Trans-Eur Network Has No Env'l Basis

[The.Greenbase@gb.greenpeace.org]

TRANS EUROPEAN NETWORK HAS NO ENVIRONMENTAL BASIS: GREENPEACE

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                   GREENPEACE PRESS RELEASE
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TRANS EUROPEAN NETWORK HAS NO ENVIRONMENTAL BASIS: GREENPEACE

Strasbourg--16 May 1995-(GP)-The European Parliament will
tomorrow face a crucial environmental decision when it votes
on the proposed trans European Road network (TEN), Greenpeace
said
today.

Either the Parliament votes in favour of an intolerable growth
in greenhouse gases and a monumental investment error, or it
puts the proposal on hold in favour of further environmental
consideration.

Greenpeace's Francois Meienberg said today that if the massive
trans European road network is built as planned, the C02
emissions by the European transport sector could increase by
more than 60% by 2010.  According to an analysis carried out
by Greenpeace and released in Strasbourg today, this would
represent an increase of 15-18% more than the EU is
forecasting for its C02 emissions.

Greenpeace today joined a press conference with World Wide
Fund for Nature, Birdlife, ASEED, Friends of the Earth and the
European Federation for Transport and Environment.

One of the proposal's first victims would be the Aspe Valley
in the French Pyrenees, where a highway and tunnel is planned.

The valley is the last habitat of the extremely rare Pyrenean
Bear.  The unique scenery of the valley brings eco tourists
and the other main source income is agriculture: both of which
would be threatened by a motorway.

Greenpeace and ASEED activists today received the European
ministers at the doors of the Parliament disguised as bears to
make them aware of the weight of responsibility they carry.
Meienberg said that the TEN is not based on any rational
criteria, rather it reflects the overall visions of the
national traffic planners and the road building lobby.   Two
particularly environmentally doubtful parts of the proposal
are the enlargement of the European road network by 12,000
kms,
increasing it by one third up to 58,000 km.  Another is the
expansion and enlargement of airports around Europe.  Air
traffic is another large source of C02.

Furthermore, none of the TEN plans have been subjected to any
environmental scrutiny.

"Even a simply calculation of the large amounts of additional
C02 from these new routes show the necessity of reassessing
this project," said Meienberg.  The calculated increase of C02
emissions is in direct contradiction with the declared
objectives of the EU under its obligations under the climate
convention where it is supposed to reduce C02 emissions after
the year 2000.

The complete lack of a cost-benefit analysis for such an
enormous project could lead to a ruinous investment.  There is
an urgent need to analyse the economic consequences of these
networks before "walling up" the future of Europe, there
should be a systematic and complete study of all the
alternatives.

Curbing the increase in traffic, an economically sustainable
move,  could prove more profitable in the long term than the
traditional political adaptation to an increase in mobility.

The Greenpeace added that the Trans European Network also did
not satisfy the first objective of the plan: social and
economic cohesion with the community.

Instead, the high speed motorways could run the risk of less
developed regions seeing industry and labour migrating at high
speed towards city centres.

The main organisations of European environment protection
called on the European Parliament to subject the project to a
strategic examination of the environmental implications, to
analyse the cost profit ratios and the external costs, in
order to ensure a solid foundation of this road network.

The European Parliament is in a position to influence this
negotiations, and should take advantage of it.

                             ends

For information please telephone Francois Meienberg on his
mobile telephone:  41 894 008 831

The press conference will be held at 3 pm in the Press Centre
of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

The report "Missing Greenlinks" is available from Greenpeace
EC Unit, Greenpeace Communications and most Greenpeace
offices. ----