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TRANSPORT LINKS BETWEEN EUROPE & ASIA However, the provision of efficient land links between Europe and Asia requires appropriate policy decisions on issues such as the development of adequate infrastructure and the removal of regulatory or institutional barriers that prevent the development of efficient transport services. The ECMT’s Council of Ministers thus recommended a series of actions aimed at developing a comprehensive approach to the provision of efficient inland transport links between Europe and Asia at its 2005 session in Moscow. This publication features the recommendations approved by the Ministers and the “Report on Trends in Europe-Asia trade and Consequences for Transport”, which served to inform their discussions in Moscow. It also includes the plan of action approved by Ministers to facilitate intermodal transport between Europe and Asia and the conclusions of a previous seminar in Kiev on “Intermodal Transport between Europe and Asia: Opportunities and Challenges”. -:HSTCSC=VVX\^U: (75 2006 16 1 P) ISBN 92-821-1379-5 TRANSPORT LINKS BETWEEN EUROPE & ASIA Land links between Europe and Asia can offer a viable alternative to sea transport. They substantially improve the accessibility of the countries they pass through and can absorb a substantial portion of the growth in intercontinental traffic, particularly container traffic, that has been forecast. EUROP EAN CONFERENCE OF M I NI STERS OF TRAN S PO R T TRANSPORT LINKS BETWEEN EUROPE & ASIA E U R O P E A N C O N F E R E N CE OF MINISTERS OF TRANSPORT TRANSP A ORT LINKS ANSP BETWEEN EUROPE & ASIA EUROPEAN CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS OF TRANSPORT (ECMT) The European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT) is an inter-governmental organisation established by a Protocol signed in Brussels on 17 October 1953. It comprises the Ministers of Transport of 43 full Member countries: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, FRY Macedonia, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. There are seven Associate member countries (Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand and the United States) and one Observer country (Morocco). The ECMT is a forum in which Ministers responsible for transport, and more specifically the inland transport sector, can co-operate on policy. Within this forum, Ministers can openly discuss current problems and agree upon joint approaches aimed at improving the utilization and at ensuring the rational development of European transport systems of international importance. At present, ECMT has a dual role. On one hand it helps to create an integrated transport system throughout the enlarged Europe that is economically efficient and meets environmental and safety standards. In order to achieve this, it is important for ECMT to help build a bridge between the European Union and the rest of the European continent at a political level. On the other hand, ECMT's mission is also to develop reflections on long-term trends in the transport sector and to study the implications for the sector of increased globalisation. The activities in this regard have recently been reinforced by the setting up of a New Joint OECD/ECMT Transport Research Centre. Also available in French under the title: Les liaisons de transport entre l’Europe et l’Asie Further information about the ECMT is available on Internet at the following address: www.cemt.org © ECMT 2006 – ECMT Publications are distributed by: OECD Publications Service, 2,