Transport routes go beyond the borders of European enlargement. Cristina Tilling reports on a major trade union project to influence the development of 10 Pan-European transport corridors

When the enlargement of Europe is finally complete, the new European market will be serving up to 470 million Europeans. This, of course, will lead to an extensive exchange of goods and, consequently, to increased transport connections, and well-articulated routes across Europe. Effective planning and political consensus across Europe are essential.

In 1997 governments from Europe, EU institutions and others gathered together in Helsinki (Finland) for the third Pan-European Transport Conference and finally decided on 10 transport corridors linking Western Europe to the Eastern part of the continent to facilitate the trade flow. The Helsinki Declaration set the common principles of pan-European transport policy. Research, harmonisation of standards, promoting transport intermodality and efficiency in the use of infrastructure were all highly placed on the European agenda.

Corridor policy provides another route for globalisation and regional integration, and since the early days of “corridor-mapping” there has been no doubt about the social consequences of this policy. The ITF had long been calling for the participation of transport workers in shaping European transport policy. The Helsinki conference represented an opportunity trade unions could not afford to miss. An ITF delegation that included transport workers from Central and Eastern Europe succeeded in gaining official recognition for “consultation of socio-economic groups with regard to transport policy developments” as one of the 10 principles of the Helsinki Declaration.    

Social consequences

The multimodal corridors have a total length of about 48,000 km, of which 25,000 km are rail networks, 23,000 km are road networks and 2,415 km are inland waterway – the Danube. Airports, sea and river ports and major terminals serve as connection points between the modes along these corridors.

To put these routes to work, a great deal of investment is needed. European Union grants cover only 10 per cent of the cost, the rest comes from European bank loans and national government funds. The financial effort made by Central and Eastern European governments to cover the costs for the development and modernising of regional infrastructure puts local infrastructure under serious threat. Many local railways have been closed down, workers have lost their jobs, people living outside big cities have lost cheap access to their work places and to services such as schools and hospitals.

Despite the fact that intermodality is an important principle of the corridor policy, road transport has gained land rapidly, leaving rail behind. But both rail and road corridors are confronted with the same problem: border crossing. Border formalities cause serious delays in the road sector. These delays increase the working hours of drivers, who are often unpaid during waiting times and must remain queuing in their trucks while papers are checked.

In rail transport, the smooth flow of traffic on a route like Corridor Four – running through Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey – depends very much on the harmonisation of technical standards. But since the responsibility for corridor development was given to individual countries, and the European institutions limited their coordination role, border crossings are the last ones to be dealt with. Switching from one rail gauge to another, from one electrical system to the one across the border, causes not only delays but also problems for workers’ safety.

The only inland waterway transport corridor is number Seven, the Danube. Following the war in Yugoslavia, the Danube remains blocked by the ruins of bombarded bridges and it will be a long time before trade flow is completely restored. Thousands of jobs have been lost to this destruction. Will the Danube ever regain its cargo? Even if it does, one thing is certain: the sector has lost more than half of its qualified labour.

Unions build a role

In March 2002 the ITF and its European arm the ETF launched a two-year project funded by the Dutch confederation FNV, which aimed to strengthen regional cross-sector trade union cooperation within the pan-European corridor frame. The opening event of the project was a platform of dialogue between transport unions, employers’ organisations, national governments and European Union institutions. This broad objective is fully supported by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), a consultative body for EU institutions, a common platform of employers, workers and other organisations.

The second aim of the project is to enhance cooperation among transport unions at national level. In a context where cross-sector issues are the transport priority for Europe, speaking with the same voice becomes increasingly important for European transport workers. Project activities are focused on three corridor events and three seminars on national cooperation.

The two-day corridor events begin with a one-day seminar – an opportunity for transport unions to get together and discuss technical problems and social concerns related to a specific corridor. The second day of the event brings together national government officials, representatives of technical corridor offices, EESC and EU institutions. This is the time to establish direct contacts with the main policy makers along the corridor and to make our concerns known. Finally, transport unions get back together and draft a plan of future activities.

This kind of event has already taken place along Corridor Ten. Under the coordination of Croatian trade unions, 26 rail, road and port workers from Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Macedonia and Greece met for two days in Zagreb (20 and 21 January 2003). The event was a great success. The unions next met in March 2003 in Belgrade and prepared their participation in an EESC social dialogue conference on Corridor Ten.
Corridor Two and Seven are next on the project agenda. Does the EU have a vision on transport beyond the European borders? This is the main question related to Corridor Two – 2300 km of railways and 2200 km of road crossing Germany, Poland, Belarus and Russia, and ending by the Russian town of Novgorod. Beyond that point Corridor Two seems to have been forgotten!

As for Corridor Seven on the River Danube, is this corridor a second class concern? It is ranked as a priority by the European Commission transport strategy, which aims at promoting environmentally friendly modes of transport. The political will seems to be all there to boost the Danube. But in reality the progress is so slow, it is progressing only towards social disaster. The social implications of the revival of this corridor will be the focus of our event.

In organising the events our Corridor Four experience has been extremely useful. Trade union cooperation along Number Four started in 2000. We have a working group on cross-border activities and we are currently working on an ETF corridor policy, to be further discussed by other corridor groups and finally approved by the ETF railway section.

Is social dialogue important for the corridors?

Just imagine that in one country along the corridor there is a labour conflict. Everything stops, traffic flow is interrupted. Transport unions and employers are aware that social peace is essential in keeping things going at a normal pace. They have already met once at the level of Corridor Four. Their second meeting will take place in May 2003, under the auspices of EESC.

We started just one year ago but we feel we have progressed so much: European trade union solidarity beyond the borders of EU enlargement is definitely the added value of this project.

Cristina Tilling is Political Co-ordinator for Central and Eastern Europe at the ETF, based in Brussels.

More information about the Corridor Project can be found on the ETF website.

Information on the contribution of governments and institutions to the pan-European corridor policy can be found as follows: European Commission, European Economic and Social Committee, European Parliament.