ABSTRACT
As one of the four original policies, the Common Transport Policy (CTP) has been integral to the European Union (EU) integration process, where it has traditionally been viewed as facilitating the Single Market. Moreover, as one of the main sources of pollution, transport is a central element of the EU’s Sustainable Development Strategy. This places the CTP in a precarious position between the EU’s economic priorities and the EU’s commitment to environmental protection. As this chapter demonstrates, the relationship between these two goals is a constant factor in the determination of the priorities of the CTP. Transport policy cannot be viewed in isolation, but must be viewed rather as part of a larger political discourse which dates back to the early 1990s. It was during this period that the Single Market Programme was established and the sustainable development agenda emerged, driven externally by the outcomes of the 1992 Rio Summit and internally from the adoption of environmental protection objectives into the EU treaties.
