§ Mr. AdleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has as to which EC countries take pollution and congestion into consideration as investment criteria when allocating funds in new transport projects; and if he will outline the principal features of the criteria used in each case.
§ Mr. FreemanInvestment appraisal procedures vary markedly in their sophistication and scope between countries. All countries undertake some form of environmental assessment of transport schemes, as required by EC directive 85/337/EEC. There is no general agreement on the appropriate techniques for valuing environmental impacts; consequently few countries attempt to value them directly.
My officials are taking part in the EC EURET project "Cost Benefit and Multi Criteria Analysis for New Road Construction", which is surveying the appraisal methodology in use in member states for new road construction, with the ultimate objective of establishing a co-ordinated evaluation method to be made adaptable for use at Community level. The project is due to be completed this year and the final report published early next.