EUROPLATFORMS IS THE EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION OF FREIGHT VILLAGES

EUROPLATFORMS IS THE EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION OF FREIGHT VILLAGES

In spite of its relatively short life - it was founded at the end of 1991 - Europlatforms has already showed great vitality and notable potential for development.

First founded when the national associations of French, Spanish, and Italian freight villages joined together, it soon included the Danish Association and various freight villages - as honorary members - in those countries where it was not possible to create national associations: among these, great significance was attached to the inclusion of the British Euroterminals.

The radical change to the Statute decided during the meeting held in Paris on 28 April 1995 made it possible for the so-called individual platforms - i.e. those whose countries have no national association - to join our organization with the full rights of membership.Europlatforms now gathers over 40 freight villages, most of which are fully operational.

During its first years of life, Europlatforms operated following two basic guidelines.
First, the very concept of freight village was discussed and evaluated. The different history of our respective countries led to widely differing experiences in terms of the nature and composition of the freight village sponsors (public, private or mixed businesses), as well as of national legislation and planning, and finally in terms of the use of the different modes of transport (road, rail, air, sea and inland waterways).Such a situation might have easily given rise to communication problems due to the different national experiences, with severe consequences, especially at a time when European integration was making giant steps forward.

The definition of freight village established by Europlatforms enabled us to act within a common framework in order to determine and promote the creation of a European network in accordance with EU sponsoring actions aimed at supporting integrated transport and communication networks.This need is perceived as all the more urgent if it is considered within the framework of the Delors plan, with its prospects of huge investments on setting up a network of infrastructures helping economic and cultural relations in Europe.

Our second line of action consisted in a relentless and patient effort aimed at introducing Europlatforms to the EU's managing and operative bodies. In the process of determining a European transport policy, we are able to contribute the outcome of the close and steady exchange of experience and managerial expertise within a non-profit organization gathering professionals of logistics and freight transport activities. From this point of view, we recorded undoubtedly successful results and Europlatforms became established as a significant partner for the development of major EU-sponsored projects in the field of information technology applications, quality label on freight centres, intermodal centre network.


As is known, freight transport policies are currently a matter for intensive debate in Europe in view of the developments of the next millennium. The estimated exponential growth of freight threatens to turn into a nightmare for the administration as well as the businesses and citizens concerned, if the current trend is continued to convey all traffic growth into the saturated road network, whose efficiency is increasingly burdened by such bottle-necks as Alpine passes, political and military events (former Jugoslavia), strict environmental protection policies limiting traffic through certain countries (Austria, Switzerland).
While subscribing to the EU's decision to further develop intermodal transport as the correct approach to the problems connected to economic growth and freight traffic increase, it should be noted that this decision will be faced with two complex problems.


On one hand, there are countries where the role of railways in the transport of goods is hardly apppreciable, or railway infrastructures still need be adjusted to the standards of other European networks. On the other hand, we are witnessing a far-reaching evolution in the organization of production and distribution resulting in the development of logistics hubs of great significance at European level, some of which, however, are not equipped for the use of intermodal techniques.
The risk, therefore, is that of a separation between the great logistics and transport hubs that are currently developing and the network of intermodal terminals, with severe consequences. The effort to avoid this disconnection and enable transport and logistics businesses to play a major role within a renewed integrated freight network at European-wide level is the most important task of our organization in the next few years.


Obviously, this will only be possible if Europlatforms proves a useful aid for the professional and economic growth of member businesses and a significant partner in the search for a new, more efficient organization of freight and logistics in Europe: this is the challenge facing us for the next three decades.


Hic Rhodus, hic salta!


[extraido de http://www.freight-village.com ]