1.This Staff Working Document accompanies the Communication from the Commission on the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy, which sets out the actions needed to ensure that every transport mode plays a role in delivering the European Green Deal, that smart mobility enables seamless, safe and efficient connectivity, and that a more resilient Single European Transport Area provides connectivity for all EU citizens.

2.Sustainable, smart and resilient transport services and infrastructure are vital to make full use of the economic strengths of all regions of the European Union, to support the Single Market, recover from the current crisis and stimulate future growth, and to enable economic, social and territorial cohesion, while preserving our environment and our health. They also underpin our global competitiveness, and our international connectivity. The EU transport system provides safe and secure mobility for Europeans. The transport sector in the EU-27 employs more than 10 million workers and comprises around 1.1 million enterprises, providing services to people and businesses within the EU and globally 1 .

3.Mobility is a critical aspect of social inclusion and an important determinant of human well-being, especially for disadvantaged groups. Transport, recognised as an essential service in the European Pillar of Social Rights fulfils a basic need in enabling citizens to integrate into society and the labour market, but also constitutes a significant part of household expenditure. Enhanced connectivity and market opening has contributed to linking transport networks, bringing the EU together and making it more tangible and accessible for travellers. More needs to be done however.

4.Addressing the climate and environmental crisis is the defining challenge of our time and it is an opportunity to relaunch our economies in a sustainable manner. It requires urgent and sustained action by all actors in our society to preserve the health, prosperity, and well-being of people in Europe and all over the world. Responding to this challenge, the European Green Deal 2 has set a high level of ambition for climate neutrality by 2050. It is also Europe’s growth strategy, which aims to transform the EU into a fair and prosperous society with a resource-efficient and competitive economy. The economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic offers a unique opportunity to accelerate the green transition.

5.Transport is the only economic sector in which greenhouse gas emissions are higher than in 1990 and have started growing again since 2013 despite the mitigation efforts undertaken. This is why the European Green Deal has set the key objective to deliver a 90% reduction in transport-related greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. It also stresses that transport is a significant contributor to air pollution and noise, and has adverse effects on our lands, oceans, rivers and lakes, hence the need to accelerate the shift to sustainable and smart mobility, and delivering zero pollution and a toxic-free environment.

6.In the 2030 Climate Target Plan 3 , on the basis of the analysis carried out in its Impact Assessment, the Commission concluded that achieving 55% greenhouse gas emissions reductions by 2030 is fully achievable, and would not only put the EU firmly on track to achieve climate neutrality, but would also make EU business and industry global trailblazers. Achieving at least 55% greenhouse gas emissions reductions by 2030 would also improve the wellbeing of EU citizens by delivering significant co-benefits for example in terms of health, improved air quality and reduced environmental degradation, and it would strongly support the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and the longer-term competitiveness and resilience of the European economy. The European Green Deal is Europe’s growth strategy and to ensure we use it to its full potential, it is essential that Next Generation EU drives our competitive sustainability.

7.The impact assessment accompanying the 2030 Climate Target Plan 4 has also shown that if we only continue with existing policies, the transport sector would fall short in delivering the contribution needed to achieve the economy-wide target of at least 55% greenhouse gas emissions reduction by 2030 and climate neutrality by 2050. Additional policies will thus be needed to close the gap. To achieve this, a three-pronged set of actions must be taken to make each and every transport mode more sustainable, make sustainable alternatives widely available, and put in place the right incentives.

Source: COM(2020) 562 final. Commission Communication “Stepping up Europe’s 2030 climate ambition Investing in a climate-neutral future for the benefit our people

9.The COVID-19 pandemic has had a severe impact on European mobility and the sector. It has shown the importance of making our transport and mobility more resilient. Transport workers have been on the frontline, ensuring that essential services are maintained. They need quality jobs in order to be able to provide a safe, reliable and affordable service for customers. In addition, despite some progress, regulatory, administrative and technical barriers and burdens persist in transport in the majority of Member States, causing inefficiencies and additional costs to users and the fragmentation of the Single Market. There are still major gaps and missing links in our infrastructure. At the same time, it is necessary to modernise fleets in all modes to make them more sustainable.

10.Unless EU policy initiatives towards a Single European Transport Area are thoroughly implemented at national level, the fragmentation of the transport market will inevitably limit the future quality of transport services in the EU, as the sector will miss out on the economies of scale and leave growth opportunities untapped. Moreover, lack of enforcement of social rules, together with divergent national practices have led to social issues, which may in turn worsen the quality of transport services, create distortion in the market and lead to an uneven playing field. Market opening, fair social conditions and quality jobs are thus intrinsically linked.

11.While safety and security of transport in the EU has greatly progressed, and the EU remains the safest transport area in the world, in particular in the most frequently used mode, road transport, a substantial problem remains. In recent years the reduction of fatalities on EU roads has stagnated, and there was still 22,700 lives in 2019.

12.This Staff Working Document provides an overview of the Commission services’ assessment of the aforementioned challenges – sustainability, digitalisation, resilience – that the EU transport sector faces, underpinning the Strategy and the actions put forward within in it. It also briefly describes the expected evolution of European mobility if we were to rely on existing policies, and outlines some of the key elements of the economic, social and technological context, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the substantial global dimension of transport. In addition, it gives an overview of the key policy developments in the transport sector since the adoption of the 2011 White Paper on transport 5 . Finally, this Staff Working Document provides a description of the pathways/scenarios for reaching the sustainability objectives for the sector, common to those supporting the 2030 Climate Target Plan 6 .

13.The European Green Deal has set the key objective to deliver a 90% reduction in transport-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 relative to 1990. This objective builds on the in-depth analysis accompanying “A Clean Planet for all - A European strategic long-term vision for a prosperous, modern, competitive and climate neutral economy” 7 , 8 . Transport excluding international maritime currently accounts for a quarter of all EU GHG emissions. Road transport alone represents around 20% of the total.

14.The Commission has undertaken an analysis exploring the impact of key EU level and Member States policies adopted by the end of 2019, in the so-called Baseline scenario. To ensure consistency, the same Baseline scenario is used as in the Impact assessment accompanying the Commission Communication “Stepping up Europe’s 2030 climate ambition - Investing in a climate-neutral future for the benefit of our people” 9 . The Baseline projections show that EU-27 transport emissions would go down over time, thanks to policies in place driving the roll out of zero- and low-emission vehicles and the recharging/refuelling infrastructure, the uptake of renewable and low carbon fuels and improvements in transport system efficiency. Emissions from transport including intra-EU aviation and intra-EU maritime are projected to be 18% lower by 2030 compared to 2005, and 40% lower by 2050 relative to 2005. Compared to 1990 10 however, this translates into 3% higher emissions by 2030 and only 25% lower emissions by 2050, due to high increases in transport emissions during the 1990s 11 .

15.Building on the Baseline projections, several scenarios have been developed for EU-27 in the context of the Impact Assessment accompanying the 2030 Climate Target Plan for increasing the EU’s GHG emission reductions target for 2030 to at least 55% compared with 1990 levels. By 2030, these scenarios achieve increased climate ambition by intensification of current energy, transport and climate policies or extension of carbon pricing to new sectors of the economy or combination of both 12 (see section 5). They all achieve climate neutrality by 2050. In addition, the scenarios explore different scopes for the emissions reduction target that is particularly relevant for international aviation and maritime transport: intra-EU versus intra- and extra-EU scope. The scenarios achieving economy-wide emissions reductions of at least 55% by 2030, show that transport emissions (including intra-EU aviation and intra-EU maritime) would need to decrease by 21-23% by 2030 relative to 2005 and 96-97% by 2050. This is equivalent in terms of the 1990 comparison to reducing transport emissions by 1-3% by 2030 and by around 94-96% by 2050 13 .

16.Comparing developments under existing policies (i.e. the Baseline scenario, achieving 18% emissions reduction in transport by 2030 and 40% by 2050) with scenarios achieving economy-wide emissions reductions of at least 55% by 2030 and climate neutrality by 2050 (21-23% emissions reduction in transport by 2030 and 96-97% by 2050), shows that additional policies are needed post-2020 in order to close the gap, and provide a cost-effective transport contribution to the European Green Deal. While reducing its environmental footprint, increasing the uptake of renewable and low-carbon fuels and decreasing its GHG emissions, transport also needs under the Green Deal to continue to meet society's needs, and deliver on its zero pollution ambition by reducing its other negative environmental and health impacts. The analysis in section 5 shows how to close this emission gap by 2030 and 2050. Curbing GHG emissions from transport also reduces the EU's dependence on fossil fuels and brings clear co-benefits leading to reductions of costs related to air, water, soil pollution, road crashes, congestion and noise pollution.

