On the other hand, safety plays a lesser role. As regards pollution and noise, their appearance is typically qualitative and, at this stage, slight. Generally speaking, there is no evaluation of the corresponding social costs, so there is no certainty that an optimum can be obtained. Environmental considerations are usually accorded very low importance. There are few countries where the contrary is true: the Netherlands, Sweden, Canada, Austria, Switzerland and Germany are a few examples. Even here, however, the resultin discussions have been somewhat bitter, with the actual decisions that have been taken often falling far short expectations