Despite being critical to European businesses and global supply chains, and offering its users many benefits, the transport system entails many costs for society in terms of, amongst other things, air and water pollution, road crashes and traffic congestion. Moreover, transport was among the sectors hit hardest by the coronavirus outbreak, which makes a clear path even more needed to achieve the 90% reduction in transport-related greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 envisaged by the European Green Deal.

Therefore, on 9 December 2020 the Commission presented a new strategy laying the foundation for the European transport system to achieve its green and digital transformation and become more resilient to future crises while making mobility available and affordable for all. More particularly, the strategy sets out an action plan structured around three fundamental objectives and 10 key areas that will guide the Commission’s work in the next four years.

The first objective aims at making the European transport system sustainable, and envisages different strategies depending on the form of transport concerned. As to road transport, the Commission will propose a revision of CO₂ standards for cars, vans and heavy-duty vehicles, and table a proposal for more stringent air pollutant emissions standards for combustion engine vehicles, which will contribute to increasing demand for low- and zero-emission vehicles. As to the rail sector, the initiatives will focus on completing the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) and implementing the Fourth Railway Package by opening rail markets to competition. Moreover, greater efforts will be endorsed in order to encourage a further shift of freight traffic from road to rail. For waterborne transport, the main priorities will be about boosting the production and uptake of sustainable maritime fuels, establishing clean ports as well as ‘Emission Control Areas’ in all European waters. Finally, as to aviation transport measures will be introduced for a more decarbonised and efficient sector.

The second objective envisages a smart transport system through innovation and digitalisation. More particularly, the Commission will develop the framework to facilitate the development and deployment of digital products and systems such as, amongst others, self-driving vehicles, hydrogen powered aircraft and electric waterborne transport. Furthermore, in order to make the whole transport system more efficient, initiatives will focus on making it possible for passengers to buy tickets for multimodal journeys and freight to seamlessly switch between transport modes, and on boosting innovation and the use of artificial intelligence (AI).

Finally, the third objective aims at making the transport sector more resilient and modern by targeting the necessary recovery investments in infrastructure and fleets in order to strengthen the European Single Market. This, in turn, will make the new mobility not only affordable and accessible for all passengers, but also more attractive for workers.

Marco Stillo