17.The Baseline scenario is developed building on a set of assumptions, including GDP and population projections, fuel prices projections and technology costs, as well as policies adopted by the end of 2019. It reflects a wealth of policy measures that drive: (i) the uptake of zero- and low-emission vehicles and the roll-out of recharging/refuelling infrastructure 14 ; (ii) the uptake of renewable and low carbon fuels 15 ; (iii) improvements in transport system efficiency - by making the most of digital technologies and smart pricing and further encouraging multi-modal integration and shifts towards more sustainable transport modes 16 . It also includes initiatives addressing road safety 17 , and thus contributing to reducing the external costs of transport.

18.For aviation, it takes account of the implementation of the EU Emission Trading Scheme, the Single European Sky, the deployment of SESAR solutions, the research and development of cleaner aircraft technologies lead by Clean Sky public-private partnership and aircraft CO2 emissions standards, as part of the so-called “basket of measures” that aim to reduce emissions from the sector.

19.For maritime, the Baseline scenario reflects the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) and the Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) adopted by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), as well as IMO MARPOL Annex VI rules as regards the reduction of nitrogen and sulphur oxides emissions, the latter being transposed into EU legislation by the Sulphur Directive 18 . The baseline also accounts for other initiatives addressing air pollution from inland waterways vessels 19 .

20.The Baseline scenario is a projection of what would happen in the absence of policy change and not a forecast of likely future developments. It builds on pre-COVID-19 assumptions, which can be interpreted as assuming full economic recovery to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels by 2030. There are large uncertainties related to the lengths of the pandemic and its impacts on economy and transport activity. Alternative growth scenarios could also materialise. A discussion of the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic and an alternative Baseline scenario reflecting the COVID-19 pandemic is provided in the following section. A full description of assumptions, including GDP and population projections, fuel prices projections and technology costs, as well as policies underpinning the Baseline scenario is provided in Annex I.

21.Significantly, even though the Baseline scenario fails to meet the climate challenge, EU transport activity would also only continue to grow, albeit at a slower pace than in the past. Freight transport activity for inland modes (expressed in tonne-kilometres) would increase by just 33% between 2015 and 2030 (1.9% per year) and just 56% for 2015-2050 (1.3% per year). Passenger traffic (expressed in passenger-kilometres) growth would be even lower than for freight with a 19% increase by 2030 (1.2% per year) and 34% by 2050 (0.8% per year). The annual growth rates by mode, for passenger and freight transport, are provided in Figure 2 .

22.Road transport would maintain its dominant role within the EU. The share of road transport in inland freight would remain relatively stable by 2030 at 71% and slightly decrease to 69% by 2050. For passenger transport, road modal share is projected to decrease by 3 percentage points between 2015 and 2030 and by additional 3 percentage points by 2050. Passenger cars would still contribute 70% of passenger traffic by 2030 and about two thirds by 2050, despite growing at lower pace relative to other modes, due to slowdown in car ownership increase which is close to saturation levels in many Western European Member States.

23.Rail transport activity is projected to grow significantly faster than for road, driven in particular by the assumed completion of the TEN-T core network by 2030 and of the comprehensive network by 2050, supported by the CEF, Cohesion Fund and ERDF funding. Passenger rail activity would go up by 32% between 2015 and 2030 (66% for 2015-2050), increasing its modal share by 1 percentage point by 2030 and an additional percentage point by 2050. Rail freight activity would grow by 40% by 2030 and 81% during 2015-2050, resulting in similar increases in modal share as for passenger rail by 2030 and two additional percentage points by 2050.

24.Based on pre-COVID-19 pandemic assumptions, domestic and international intra-EU air transport would grow significantly (by 56% during 2015-2030 and 102% by 2050) and increase its share in overall transport demand (by 2 percentage points by 2030 and by additional 2 percentage points by 2050). Overall, aviation activity including intra-EU and extra-EU flights is projected to go up by 54% by 2030 and 101% by 2050, putting pressure on airports capacity and on air traffic management.

25.Transport activity of freight inland navigation 20 also benefits from the completion of the TEN-T core and comprehensive network and the promotion of inland waterway transport and would grow by 19% during 2015-2030 and by 35% by 2050. The significant growth in freight inland navigation and rail freight activity is also supported by road pricing, the implementation of electronic documentation for freight transport and the European Maritime Single Window environment.

26.International maritime transport activity would grow strongly in the Baseline (by 23% between 2015 and 2030 and 54% by 2050), due to rising demand for primary resources and container shipping.

27.Total energy use in transport, including international aviation and international maritime, is projected to decrease by 3% between 2015 and 2030 and by 13% by 2050, which in the context of growing activity shows the projected progress in terms of energy efficiency. These developments are mainly driven by the implementation of the CO2 emission performance standards for new light duty and heavy duty vehicles post-2020, supported by the roll-out of recharging and refuelling infrastructure and also by the shift towards more energy efficient modes such as rail and waterborne transport.

28.Road transport is responsible for more than 70% of total energy use in transport but this share is projected to significantly decline over time, to 68% by 2030 and 59% by 2050 thanks to the progressive electrification of the sector and greater use of more sustainable transport modes. On the other hand, use of bunker fuels for air and maritime transport are projected to increase significantly by 2050. Their respective shares would go up from around 12% to 14% for international maritime and 15% for international air transport in 2030 (19% for international maritime and 18% for international air transport in 2050). Energy use in rail and inland navigation transport would increase during 2015-2050 due to the shift from road towards these modes, and despite their higher energy efficiency. Their respective shares in the total energy use in transport would remain limited to around 2% by 2050.

29.Alternative fuels 21 , including renewable and low carbon fuels, are projected to represent 11.2% of transport energy demand (including international aviation and maritime transport) in the Baseline scenario by 2030 and 22.6% by 2050. Around 5% of all transport fuels in 2030 would be of biological origin, as shown in Figure 5 , driven by policy measures and notably the Renewable Energy Directive.

30.Electricity use in transport would steadily increase over time as a result of uptake of zero and low-emission powertrains in road transport and further electrification of rail. Its share in the total energy use in transport would go up from around 1.2% in 2015 to 3.4% in 2030 and 8.3% in 2050 (see Figure 5 ). The uptake of hydrogen would be facilitated by the increased availability of refuelling infrastructure, and is projected to represent 2.4% of energy use in transport by 2050.

31.Battery electric vehicles would see faster growth beyond 2020, in particular in the segment of light duty vehicles, driven by the CO2 emission performance standards, supported by the rolling-out of recharging infrastructure. The share of battery electric vehicles in the total stock of passenger cars would reach around 11% by 2030 and 30% by 2050. The share of low and zero-emissions cars (including battery electric, fuel cells and plug-in hybrids) is projected to go up to 16% by 2030 and 54% by 2050. For the light commercial vehicles segment, the share of battery electric powertrains is projected at 6% by 2030 and 26% by 2050. Electric buses are projected to represent around 8% of the vehicle stock by 2030, driven by the implementation of the Clean Vehicles Directive and air quality concerns in many cities banning combustion engine buses, while the uptake of electric and fuel cell heavy goods vehicles is projected to be more limited in the Baseline scenario (3% of vehicle stock by 2050) 22 .

32.Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is projected to represent around 2.7% of the energy use in transport by 2030 and 7.1% by 2050 in the Baseline scenario, driven by the implementation of the Directive on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure and of the Regulation on non-road mobile machinery, the TEN-T Regulation and also by the MARPOL Annex VI rules as regards the reduction of nitrogen and sulphur oxides emissions in the maritime transport. In the Baseline scenario, the share of LNG use in heavy goods vehicles energy demand is projected to go up to 6.8% by 2030 (12.9% by 2050) and for inland navigation to 3.7% by 2030 (8.3 by 2050). LNG would provide about 4.3% of maritime bunker fuels by 2030 and 17.1% by 2050 – especially in the segment of short sea shipping.

33.Oil products would still represent about 89% of the EU transport sector needs in 2030 and 77% in 2050, despite the current renewables policies, CO2 emission performance standards for new light duty and heavy goods vehicles, and the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure which support some substitution effects towards alternative fuels such as biofuels and biomethane, electricity, hydrogen and natural gas.

34.CO2 emissions from transport including international aviation but excluding international maritime, in line with the 2030 climate and energy policy framework, are projected to be 14% lower by 2030 compared to 2005, and 36% lower by 2050. Compared to 1990 however, this translates into 9% higher emissions by 2030 and only 18% lower emissions by 2050, due to high increases in transport emissions during the 1990s. When accounting the intra-EU aviation and intra-EU maritime in the transport emissions, the Baseline projections show reductions of 18% by 2030 and 40% by 2050 relative to 2005 23 . This illustrates the significant emissions reduction gap to be closed by 2030 and 2050, to contribute to the 2030 Climate Target Plan and the European Green Deal objectives.

