EUROPE WAS A LEADER IN TERMS OF QUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE
Austerity is threatening the EU’s
competitive edge and the region could fall behind other areas of the world if
spending is not kept up on key infrastructure projects including aviation.
Company executives, trade groups and
even EUROPEAN UNION officials themselves say the region is in danger of falling
behind competitors, with possibly irreversible consequences.
EUROPEAN infrastructure spending
rose just 1.5 percent last year to USD$741 billion, compared to global growth
of 4.5 percent and a 7.1 percent rise in ASIA-PACIFIC, according to data
compiled by Marketline, a business information provider.
Spending in EUROPE will increase
slightly over the next four years, to 4.3 percent growth by 2016, Marketline
said, but will continue to significantly under-perform the world average. Only
the UNITED STATES will do worse, with growth of just 1.8 percent seen in 2016.
Trade within EUROPE, which has a
population of more than 730 million and represents roughly 22 percent of the
world's cargo by value, is expected to double in the coming decade.
Brussels said in a policy paper
released before the recent budget cuts that EUR€550 billion (USD$704 billion)
in high-priority projects were needed by 2020 to create a core transport
network to meet the increased demand.
CONCERNS THAT EUROPE RISKS LOSING ITS COMPETITIVE POSITION
The investment would connect 120
major ports and airports to rail, upgrade 15,000 km (9,300 miles) of rail
tracks to high speed and remove 35 key cross-border bottlenecks. The region's
railways use seven different gauges and only 20 major airports and 35 major
ports are directly connected to the rail network.
The upgrades would not only make the
distribution of goods faster and cheaper, but also be required to meet EU
targets to reduce carbon emissions by 60 percent, halve conventional car use
and shift 50 percent of long distance freight onto trains and ships by 2050.
Airline executives have been among
the most outspoken about concerns that EUROPE risks losing its competitive
position if it fails to implement these plans.
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport
plans to spend EUR€2.1 billion between 2011 and 2015 on new facilities, for
example, while Dubai said last year it plans to invest EUR€6 billion in airport
expansion by 2018 to boost capacity by 50 percent.
"EUROPE was a leader in terms
of quality infrastructure," Air France-KLM chief executive Jean-Cyril
Spinetta told reporters. "I am very concerned about the future, especially
airports. The amount of investment in other regions is incredibly high."
Via Airwise.com
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