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On 21 February, CLECAT participated at the academic Conference organised by DG MOVE with the European University Institute Florence School of Regulation on the mobility and transport agenda for the next College of Commissioners. In three brainstorming panel discussions academics debated the state of play of transport policy and future challenges and priorities.

Ms Magda Kopczyńska, Director-General of DG MOVE recalled in her opening statement on the need to adapt policies to the new geopolitical situation. She also noted that the sector had demonstrated its resilience over recent years, referring to the pandemic and the Red Sea crisis.

The first session, 'Filling the Gaps: Delivering a Deeper, More Competitive, and Better-Connected Union,' addressed the need to complete a Single European Transport area. Various panel members noted that there were remaining bottlenecks, such as congestion in air transport and noted that rail transport liberalisation had not led to more competition, in particular not on the infrastructure. It was also said that the new EU fiscal rules were not adequate to provide the right budget for investments for existing and new infrastructure. 

The second session, 'An Inclusive Twin Transition in the Field of Transport: Mission Possible,' debated, among many other topics, how to internalise external costs of transport while keeping it affordable. Mr Alan McKinnon (Professor of Logistics, Kühne Logistics University) indicated that 7-8% of emissions in the EU are attributed to transport, suggesting utilising data better to increase the percentage of trucks running at full capacity, enhancing energy efficiency by acquiring electrics vehicles and to electrify the European highway network to reduce sector emissions.

The third session, 'Towards a Wider Europe: Revisiting Our Transport Agenda in a Changed Geopolitical Context,' dealt with the level of preparedness of the transport sector for the new geopolitical realities. Mr Olaf Merk (Administrator, International Transport Forum, OECD) pointed out how regional crises, such as the current one in the Middle East, can have an effect not only on the transport sector at a regional level but also globally. He supported the need for more global policy cooperation to avoid that crises can be used by some to increase their profit, arguing for further coordination between national competition authorities. He also added that transport ministers, in the future, would increasingly focus on global activities more than ever before, and that transport policies would become more and more part of foreign policy.

In closing the event Mr Herald Ruijters, Deputy Director-General of DG MOVE, stressed that the Multiannual Financial Framework, the EU's long-term budget, will have to focus on the transport domain, as new requirements for transport and mobility will be costly but indispensable to achieve climate neutrality. He also said that a Single European Transport market is not yet a reality but that it remained a clear ambition for the future.

DG MOVE has made the recording of the conference available via this link.