Durabilité et subsidiarité : un conflit de principes au sein de la politique commune des transports ?

In the Examen à mi-parcours du livre blanc published in 2006, the European Commission alludes to the necessity to adopt « une panoplie plus vaste et plus souple d?instruments d?action » (p. 7) in order to achieve a sustainable transport policy in Union. The principle of subsidiarity requires to determine on which level, national or European, decisions may be taken, and, consequently, which instruments to choose. However, because of its ambiguity, this principle may be relied upon, at least in the areas of shared competences, as a basis for either limiting Community action in favour of the national, regional and local level, or, conversely, for bolstering Community intervention. Whatever the case may be, the question of the compatibility of subsidiarity and sustainability needs to be raised. Indeed, on the one hand, one may doubt of whether on the lower the levels actors and authorities are likely to take the global and long term view necessary for the realisation of a sustainable transport policy. On the other hand, it is not obvious that the European Union is structured so as to be able to take with sufficient impartiality decisions, which affect the welfare of all citizens.