35.The largest contribution to the projected decline in transport emissions between 2005 and 2050 is due to increased fuel efficiency of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. Conversely, aviation has been one of the fastest growing sectors in terms of CO2 emissions over the past decades. Total CO2 emissions from flights departing from the EU-27 and domestic flights within the territory of a Member State of the EU-27 grew from around 112 million tonnes (Mt) in 2005 to 120 million tonnes in 2015, equal to a 7.6% increase. In the Baseline scenario, significant further growth is projected: 30% by 2050 relative to 2015, equivalent to 41% growth over the 2005-2050 period. Taken together however, the decline in passenger cars and light commercial vehicles emissions over the 2015-2050 horizon (of around 307 Mt) overcompensates the increase in emissions from the aviation sector (of around 36 Mt).

36.CO2 emissions from passenger transport decline by 39% in the Baseline by 2050 compared to 2005. The largest contribution comes from passenger cars, driven by vehicle efficiency standards, some uptake of renewable and low carbon fuels (mainly biofuels) and public procurement of clean vehicles supported by the recharging/refuelling infrastructure. CO2 emissions from freight transport go down by 27% between 2005 and 2050, driven by vehicle efficiency standards, some uptake of renewable and low carbon fuels and initiatives to improve the efficiency of the transport system - making the most of digital technologies and smart pricing and further encouraging multi-modal integration and shifts towards more sustainable transport modes.

37.CO2 emissions from international maritime have decreased by 17% between 2005 and 2015. In the Baseline scenario they are however projected to go up by 18% by 2030 relative to 2015 and by 39% by 2050. Relative to 2005, this is equivalent to a stabilisation of emissions by 2030 and 16% increase by 2050 which is not in line with the economy-wide climate neutrality objectives.

38.NOx emissions are projected to go down by 53% between 2015 and 2030 (69% by 2050), mainly driven by the electrification of the road transport and in particular of the light duty vehicles segment. The decline in particulate matter (PM2.5) would be slightly lower by 2030 at 49% relative to 2015 (72% by 2050). Air quality issues represent a particular concern in urban areas. In the Baseline scenario NOx and PM2.5 emissions are projected to decrease at higher pace in urban relative to inter-urban areas (69% reduction in NOx emissions by 2030 and 60% for PM2.5 emissions), thanks to the use of more sustainable alternative modes, including active modes, and cleaner vehicles. Overall, external costs related to air pollutants would decrease by about 60% by 2030 (78% by 2050) 24 .

39.Congestion costs from transport are projected to increase by about 19% by 2030 and 33% by 2050, relative to 2015. Congestion on the inter-urban network would be the result of growing freight transport activity along specific corridors, in particular where these corridors cross urban areas with heavy local traffic. Thanks to policies in place, external costs of accidents are projected to go down by about 14% by 2030 (20% for 2015-2050).

40.Economic growth plays a central role in the development of transport demand, so the strong economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has had, and will continue to have, a major impact. It materialises through three main channels. First, the partial or full shut down of entire sectors, due to the measures enacted to contain contagion, has severely disrupted domestic production in most countries, as well as service sectors like transport and mobility. Second, the propagation of such disruptions along global value chains has impaired the functioning of the EU Single Market and of extra-EU supply chains. Third, the consequent loss of income is generating another sizeable shock, which feeds back through the demand side. If the situation is prolonged, financial strains will emerge and pose further barriers to recovery.

41.According to Eurostat data, compared with the same quarter of the previous year, in Q3 2020 the EU GDP decreased by 4.3 %, which represents a partial recovery after a decrease of 13.9 % in the previous quarter. EU employment increased by 0.9 % compared to the previous quarter, but decreased by 1.8% compared to Q3 2019. 25 The Commission has published its Spring 2020 Economic Forecast for 2020-2021 for the EU-27 and at Member State level on 6 May. 26 The forecast shows that the euro area economy will contract by a record 7.8% in 2020 and grow by 6.3% in 2021. The EU-27 economy is forecast to contract by 7.5% in 2020 and grow by around 6% in 2021. Growth projections for the EU and the euro area have been revised downwards by around nine percentage points compared to the Autumn 2019 Economic Forecast.

42.The Commission‘s Autumn 2020 Economic Forecast for 2020-2022 was published on 5 November. 27 It shows that the EU-27 GDP is forecast to contract by about 7.5% this year before rebounding by 4% in 2021, which is less than previously forecast, and by 3% in 2022. This implies that the output in the European economy would barely return to pre-pandemic levels in 2022.

43.The economic slowdown estimated in the Autumn 2020 Economic Forecast leaves its traces on households too. 28 Despite being protected by government measures, aggregate labour income is set to decrease in 2020 as many companies defer decisions about employing new staff, reduce working hours or staff numbers. Some segments of the workforce are likely to be affected more than others, with the incomes of lower-wage earners and younger cohorts showing larger vulnerability to downturns. All in all, both non-labour and labour incomes are expected to drag disposable incomes to a similar degree in 2020, while turning supportive again in both 2021 and 2022. The rise in unemployment in 2020 will likely be substantial, and the rate only contained to 7.7% thanks to the short-time work schemes that people across the EU have benefitted from, as well as by other support schemes to firms, workers and the self-employed. 29 The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates the loss of working hours compared to the pre-crisis level in Europe at 11.8%. 30 Finally, a Eurofound survey finds that 38% of Europeans report their financial situation as worse than before the pandemic. 31 Close to half of households indicate they cannot make ends meet, and over half report they cannot maintain their standard of living for more than three months without an income. Just from the narrow perspective of the impact on the sector, this loss in household income is likely to aggravate the drop in tourism and passenger transport demand beyond the pandemic.

44.As a large part of the world went into lockdown, fossil fuel prices collapsed with crude oil spot prices halved compared to last year levels. The oil price is projected to gradually recover over time, reaching USD 80/bbl in 2030 and USD 118/bbl in 2050. It is however projected to remain below the projected pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. 32 The situation is still evolving, and it is currently not possible to understand the full impact of the unfolding pandemic. These estimates do not include the possibility of more negative outcomes (e.g. due to a second epidemic outbreak).

45.Drawing on Commission’s Spring 2020 Economic Forecast, it is estimated that real GDP could be about 2.3% lower compared to pre-COVID-19 pandemic projections by 2030. Based on the estimates for GDP and the fossil fuel prices projections, an alternative Baseline scenario (so-called COVID-Baseline scenario) has been developed with the PRIMES-GAINS modelling suite, to account for the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on transport activity. This shows lasting changes in the mobility trends by 2030 and 2050. The COVID-19 pandemic is projected to lead to lower total passenger transport activity of about 4% by 2030 and 2050 relative to the pre-COVID-19 pandemic situation, despite strong recovery starting in 2021. Air transport would be most affected, driven by the reduced business travel and more domestic tourism relative to the pre-COVID-19 pandemic situation. Less commuting and preference given to individual transport modes would also have an impact on rail and public transport activity. Road transport activity would be the least affected in the medium to long term. A comparison between the growth in transport activity, by transport mode, in the Baseline and the COVID-Baseline scenarios is provided in Figure 8 .

46.The growth of freight transport volumes tends to follow the rhythm of GDP growth. As a result of the economic crisis 2008-2009, the volume of freight transport in tonnes-kilometres in the EU-27 has dropped close to the level of 2000. Since 2010 it’s been recovering slowly and only reached pre-crisis levels in 2017. The volume of passenger-kilometres travelled in the EU-27 has grown quite steadily over the last ten years and picked up notably since 2014. 33 The recovery after the extreme drop of activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic is projected to take a longer period of time, until pre-pandemic transport volumes are reached again.

47.The COVID-Baseline scenario projects lower contraction in the freight transport activity relative to the passenger transport activity. In the medium to long term, it also shows higher convergence to the pre-COVID-19 pandemic pace of growth compared to the passenger transport activity. By 2030 and 2050, total freight transport activity would be less than 3% below its projected pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. Furthermore, the projections show that the pandemic would not induce significant changes in the modal shares relative to the pre-COVID-19 pandemic. A comparison between the growth in transport activity, by transport mode, in the Baseline and the COVID-Baseline scenarios is provided in Figure 9 .

48.The COVID-Baseline projections show that emissions from transport including international aviation but excluding international maritime would be 16% lower by 2030 compared to 2005, and 38% lower by 2050. Compared to 1990 however, this translates into 7% higher emissions by 2030 and only 21% lower emissions by 2050, due to high increases in transport emissions during the 1990s. A comparison between the changes in the CO2 emissions from transport relative to 2005 and to 1990, in the Baseline and the COVID-Baseline scenarios is provided in Figure 10 . When accounting the intra-EU aviation and intra-EU maritime in the transport emissions, the COVID-Baseline projections show reductions of 19% by 2030 and 42% by 2050 relative to 2005. This shows that after the sharp decline in CO2 emissions during the COVID-19 pandemic, existing policies fall well short in delivering the transport contribution to CO2 reductions under the European Green Deal and the 2030 Climate Target Plan.

