European Transport and Trade Policies

Posted on Oct 13, 2024 in Geography

European Transport

Western Europe

Carriage of Europe are among the most modern and efficient in the world, in Western Europe.

  • Road transport has a dense network of motorways and authorship that require large-scale infrastructure construction as the bridge Basque range.
  • The railroads have lost their dominance in the transport of goods they had in the past, although the passenger transport is still more important, especially in the countries of western and central European cities. The tunnel crossing under the Channel, linking France and Britain, is its most important infrastructure.
  • The naval transport has major commercial fleets. The center is shipping ports in Europe, which are among the busiest in the world. In the Atlantic Ocean include the ports of Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg, Le Havre and Amsterdam. In the Mediterranean Sea, the most important are those of Marseilles, Genoa, Barcelona and Piraeus. River transport is carried by waterways and rivers like the Rhine, the busiest waterway in Europe, the Danube or the Volga. The boats that ply have been modernized, and now use intermodal containers that may be transported by truck or train.
  • Air transport, mainly passenger, has created major airports. The busiest in Europe are London, Paris and Frankfurt.

Foreign Affairs and Trade

Internal Trade

This is done on a priority among the countries that are part of the European Union where the single market allows free movement of goods, capital and services. Also important is the trade between the European Union and other countries on the continent.

Foreign Trade

Highlight the countries forming the EU, which ranks first worldwide for the value of their trade. Takes place with more developed EU countries and Japan.

Policies for Transport and Trade

The transport policy of the EU aims to:

  • Foster trans-European transport networks.
  • Improve infrastructure in remote regions to facilitate their integration.
  • Enhance intermodal transport and reduce the impact of transport on the environment, forcing the previous study of their environmental impact.

The EU trade policy is based on the principle that countries that integrate form a single market.

  • Internal trade policy: It is based on the customs union or elimination of customs between the various member countries. Its advantages are the elimination of formalities and border controls and increasing competition promotes lower prices.
  • The foreign trade policy: It includes a common tariff for goods exported to third countries, a preference system, which reduces or eliminates tariffs on certain underdeveloped countries and free trade agreements with many states of the Earth.

European Tourism

Europe is a big focus sender and receiver of tourists worldwide.

The issuance of tourists is due to the high standard of living that allows much of the population enjoy the resources and time for leisure. The Germans, French and British are Europe’s travel burns, addressing mainly to the coasts of the Mediterranean in search of sun.

The tourist arrivals is explained by the good transport network, the diversity of the physical environment and cultural richness of Europe. In fact, six of the ten most popular tourist destinations in the world are in Europe.

The modalities include tourism tourist resort that is directed toward the Mediterranean coast, the mountain, to the Alpine ranges, rural tourism and natural areas, the business and culture.

The tourist countries, both for the tourists as nuecero revenues by sector, so France, Spain and Italy, although in recent years have increased travel to the cities and countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

Tourism Policy of the EU

Countries that are part of the European Union develop a tourism policy that aims to achieve the following objectives:

  • Facilitating tourism as an element of European integration.
  • Promote new forms, such as rural tourism.
  • Improving information and the protection of tourists.
  • Increase sector preparedness, improving vocational training.

Services: Growth Rates and Location

In Spain, the sector has grown to an importance similar to that of other developed countries. Thus, its contribution to the occupied population and the GDP accounted for 65.01% and 60.12% respectively. The causes which have supported growth in this sector have been:

  • The increased standard of living of the population that requires more numerous house services and expertise.
  • The generalization of the welfare state.
  • The increased demand for services by other economic activities.
  • The introduction of state of the regions and the EU membership have expanded jobs.

The predominant types of services are commercial services to businesses, the public administration, transport and communications, health and education. The location of services is varied. The more advanced services are concentrated in more economically developed areas. Social services and consumer services are better distributed.

Transport

The Transport System and its Characteristics

It is characterized by the following features:

  • The physical environment is unfavorable, due to the existence of a hilly landscape, with steep slopes, and the frequency of adverse weather elements. This forces the construction of costly infrastructure.
  • Dominates the road, both in passenger and in freight transport. The current policy of transportation is designed to correct this, promoting rail and intermodal transport.
  • Transport networks follow a radial pattern with its center in Madrid. From this city, roads, railways and airlines are traced to the periphery.
  • There are strong regional imbalances. Thus, the density and quality of the network is higher in more economically developed regions. That is why transport policy aims to provide high accessibility to the entire territory.
  • Terrestrial communications with Europe are weak. Hence, it is essential to build infrastructure to increase accessibility and economic competitiveness.
  • The transportation system affects the environment by altering the landscape, noise and pollution. For this reason, it is mandatory to assess the environmental impact of projects before implementation and correct problems that can cause.

Means of Transport

They have different importance:

  • The road is the most widely used means of transport for transporting passengers and goods within the country. Spain has more than 160,000 km of national highways and local roads and more than 11,000 km of highways and expressways.
  • The railroad is used to transport goods and passengers. Spain has about 14,000 km of lines of RENFE and 2,000 km narrow gauge.
  • The boat is used for heavy intermodal freight traffic, which is concentrated in the ports of Algeciras, Barcelona and Valencia. The transportation of passengers is limited to travel between islands or between two sides of the Gibraltar Strait.
  • The plane is the most competitive for intermodal transport of passengers. The main airports are Madrid, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca and Tenerife.

The Communications

In Spain, the telecommunications network, especially the telephone network, has had a tremendous growth in recent years. It is increasingly prevalent in businesses and homes.

However, there are differences between the major cities and more economically developed areas, where this process has been faster, and less advanced areas, where diffusion is slower.