the EU (TERM 2002), average car ownership in the EU accession countries (excluding Turkey) increased from 146 per 1000 inhabitants in 1990 to 223 in 1998.

The impact of private car ownership could be mitigated by the development and implementation of administrative, regulatory and financial instruments that stimulate or regulate the production and use of motor vehicles and fuels with improved environmental and safety performance. Actions at the national level can include:

• development and introduction of appropriate legislation;
• amendment of tax systems;
• improvement of national systems of vehicles and fuel certification;
• harmonization of national fuel quality standards with those at the international level;
• enforcement of fuel quality control at filling stations;
• development and improvement of systems for environmental control of vehicles in use; and
• introduction of scrapping systems and control of utilization of old vehicles.

At the international level, facilitation and support of these instruments include the sharing of best practice and relevant experience in a pan-European perspective, international consulting and examination, cooperative projects, training of experts and secondments.