49.Trade is a main determinant for freight demand. The WTO estimates world trade volumes to fall by 13-32% in 2020. Almost all world regions are projected to suffer double-digit declines, but exports from Asia and North America may be hit the hardest. The WTO also considers that trade in services may be most directly impacted. A recovery in 2021 is expected, depending on the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. Globally, road fuel use was down 11% for the year, jet fuel down 33% and all other fuels down 7% in April compared to the previous year, according to Rystad Energy.

50.Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the OECD projected international trade to grow by 3.4% annually through 2030 and 3.2% annually through 2050. 34 After the previous economic crisis, though, international trade has grown modestly compared to growth rates prior to the 2008 economic downturn. This trend can be partly explained by cyclical factors in the wake of the downturn, but structural factors also play a role. Trade in services, for instance, increased from 23% to 30% between 2005 and 2017, the elasticity of trade to GDP has declined and the expansion of global value chains has begun to slow. 35 Therefore, it is difficult to compare the effects of the previous economic crisis on international trade to the likely effects of the crisis following the COVID-19 pandemic. The structural economic consequences of the latter are yet to be seen, also because international supply chains may be shortened in order to render them more robust against disruptions.

51.Politically, the environment for international trade development has become more uncertain with the rise of political movements in several countries that question trade liberalisation and advocate more protectionist trade policy measures. The widespread call for shorter supply chains and re-patriating value chains in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic might constitute another significant challenge for international trade flows in the near future.

52.The WTO estimates that the direct economic effects of more protectionist trade policies have been modest to date but the uncertainty they generate may already be having an impact through reduced investment spending. 36

53.Other risks identified by the WTO include developing and emerging economies experiencing capital outflows and financial contagion as interest rates may start to rise in developed countries, with negative consequences for trade. Geopolitical tensions could threaten resource supplies and upset production networks in certain regions. Finally, structural factors such as the rebalancing of the Chinese economy away from investment and toward consumption are still present and could weigh on import demand due to the high import content of investment. 37

54.Commercial shipping could intensify in in light of the decrease of the extent of ice cover in the Artic Sea, which would shorten distances considerably from Asia to both Europe and North America. 38 Large transcontinental infrastructure projects may establish alternative routes between major trade partners in East Asia and Europe, while also increasing access to markets in Central Asia and other regions including Africa. This can have an impact on port activity and the way surface transport infrastructure is used. Some parts of current road, rail and river networks could experience major reductions in traffic while others would see sharp increases.

55.E-commerce has been steadily growing and is predicted to increase further, in particular now that under the lockdown a larger share of consumers got acquainted with buying online, and households re-assign some of their budgets away from holidays and towards home goods (e.g. home entertainment and home exercise). 39 Greater ease of purchase and returns can increase demand and foster a trend towards more individualised, small-scale deliveries, leading to more freight transport. To seize these the opportunities created by increase in demand for home deliveries, e-commerce and carriers have to adapt delivery scheduling systems, optimizing routing and managing in real time delivery volumes.

56.As regards long distance travel, the tourism sector 40 is one of the hardest-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with impacts on both travel supply and demand. Travel restrictions, flight cancellations and frequency reduction have significantly diminished the supply of travel services (both domestic and international), while demand continues to retract due to fears of contagion.

57.OECD data shows that the EU-27 recorded USD 430,481 million in travel receipts (exports) in 2018, representing almost 30% of worldwide figures. 41  Passenger transport was estimated at 17% of tourism exports in Europe in 2018, international tourism receipts (hotels, restaurants etc.) making up the other 83% according to UNWTO data. 42  According to the same source, 53% of international tourism trips in Europe were made by air transport, 40% by road, 4% by water and 3% by rail. It is expected that, depending on de-confinement strategies of each Member State, the share of each mode in tourism may substantively change in 2020 and possibly also in the near future.

58.The OECD estimates a 60% decline in international tourism in 2020, possibly up to 80% if the recovery is delayed until December. 43 The organisation expects domestic tourism – which represents over 75% of the sector in OECD countries, as well as EU tourism to be the first to register a rebound.

59.In May 2020, the UNWTO estimated that international tourism could decline by 60% to 80% in 2020 globally, depending on the speed of containment and the duration of travel restrictions as well as borders shutdown. The first quarter of 2020 experienced a decrease of 22% and USD 80 billion at global level, while Europe experienced a -19% of international tourist arrivals. Globally, this would translate into an estimated loss of USD 910 to 1,200 billion in international tourism receipts (exports) and 100 to 120 million jobs directly at risk. Recovery estimates remain mixed.

60.Finally, economic activity is also closely interrelated with the dynamics of energy demand and the price of crude oil. The world oil price is not only an important cost factor for the transport sector, but it can also have an effect on the choice of transport mode (depending on the oil dependency of different modes) and innovation, for example by affecting the economic attractiveness of alternative fuels or energy efficiency measures.

61.Oil markets are going through a period of extraordinary change, in the short term because demand has vanished in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the longer term, demand is shifting from developed economies and transport fuels to Asia and petrochemicals.

62.The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that, taking into account adopted and planned policies, world-wide oil use in passenger cars will peak in the late 2020s and during the 2030s demand will increase by only 0.1 million barrels/day on average each year. However there will be no definitive peak in oil use overall, as there are continued increases in petrochemicals, lorries and the shipping and aviation sectors. For Europe, IEA expects the total demand for crude oil to be 4 million barrel/day lower in 2040 than in 2018. 44

63.However, the evolution of both oil demand and oil price will to a great extent depend on the economic growth cycles of the world economy and on the level of ambition with which more sustainable energy, climate and transport policies will be pursued.

64.Freight and passenger mobility demand also grows as global population expands, particularly in cities. Today in Europe, 74.9% of the population live in urban areas, compared to just over 50% in 1950, making Europe one of the most urbanised regions in the world. The growth of the urbanisation rate in Europe is expected to continue, with the proportion of the population residing in urban areas projected to reach 83.7% in 2050. 45 It remains to be seen, whether the economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our societies will slow down this dominant long trend.

65.Single person households without children increased by 18.7 % between 2010 and 2019 in the EU, so if this trend continues, the pattern of transport demand, particularly in urban areas, will change. During the last decade i.e. 2010-2019, the total number of households in the EU increased by 7.0 %. In 2019, the EU-27 recorded 195 million households with on average 2.3 members per household. 46

66.Steady urbanisation means that the problems affecting many urban areas, such as congestion, air pollution, road crashes, noise and saturation of transport hubs are likely to get worse. Transport represents an important source of air pollution and is responsible for growing road congestion in cities. A growing number of cities implement vehicle access restriction in the urban areas (most often in the centres) to tackle increased noise, congestion and pollution, and improve safety (vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and users of powered two-wheelers now account for 70% of road deaths in cities).

67.At the same time, passenger and freight transport volumes on the comprehensive and core TEN-T network are growing. However, missing links and poor connections, including between public transport and active modes of transport, remain the main challenges for integrating the urban nodes on the TEN-T network. They can also lead to bottlenecks and congestion at peak hour due to a lack of connectivity, and to a high degree of dependence on personal motorised transportation.

68.Indeed, the capacity, availability, accessibility and affordability of public transport is an important overall issue for urban development, especially if the coverage and frequency of public transport network are insufficient, or if there are barriers to multi-modal solutions, such as the combination of private bike or car and public transport.

69.Walking and cycling, often referred to as active modes of transport, are certainly not new phenomena, but their importance in urban mobility has gained prominence in recent years as stand-alone transport mode and as part of a multi-modal transport solution. Given that almost half of all car trips in cities are of less than five kilometres, there is high potential for further expansion of active mobility, including in new fields, e.g. for freight transport via cargo-bikes and to connect cities with their surrounding areas via e-bikes. The importance of walking and cycling is gaining wider recognition, even more so since the COVID-19 pandemic. Pedestrian zones are being created or extended in various cities across Europe. Likewise, bike lanes are being rapidly developed and made permanent. Alternative low and zero solutions for freight and parcel delivery in urban areas are coming on stream. In addition, we observe a growing interest by employers to (financially) support and motivate their staff to walk or cycle to work.

70.Besides the relative growth of the share of the population living in urban areas, ageing societies in Europe represent another demographic trend that is likely to shape mobility patterns in the future. The demographic old-age dependency ratio (people aged 65 or above relative to those aged 15-64) is projected to increase significantly in the EU as a whole in the coming decades. From about 25% in 2010, it has risen to 29.6% in 2016 and it is projected to rise further, eventually reaching 51.2% in 2070. This implies that the EU would move from four working-age people for every person aged over 65 years in 2010 to around two working-age persons over the projection horizon. 47

71.The ageing of the population has a strong correlation with the number of persons with disabilities and reduced mobility. It is estimated that in the EU there are around 100 million persons with disabilities. Many of them have reduced mobility.

