Transport plays an important role in people’s everyday lives and is a key element in ensuring the free movement of goods and persons within the EEA Internal Market as well as trade with third countries. Annex XIII of the EEA Agreement covers all methods of transport, including road, rail, aviation, maritime transport and horizontal transport issues.

Liberalisation

Transport markets within the EEA are being harmonised and opened up for competition, through non-discriminatory rules.

Liberalisation efforts have progressed at a varying pace in the different transport sectors, but one common denominator has been the desire to introduce greater competition in the provision of these essential services. One of the first sectors to see a significant change was air transport where, as a result of three successive packages in the 1990s, all EU and EEA airlines were granted equal rights of access to the EEA market. The EEA Agreement further ensures that road transport operators in an EEA Member State may transport goods freely to and from an EEA Member State.

Much work has been done to open up Europe’s rail transport market. Measures introduced as part of the three rail infrastructure packages have helped open up the trans-European rail freight market for national as well as international services.

The maritime transport market has traditionally been a liberalised market. However, inside the European Union, the cabotage market was only opened up to competition in 1993. Legislation on cabotage gives EEA nationals the right to carry passengers or goods by sea between any ports of an EEA State.

Safety

As traffic levels continue to grow in Europe, improving safety is a priority in all forms of transport. The EEA Agreement contains extensive safety legislation for all methods of transport, ensuring a harmonised high level of safety throughout the EEA.

The European Maritime Safety Agency was established at the end of 2002. Its main tasks are to facilitate enhanced safety and to reduce accidents, marine pollution and loss of life at sea. The European Aviation Safety Agency was created in 2002 to help ensure a high level of safety and environmental protection in civil aviation.

A European Railway Agency was also established. The agency will contribute to the creation of a European railway area without frontiers and the guarantee of a high level of safety.

The EEA EFTA Member States are members of all of these agencies.

Passenger Rights

Strengthening passenger rights is a high priority for the EU and the EEA EFTA States.

Passengers, especially those travelling by air, are often victims of overbooking, lengthy delays and sudden cancellations. A compensation scheme for air passengers is already in place, as well as legislation ensuring the rights of passengers with reduced mobility.

The aim is to introduce similar schemes for other methods of transport and proposals on passenger rights in the road and maritime sectors were published on 4 December 2008. 

Security

Security has become an increasingly common concern at both European and global level, demanding a range of actions and solutions.

The prevention and avoidance of terrorist attacks against passengers and transport at EEA level has resulted in strict security legislation for aeroplanes and airports as well as ships and ports. In order to ensure the development of the necessary technical implementation tools, experts representing all EEA States participate in sectorial Commission Security Committees.

Intermodality

In order to address the serious economic and environmental impact associated with congestion on major routes and major bottlenecks caused by natural barriers, improving the links between the different methods of transport is crucial. The shift between transport modes must meet the demands of citizens for a transport system that is safe, reliable and environmentally friendly.

To promote innovative environmental friendly solutions in this field, a European financing programme, Marco Polo, has been available since 2003. Marco Polo’s support is open to commercial undertakings throughout the EEA.

Specific provisions covering all modes of transport can be found in Annex XIII (parts 1, 2 and 3) of the EEA Agreement.