The Portuguese Minister for Infrastructure argues that “the climate transition cannot be carried out against people, rather than with them”
During the debate organised by ETF-ETUI on “Sustainable Transport Days”, which he joined in by video conference, Pedro Nuno Santos called attention to the fact that there is a “structural problem in Europe, which is obsessed with issues of competitiveness” and that what is being done within a European framework “is inadequate”.
“ With those in mind who use public transport, and the workers in these areas, we cannot carry out the climate transition against people, rather than with them. ”
Pedro Nuno Santos, Portuguese Minister for Infrastructure and Housing
The Minister stressed that we cannot “regard consolidation and competition as opposites”. He also considered that there is an “erroneous idea about innovation”, mentioning the railways as an example: “There would be no high-speed railways if there were no State investment. The same applies to technologies such GPS, the internet, and touchscreen, which were developed by the (American) State. We need to hold this debate if we want a more innovative Europe.”