72.The ageing society will require more emphasis on accessibility, the provision of safe, secure, reliable and adaptable transport services featuring appropriate solutions for users with disabilities and reduced mobility. For instance, one can expect higher demand for door-to-door mobility and driver assistance solutions. Public transport providers will have to adapt to an increasing amount of passengers with disabilities and reduced mobility, requiring investments in barrier-free infrastructure and rolling stock. At the same time, for public expenditure a higher ratio of older people will imply that more public resources will have to be devoted to pension payments, health care and long-term care, which may lead to pressure on the amount of funding available to public transport and maintenance of transport infrastructure. This structural pressure on transport infrastructure investments can be aggravated by cyclical factors. In the wake of the financial crisis of 2008/09, the European Investment Bank (EIB) noted that infrastructure investment had been disproportionally hit as fiscal consolidation had been biased against capital expenditure, with prioritisation given to current expenditure such as social transfers to mitigate the immediate effects of the crisis. 48 This does not mean that social transfers would not have been concerned by fiscal consolidation measures, but fiscal consolidation after the crisis of 2008/09 has significantly reduced room for public investments.

73.The picture of the demographic development in the EU can vary considerably from one region to another. Over the past 25 years, some of the Eastern European Member States have lost a large share of their population through a combination of low fertility and, most notably, sizeable emigration. Pre-existing economic disparities between Member States have encouraged many citizens to search for work in places other than their country of origin. These developments have likely been to the economic benefit of the EU as a whole, but not necessarily for all sending Member States. This contributes to slowing the convergence between Member States, and impacts areas such as transport infrastructure, education and even population ageing. 49  Intra-EU mobility has the biggest impact on the past and projected population change in the eastern Member States, where it exacerbates their population decline.

74.Our ageing society has not only an effect on the ‘demand’ side of transport, but also on the ‘supply’ side. For instance, in inland waterway transport, where – especially on the Rhine – most enterprises are family owned and family operated SMEs, the aging of the entrepreneur/crew is a major challenge, as young people seem to be less interested to pursue this profession, which requires living on the barge.

75.New forms of electric mobility, such as electric bicycles are already contributing to satisfying older people’s mobility needs in a flexible manner, allowing them to use an active and healthy mode for ways where they would otherwise rely on private cars or public transport. However, the new forms of e-mobility also bring about a specific safety challenge 50 and older people tend to be more vulnerable than younger population groups.

76.There are several socio-economic and technological developments 51 that have emerged or become more prominent in the last ten years.

77.Firstly, the collaborative economy increasingly affects the way transport services are organised with various bike and car sharing schemes, but also ride-sharing and ride-hailing being deployed across the EU. Some of these schemes generate new forms of work characterised by more flexible arrangements. These flexible work arrangements should be implemented in accordance with EU labour law and social protection.

78.Continuous digitalisation has made it possible to develop the concept of mobility as a service (MaaS) – a mobility distribution model in which a customer’s major transport needs are met by services integrating transport infrastructure, transport services, information and payment services, and more. This approach is also possible due to the removal of barriers between different transport modes and their users, as well as the emergence of new collaborative economy solutions. The focus in this approach is not on personal ownership of transport modes, but on mobility per se, which is seen as service.

79.Data sharing and collaborative decision-making enabled by digital technologies propose new solutions to old challenges. Businesses are interacting in ways previously unimagined, new business models and services appear, based on collaboration and sharing economy principles and enabled by data and advanced IT technologies. For instance, in freight transport and logistics there is generally a shift towards collaborative solutions, where partnerships are formed for the purpose of optimization of operations by sharing equipment, vehicles and information. Digital solutions should lead to synchro-mobility, a step change in multimodal transport which will synchronise intermodal services between modes as well as with shippers for optimal resource use and delivery times.

80.Telework has become much more widespread since the COVID-19 pandemic and newly introduced arrangements could, at least partially, remain in place in the longer term 52 . Learning effects of remote working and improvements in technology are likely to produce various ranges of effects on mobility and transport behaviours.

81.The pandemic has revealed large differences in the prevalence of telework across EU Member States, sectors and occupations. The preparedness for telework at a large scale is higher in ICT- and knowledge-intensive sectors, and generally for high-skilled workers, although with big differences across EU countries. In many EU countries, more than half of the workers who have started working from home since the pandemic had no prior experience with teleworking. If past trends are a guide, the uneven ability to scale up telework could result in widening inequalities across countries, firms, genders and workers 53 , e.g. if there is uneven access to broadband, barriers for persons with disabilities or IT illiteracy to telework or use other ICT based applications. White-collar workers tend to have jobs that can be better adapted to telework requirements than blue-collar workers.

82.Telework can have an impact particularly on urban passenger transport demand, mainly during peak hours and hence also alleviate congestion as well as other environmental externalities. Another sector expected to be affected is business travel with the rise of web based meeting arrangements during the pandemic. With more developed ICT equipment in modern office workplaces and more widespread availability of fast internet, at least in urban areas, the technical preconditions for telework arrangements have become easier to meet.

83.To date, large variations in the prevalence of telework exist. In the EU, before the COVID-19 pandemic, the share of employees performing regular or occasional telework (in urban and non-urban areas) was highest in Denmark (37%), Finland (33%) and the Netherlands (30%). Relatively low shares of teleworking employees were found in Central and Eastern Europe and in the Mediterranean countries. 54  

84.At the same time, asked how much time they spend every day travelling to and from work, 47% of the employees in the EU indicate a commuting time of more than 30 minutes one way and 11% travel more than 60 minutes. The highest shares of employees travelling more than 60 minutes from or to work are found in Sweden (24%), Denmark (22%) and Belgium (22%). 55

85.The increasing automation and digitalisation of transport offers a huge potential in terms of safety, efficiency and sustainability and thus also new opportunities for women in transport jobs, since new job profiles imply less heavy physical labour and more digital skills. We are already seeing how new digital automotive technologies can help reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries, enable better organising and executing of travel and transport operations, lower energy consumption and pollution, and optimise the use of resources and existing infrastructure. It is also a powerful tool to overcome the disadvantages - complexity, higher costs and risks of multimodal transport, and to facilitate the better integration of the different modes of transport.

86.Based on existing policies for urban passenger transport and assuming an increased uptake of teleworking, the OECD estimates that the share of urban passenger-kilometres travelled in privately owned vehicles could decline from around 70% in 2015 to 40% by 2050 in the world. Shared modes that include shared vehicles systems (e.g. free-floating or non-free-floating shared cars, bikes or scooters) and optimised shared mobility services (e.g. a shared taxi, van or minibus with a driver) represented only 1.5% of the urban passenger-kilometres travelled world-wide in 2015. However, they are expected to grow to over 20% of the total passenger transport demand in cities by 2050 globally. The share of more traditional public transport (bus, rail, metro) should grow modestly from 30% in 2015 to over 35% of all urban passenger-kilometres travelled worldwide by 2050. 56

87.Though opportunities are huge, at the same time there is still a lack of solid framework conditions (e.g. legal and social aspects, required interoperable infrastructure and interfaces). Alongside, technological challenges remain in this fast-evolving field.

89.Concerning drones, they can make a significant contribution to the development of greener and cheaper local transport solutions in urban, peri-urban and inter-urban contexts. The technology is already there, fully functional and offering a multitude of applications, such as precision agriculture, infrastructure inspection, transport of medical supplies, environmental compliance, atmospheric research, media and entertainment, sport photos, filming, wildlife protection and research, disaster relief, etc. The global drones market is forecast to increase from USD 4.9 billion in 2019 to USD 14.3 billion in 2028. Out of total, Europe’s drone start-up investments is expected to represent only 9%, indicating a clear lag behind US and Chinese firms’ investments in this technology. Commercial use will surpass the consumer drone market in 2023, becoming the largest segment. It might grow more than eightfold to reach USD 9.5 billion in 2028. 57 In terms of jobs, for Europe, employment is estimated to increase to about 150,000 jobs by 2050 in manufacturing with additional jobs created in drone operator services. 58

90.Air traffic management (ATM) is also a sector with increased use of digital technologies, notably solutions brought by the SESAR project. Innovative infrastructure projects can lead to substantial efficiency gains in the aviation sector and a reduction of emissions resulting from aviation activities. It is the aim that ATM system infrastructure progressively evolves with the adoption of advanced digital technologies, allowing civil and military air navigation service providers (ANSPs), airports and the network manager to provide their services in a cost-efficient and effective way irrespective of national borders, supported by secure information services. Moreover, ATM progressively needs to evolve into a data ecosystem supported by a service-oriented architecture to enable the virtual defragmentation of European skies.

91.With respect to automated road vehicles, similar developments can be observed. Automated driving will, in the future, play a key role on the transformation of mobility, and also on the automotive sector. Ultimately, safety is one of the crucial underlying justifications for automated and connected vehicles. However, in the forthcoming transitional phase, where we will see mixed traffic of highly automated and “traditional” vehicles as well as other road users like pedestrians and cyclists, new safety risks require proper consideration. The driverless freight delivery vehicles and connected and automated lorries hold a promise of significant reductions in operational costs to make the freight delivery services cheaper. The deployment of self-driving technologies should be well prepared to prevent undesired social effects.

