Perilous
Times
EU to ban all cars from cities
Cars will be banned from London and all other cities across Europe
under a draconian EU masterplan to cut CO2 emissions by 60 per
cent over the next 40 years.
EU to ban cars from cities by 2050
Top of the EU's list to cut climate change emissions is a target
of 'zero' for the number of petrol and diesel-driven cars and
lorries in the EU's future cities Photo: ALAMY
By Bruno Waterfield, Brussels 4:16PM BST 28 Mar 2011
The Telegraph UK
The European Commission on Monday unveiled a "single European
transport area" aimed at enforcing "a profound shift in transport
patterns for passengers" by 2050.
The plan also envisages an end to cheap holiday flights from
Britain to southern Europe with a target that over 50 per cent of
all journeys above 186 miles should be by rail.
Top of the EU's list to cut climate change emissions is a target
of "zero" for the number of petrol and diesel-driven cars and
lorries in the EU's future cities.
Siim Kallas, the EU transport commission, insisted that Brussels
directives and new taxation of fuel would be used to force people
out of their cars and onto "alternative" means of transport.
"That means no more conventionally fuelled cars in our city
centres," he said. "Action will follow, legislation, real action
to change behaviour."
The Association of British Drivers rejected the proposal to ban
cars as economically disastrous and as a "crazy" restriction on
mobility.
"I suggest that he goes and finds himself a space in the local
mental asylum," said Hugh Bladon, a spokesman for the BDA.
"If he wants to bring everywhere to a grinding halt and to plunge
us into a new dark age, he is on the right track. We have to keep
things moving. The man is off his rocker."
Mr Kallas has denied that the EU plan to cut car use by half over
the next 20 years, before a total ban in 2050, will limit personal
mobility or reduce Europe's economic competitiveness.
"Curbing mobility is not an option, neither is business as usual.
We can break the transport system's dependence on oil without
sacrificing its efficiency and compromising mobility. It can be
win-win," he claimed.
Christopher Monckton, Ukip's transport spokesman said: "The EU
must be living in an alternate reality, where they can spend
trillions and ban people from their cars.
"This sort of greenwashing grandstanding adds nothing and merely
highlights their grandiose ambitions."