92.Besides, the large amount of generated data will significantly impact the complete value chain, mainly on the digital and automotive sectors. The whole industrial sector will need to evolve and adapt in a fast pace to stay ahead in global competitiveness, while including all stakeholders and addressing societal needs. 59  

93.As new technologies have allowed for driver assistance and ever more advanced active safety systems for vehicles, in the future they could lead to the emergence of new mobility services based on highly or fully automated vehicles. Cooperative intelligent transport services now being deployed in vehicles and on road infrastructure will support the transition to automation. Highly automated road vehicles function in certain areas (i.e. highways, ports and shuttles) and could already be operational in the near future. Several large-scale EU demonstration projects 60 are already ongoing for both passenger cars, freight vehicles and public transport in anticipation of this substantial change.

94.On the other hand, automation and digitalisation offers new mobility opportunities and more comfort, which could lead to an increase in road transport demand, which might increase for instance congestion.

95.Automation is also important for rail transport. It is already in widespread use on metro systems and is now being extended to heavy rail too. It will bring very significant energy savings due to more efficient driving, and (combined with the latest versions of ERTMS) can allow capacity increases of more than 30% even on the most congested infrastructure provided rail operations are adequately adapted to benefit from digital innovation. Technologically it is far simpler than equivalent road technologies, so with strong coordination between the rail infrastructure and the operations on the rail network, it can and should be rapidly deployed. Combined with increased automation of rail traffic management and timetabling, it should lead to much greater flexibility in service provision.

96.Further changes in the way the world economy and industry operates (e.g. increasingly complex business structures and supply chains, growing importance of software, 3D printing or shift to circular economy) will require further optimisation of transport services, mainly in freight transport, and changes in design of transport vehicles and infrastructure. The aforementioned elements have also an impact on the employment in the transport sector, in terms of opportunities, required skills and working conditions.

97.Great uncertainty surrounds the extent to which re-shoring and 3D printing will dampen future growth of freight transport. If adopted extensively, both can affect the type of goods moved, decrease the distances between production and consumption centres and thus fundamentally alter today’s long and complex supply chains. A significant decrease in the total value of internationally traded goods can greatly reduce sea and air transport volumes.

98.Nonetheless, freight volumes are expected to continue to grow strongly. Before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, global freight demand was projected to triple between 2015 and 2050. 61 Currently, the outlook for international trade is more fragile although volumes are recovering. At the same time, freight transport and logistics are undergoing major transformations, and these will likely be even more disruptive in the future. Technology, business models, consumer behaviour, shifts in trade patterns, and other factors all contribute to a changing transport landscape, and how they play out can have a substantial impact on the projected growth. New technologies and smart digital solutions supported by effective modernised regulation are needed to accommodate this major increase in transport demand sustainably – i.e. with only limited increase in assets and energy consumption. Increased productivity and efficiency of the logistics and supply chains remains in this context a key challenge. In container shipping, ship sizes and total capacity have increased by a factor of 2.5 between 2004 and 2018 while the number of companies has almost halved over the same period. 62 E-commerce and last-mile logistics are equally increasing significantly, a trend further accelerated as a consequence of COVID-19 pandemic.

99.Digitalisation and automation of transport services also raise new challenges for service providers, especially in terms of personal data protection, data sovereignty, interoperability, cyber security and user acceptance. Cyber-attacks may lead to delays of services, damage to physical systems, data theft, or even passenger injuries. There are also concerns that remotely controlled aircraft and automated rail and road vehicles may be subject to hacking or hi-jacking from distance. Similar concerns arise in the maritime area, because of the growing digitalisation of sea navigation.

100.Although not reflecting a long-term trend, the COVID-19 pandemic is having significant effects on the transport sector, which have the potential to shape the sector for years to come.

101.Transport is one of the most severely affected sectors by the COVID-19 pandemic, along with sectors such as tourism and hospitality. The impact was driven in the short term by lockdown measures (including travel restrictions, tele-working and home-schooling), other restrictions and voluntary avoidance efforts. This has led to steep reductions in manufacturing and transport activity, as well as reduced activity in service sectors such as retail stores, hotels and restaurants, etc. In addition it had a huge impact on reduced levels of physical activity and general fitness among children. The crisis has also highlighted the strategic importance of transport for the supply of essential goods such as food, medicines and supply of essential materials, particularly pronounced in certain remote regions such as the outermost regions 64 . The resilience of the transport and logistics system in Europe has been a key contributing factor to managing the crisis effectively.

102.The pandemic’s short-term impact on the transport sector, in particular on passenger transport, as well as on global supply chains is dramatic and unprecedented on this scale in the post-war period. Lockdown measures led to a prolonged standstill in production across many sectors creating supply chain disruptions across the EU. This has led to a general fall in freight transport demand. On the other hand, increased on-line shopping, including of essential goods such as groceries and pantry items, have almost doubled the usual home delivery rates. This increase of demand revealed limitations in last-mile delivery capacity, also due to the lack of drivers, at least in the short run.

103.The long-term effects on transport activity will only become clear after the pandemic has come to an end and will largely depend on the pace of the economic recovery. Preliminary transport activity projections, reflecting the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic at EU-27 level, have been presented in section 2.3.

104.Behavioural changes already seen before the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g. urban mobility) may affect certain transport modes as economies re-open, with long term effects for some. Web-based meeting arrangements which have grown in use during the pandemic are likely to become more frequent even beyond the pandemic, thus adversely affecting business travel. Global supply chains may be reorganised with a view of rendering them more robust against the fall-out due to interruptions in freight distribution, affecting transport volume and patterns. The growth in e-commerce may become a long term trend with a new level of customers’ expectations for faster, contactless (safer in terms of contagion risk) home deliveries, requiring the modernisation of corresponding delivery and transport channels.

105.However this is clearly an ongoing and developing situation, and more time will be needed to gather and analyse data in order to grasp the full impact of the current crisis on the behaviour of passengers and transport users.

106.Aviation is one of the EU transport sectors whose activity has been the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to supressed demand following containment measures taken by governments – including travel restrictions, lockdowns and quarantine zones, as well as customers’ fear of contagion. Widespread flight cancellations for consecutive months have caused major disruptions for passengers, the aviation industry, the tourism sector and the EU economy as a whole.

107.After a positive evolution of the traffic situation following the removal of border and travel restrictions in June, recovery dramatically slowed down following the reintroduction of travel restrictions across Europe. Traffic in November 2020 was 59% below 2019 levels in terms of flights 65 . In 2020, until mid-November there was a loss of 1.5 billion passengers at European airports 66 across the network compared to 2019 levels. International passenger transport is likely to continue to be severely reduced due to lower demand and government restrictions in the next years following the COVID-19 pandemic. Experiences from earlier network disruptions, such as the 9/11 terrorist attack in 2001 and the Icelandic volcanic ash incident in 2010, indicate that rebuilding may take a long time.

108.It must be underlined that there is a strong link between temporary border and travel restrictions and the resumption of traffic. In particular quarantine requirements led to a sharp drop in passenger bookings, although some other factors such as squeezed household budgets, uncertainty over ticket refunds, and fears of infection while travelling also contributed. Travel demand does therefore in general tend to reflect the existence or the severity of travel restrictions in place at national level, in particular if they are not co-ordinated between Member States. Ensuring a co-ordinated approach at European level of national measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic is therefore likely to substantially improve growth. The same applies for intercontinental travel where closed borders or travel restrictions hamper travel.

109.This has affected every branch of the wide aviation value network, also resulting e.g. in numerous delays and cancellations of aircraft orders, leading to a severe decrease in the aeronautics industry’s order books.

110.According to Eurocontrol projections, air traffic growth volume in 2020 and 2021 will depend on the ability of European countries to coordinate their health and sanitary measures. 67  Overall, the Current Status Scenario by Eurocontrol envisaged a loss of 55% of flights (6 million) in 2020. According to IATA recovery to 2019 level will not take place until 2024.

111.Taking all of the above into account, there will be a total industry loss in revenues of approximately EUR 140 billion during 2020 for airlines, airports and air navigation service providers. As a result, more than 7 million jobs supported by aviation (including tourism) in Europe are now at risk, as estimated by IATA. 68 The pressure on the sector has also resulted in raising the precariousness of work in the aviation sector. 

112.In response to this unprecedented decline in passenger air travel, the European associations collectively representing the entire European aviation sector called for measures to restore the public’s confidence in air travel. To this end, they stressed the need for an effective coordination of national travel restrictions measures, based on a common set of criteria, data and guidelines provided by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), and further improvements to the effective enforcement of passenger rights to ensure legal certainty in travel. 69  

113.International freight transport is affected by both demand and supply of goods effects related to the pandemic. Continued and uninterrupted maritime services are of key strategic importance for the whole EU, with 75% of goods arriving to the EU by sea. About 30% of all goods internally in the EU are transported by ships. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on global shipping, affecting all its segments from passenger ships to container ships and oil tankers. While some ports have restricted passenger services, EU ports have remained open for cargo transport. After an early effect of Chinese lockdown measures on global supply chains, factory output has been picking-up after the relaxation of containment measures.

114.EMSA reported 70 that the number of ship calls at EU ports declined by 12.5% in the first 39 weeks of 2020 compared to the same period in the previous year. The most significantly affected sectors have been the cruises, passenger ships, roll-on-roll-off-passenger and vehicle carriers. Meanwhile, the number of chemical tankers ship calls increased in comparison with 2019 and the numbers for bulk carriers, containerships, general cargo and oil tankers saw a limited decrease (up to 10%).

115.The impact of the inland navigation sector is estimated to a total loss of turnover between EUR 2.2 and 4.4 billion considering a 90% reduction in passenger transport and 25-30% reduction in freight transport during the crisis. Inland ports have observed a decline in traffic due to the decrease of activity in seaports (e.g. container trade with China).

116.Travel restrictions have also significantly reduced the number of passengers carried by ferries, leading to financial difficulties for companies that provide essential connections, in particular to islands and other remote regions. In order to ensure basic connectivity across the territories of the EU and ensure continuity of services, Member States have, apart from other support measures, also put in place temporary public services obligations (“PSO”) and/or public service contracts (“PSC”) to replace or support services that become commercially unviable due to a sudden drop in passenger numbers.

117.Severe decrease in the sea transport of passengers impacted also the flows of goods transported on ro-ro-passenger ships and on ferries, whose traffic is heavily dependent on the revenues derived from passenger services. If demand for passenger and personal vehicles’ transport remains low in a longer term, freight transport business by these ships may not be possible without public support.

118.The cruise ship sector has also experienced severe operational losses. The capital value of the cruise ship industry reportedly dropped by more than 70%. The majority of cruise companies stopped operations, at the same time looking for means to increase their credit capacity to manage the economic impact. The re-uptake of activities has been limited, both as regards passengers and vessels, as well as in geographical scope. The negative image of tourists and crew quarantined on cruise ships during the pandemic will likely have a longer-lasting impact on demand for this service, as well as for demand for new cruise ships, of which around 90% are built in Europe.

119.In the maritime sector, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has reduced not only the demand for transport and cargo services, but also the ability to supply such services. It highlighted in particular the substantial consequences for seafarers, whose working conditions severely deteriorated. Due to travel restrictions and fewer connections, many ship-owners were unable to conduct sufficient crew changes and repatriate maritime workers.

120.For all shipping segments with crew and passengers or persons on board, the issue of crew changes, repatriation, medical care and other preventive and protective measures are key to allow as uninterrupted operations as possible. Notable COVID-19 outbreaks associated with shipping crews and passengers have focussed attention on this issue. The social partners, ECSA and ETF issued separate public statements urging authorities to facilitate swift and safe crew changes, safe berthing places, exemptions from levies during prolonged lay-off period, guarantee safe passage, as well as, of course, the provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) to all working in the sector.

121.The majority of seafarers employed on ships, regardless of the flag of the ships, are nationals from a limited number of labour-supplying countries; and certain traffic routes and coastal States globally receive a disproportionately large volume of incoming and outgoing vessels. In this context, the measures adopted by some third countries have had an impact on European operations. At IMO and ILO level, efforts are ongoing to provide a baseline of information sharing and respect for the basic needs of crew changing and repatriation.

122.There have been cases of social unrest on board ships where maritime workers have been stranded or had their contracts extended beyond the limit set by the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 71 , with no possibility to repatriate. The European Commission and the High Representative have undertaken extensive efforts to ensure maritime workers are recognised, globally, as essential or “key” workers, can travel for work and repatriate after their contracts end. With COVID-19 cases rebounding, variations in the pandemic situation locally and globally is proving difficult to reach a stable arrangement on this front.

123.The most affected segment of road passenger transport has been international traffic, particularly coach tourism. After a period of partial reopening between July and November, some international coach operators have been recently scaling back again their services in some EU countries due to the second wave.

124.Road freight transport gradually picked-up starting in the second half of May, according to real time indicators, such as German truck toll activity and pollution levels. By mid-July, German truck toll activity was already tracking closely its level over the same period of 2019, but has since failed to gain further momentum. Road traffic in France, Italy and Spain broadly flattened over July and September, stopping short of a full recovery. More recently, however, road traffic in both France and Italy has increased somewhat and now stands around 10% below its values for the same period of last year.

125.After major disruptions in road freight transport within the EU in the beginning of March, the Commission’s Green Lanes initiative has improved the situation at most internal borders. In November, the vast majority of borders continued to comply with the 15 minutes waiting time mandated by the Green Lanes 72 . Border crossing points with Romania and Bulgaria continue to be impacted by long queues. Others show occasional peaks in waiting time (Romania-Hungary, Croatia). On the external borders of the EU, there continue to be long queues at borders with Switzerland (which seem to be not COVID-related but due to customs checks). There is a continued long waiting time at the Bulgaria-Serbia, Hungary-Serbia, Greece-Albania borders. In particular, Röszke-Horgoš (Hungary-Serbia) has experienced the highest waiting times since commencing monitoring of waiting times.

126.Compared to pre-crisis levels, most Member States are still seeing important decreases in demand for road freight transport. The IRU estimates the goods transport losses to exceed EUR 800 billion globally 73 .

127.Based on preliminary data from Member States, the Commission estimates that the number of road fatalities during lockdown measures decreased across the EU in March (-29%), April (-41%), May (-27%), June (-27%), July (-16%), August (-16%) and September (-14%) compared to the average of the same month in the previous three years 74 . This means that around 3 000 lives fewer have been lost. This is an unprecedented and of course welcome development, although the number of deaths did not fall significantly in all Member States and not by the same degree as the drop in traffic volumes.

128.As a result of lower traffic volumes compared to previous expectations, ratings agencies have re-assessed negatively the outlook of a number of Europe’s privately-owned toll road concessionaires.

129.Railways have experienced significant and unexpected disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a huge drop in passenger mobility. During the peak of the crisis ridership went down by more than 90% in several countries and many international connections were stopped. After the drop of turnover by 35% observed during the first semester, there has been a significant improvement of the situation in July and August but pre-crisis levels are still far from having been reached (July: -28% compared to same month of previous year; August: -27%). However, the trend is not maintained as demonstrated by the figures of turnover losses in September with -29%, due to the second wave of the pandemic hitting countries across the EU and the expected impact on rail passenger travel. Smaller independent operators are particularly badly hit and, according to their association ALLRAIL, have so far not benefited from State aid to the same extent as incumbent operators.

130.Rail freight continued to run reliably throughout the pandemic, ensuring supply chains and suffering from much less disruption than other modes. Nonetheless, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic caused an approximate average decline in rail freight revenues of 15% across the EU-27 during the first half of 2020 and lost revenues of about EUR 48 million per week with a total estimated loss of EUR 1.25 billion accumulated over the first semester 2020. Rail infrastructure managers are impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic due to the reduction in traffic and the revenues it generates. 75  

131.Intermodal transport suffered from lower demand from its traditional markets. At the same time, it gained some new clients by demonstrating its potential for long distance, Europe-wide transport of goods, with the local (usually around 50 km) distribution organised by lorries or vans from the terminals to distribution centres or factories, with a limited human interaction. Adequate network of multimodal terminals, reliable rail (in particular the Rail Freight Corridors 76 ), but also inland navigation and short sea shipping services are in this context essential.

132.Public transport operators have been severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic: they were required to maintain essential services in operation during the lockdown period and to restore services as movement restrictions eased.

133.Public transport is likely to continue to be affected, especially in regions where quarantine measures have reappeared. As of 15 November, the mobility trends for public transport hubs (subway, bus and train stations) are -46 % in Netherlands, -45% in Italy, -28% in Spain, Germany and -46% in France compared to the pre-pandemic baseline. 77

134.Nevertheless, most public transport companies – whether public or private – maintained a high level of service where possible (between 70 and 100 percent of the normal offer). Many of those who must continue commuting rely on public transport systems, which are uniquely positioned to carry large volumes of passengers through busy urban areas. Even during the pandemic, public transport has remained the backbone of sustainable mobility and essential to economic recovery. Although there is new and growing evidence that public transport riders do not face higher infection risk than non-riders 78 , public transport authorities have had to take supplementary measures for disinfection and mask provision to reduce risk for workers and passengers alike, incurring extra costs.

135.In addition, the need to ensure physical distancing severely reduced capacity, which led the public authorities in several countries to appeal to citizens not to use public transport (for instance to keep it free for essential workers and those without alternatives). This appears to have contributed to a general public concern about the safety of using public transport during the pandemic, and continued stagnation in its use in many cities.

136.At the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a shift to individual modes of transport, with walking and cycling often being the preferred mode in many cities, combining the ‘active’ element (physical exercise) with the travel objective. This has resulted in additional health benefits thanks to increased physical activity, reducing a key risk factor of non-communicable diseases, such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Cities have also been struggling to accommodate the necessary distancing rules due to insufficient space for pedestrians and cyclists 79 and many of them have therefore taken action to implement temporary measures, such as the widening of pavements and the roll-out of temporary cycle lanes. Many cities are also now making these temporary lanes permanent to try to maintain or further improve active mobility flows, also to help improve public health and reduce mortality caused by non-communicable diseases. However, new individual solutions accessible for those with disabilities and reduced mobility have not yet materialised and existing ones are expensive and limited in offer.

137.A drop in air pollution in cities during the first period of lockdown measures is confirmed by data published by the European Environment Agency 80 . As first round of lockdown measures eased, there were increasing indications that more people are using private cars, partly because of continued concerns about the safety of public transport. This led to a return to congestion, poorer air quality and increased road safety risks. Therefore some cities in Europe, e.g. Milan or Brussels, are re-thinking their sustainable urban mobility plans in order to discourage the use of private cars. In addition, the EU High Level Group on Road Safety has agreed on common principles to address road safety concerns, including strengthened enforcement, measures to restore confidence in public transport, and continued investment in road safety, including in order to make temporary safety measures (adopted during lockdown) permanent, such as “pop-up bike lanes” 81 .

138.New shared mobility services, such as e-bikes, e-scooters, shared cars, experienced drastic reductions of service in quarantine areas and in several cities have been slow to re-emerge even as movement restrictions were raised. The business models of many companies offering shared mobility services already involved long periods of loss-making and some of them may be driven (close) to bankruptcy or to change their business model.

139.The 2011 White Paper for transport 82 defined a vision for a competitive and sustainable transport system, the implementation of which required an efficient framework for transport users and operators, an early deployment of new technologies and the development of adequate infrastructure. It set the paramount goal of European transport policy as helping establish a system that underpins European economic progress, enhances competitiveness and offers high quality mobility services while using resources more efficiently.

140.This section highlights some of the additional measures that have been put in place in the key policy areas over the last decade. Nevertheless, it needs to be recognised that significant challenges remain, as described in the subsequent sections, particularly in relation to meeting the need for sharper CO2 reductions from transport in order to reach economy-wide climate neutrality by 2050 and the increased ambition for 2030 of at least 55% GHG emission reduction.

141.On 28 November 2018, the Commission adopted a strategic long-term vision for climate-neutral economy by 2050 83 , engaging all sectors of the economy and society, to achieve the transition to a climate-neutral economy. The transport sector, being one of the main sources of GHG emissions in the economy was identified as playing an important role in this transition. The climate neutrality objective was endorsed by the European Parliament 84 and subsequently the European Council 85 .

142.The European Green Deal of December 2019 sets a strategic framework for a climate-neutral EU economy by 2050. It sets a high level of ambition for climate neutrality and healthy environment, accelerating the shift to sustainable and smart mobility, and delivering a zero pollution ambition for a toxic-free environment and the transition to a circular economy while leaving no one behind. To this end, it calls for a 90% reduction in transport emissions by 2050. Priority actions of the Green Deal for a shift to sustainable and smart mobility include boosting multimodal transport, support the deployment of automated and connected mobility solutions across modes, better addressing external costs of transport activities through pricing, ramping up the production and deployment of sustainable alternative transport fuels and reducing pollution from transport, especially in cities 86 , through for instance stricter air pollutant standards.

143.In March 2020 the Commission adopted a Communication on a new Circular Economy Action Plan 87 setting a future-oriented agenda for achieving a cleaner and more competitive Europe. The development of transport infrastructures and the production of different types of transport vehicles (airplanes, cars, trains, ships etc.) require the use of substantial volumes of materials. The treatment of the end-of-life stage of these vehicles also raises important environmental challenges, while representing opportunities for the recovery of precious resources, notably critical raw materials. There is a need for the transport sector to move to more circular models, notably through business models for mobility, green public procurement, changes in the design of vehicles and improvements in their recycling.

144.In May 2020, the Commission adopted its Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. 88 The strategy introduces general goals on protection and restoration of nature and biodiversity such legal protection of a minimum of 30% of the EU’s land area and 30% of the EU’s sea area, including 10% under strict protection, as well as adoption of a legally binding instrument on restoration. Additionally, the Strategy introduces specific goals such as restoration of freshwater ecosystems through recreation of at least 25,000 km free-flowing rivers by 2030, reduction of nitrogen pollution, reduction of impacts from invasive alien species and integration of ecological corridors as part of a true Trans-European Nature Network. Achievement of all of these goals will require close involvement of the transport sector at the stage of planning, operation or upgrading of transport infrastructure.

145.In September 2020 the Commission adopted the Communication on Critical Raw Materials Resilience 89 setting out an action plan to ensure a secure and sustainable supply of raw materials for a wide range of industrial ecosystems. Low and zero-emission vehicles will increase demand for critical raw materials like lithium and cobalt in batteries and rare earths for electric motors. Improved circular use of materials, developing EU sourcing and diversifying sourcing from third countries is a necessity for achieving resilient value chains in the transport sector.

146.The 2030 Climate Target Plan of September 2020 set out that all transport sectors - road, rail, aviation and waterborne transport - will have to contribute to the economy-wide at least 55% GHG reduction effort. A smart combination of vehicle/vessels/aircraft efficiency improvements, fuel mix changes notably through increased uptake of renewable and low-carbon fuels, greater use of sustainable transport modes and multi-modal solutions, digitalisation for smart traffic and mobility management, infrastructure pricing and other incentives can reduce GHG emissions and at the same time significantly address noise pollution and improve air quality. In addition, more use of sustainable options, such as an increased use of existing urban bus and rail services can reduce emissions, congestion and pollution while improving road safety, especially in urban areas.

147.In fact, the shift towards low-emission mobility was already an objective in the Transport White Paper of 2011 ‘Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area’ 90 and was supported by various initiatives. As shown in the evaluation report, the White Paper and its implementation has contributed effectively to putting European transport on the path of reducing in GHG emissions by 2030 and beyond. However, this is no longer sufficient. Given the climate emergency and the revised emission reduction target for 2030 as well as the objective of carbon neutrality in 2050, significantly increased mitigation efforts will be needed.

148.The European Strategy for Low-Emission Mobility 91 was adopted in July 2016 to respond to increasing mobility needs of people and goods, while remaining competitive and shifting towards low-emission mobility. The Strategy reconfirmed and strengthened the 2011 White Paper goals and proposed an action plan: by mid-century, GHG emissions from transport need to be at least 60% lower than in 1990 and be firmly on the path towards zero. Harmful emissions of air pollutants need to be drastically reduced without delay.

149.The European Commission swiftly adopted proposals in the Action Plan of the Strategy, notably the “Clean Energy for all Europeans” package in November 2016, and three Mobility Packages in May 2017, November 2017 and May 2018 92 . Elements of the first Mobility Package aimed to improve competition and working conditions in the road freight sector, contribute to better road safety and reduction of environmental impacts has been adopted and entered into force on 20 August 2020.

150.The second Mobility Package, focussing on clean mobility, included the proposal for amending the Combined Transport Directive (92/106/EEC) 93 which is a key EU measure to directly support modal shift from road-only transport to rail, inland waterways and short sea transport. However, the negotiations in the European Parliament and the Council led to draft amendments which, if adopted, would significantly reduce the effectiveness of the Commission proposal. Therefore the Commission decided to withdraw the 2017 proposal.

151.The second Mobility Package further responded to the challenge of making mobility clean, competitive and connected through a combination of demand- and supply-side measures on low-emission mobility. In concrete terms, it encompassed a number of measures with the aim to enable a transition towards low and zero emission mobility, such as a reform of the Clean Vehicles Directive, new CO2 standards for cars and vans, or a follow-up to the Action Plan related to the Alternative Fuels Directive.

152.The third Mobility Package put forward an integrated policy for the future of road safety. It included a Strategic Action Plan on Road Safety and proposals on vehicle and infrastructure safety. The package also contained the first ever CO2 standards for heavy-duty vehicles, a strategic Action Plan for the development and manufacturing of batteries in Europe and a strategy on connected and automated mobility.

153.The Commission also adopted an Urban Mobility Package in 2013, to help cities in their transition towards sustainable urban mobility by reinforced support at European, national and regional levels. It has the concept of sustainable urban mobility planning (SUMP) at its centre, with dedicated European guidelines adopted later on. It has proven an effective and increasingly popular tool, implemented in cities in a large number of countries, and not only in the EU.

154.Key European legislation has been adopted to support the uptake of alternative fuels, including electricity, over the last decade. This includes the directive on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure 94 , which requires Member States to set up long-term National Policy Frameworks (NPFs) for the development of markets for alternative fuels and the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure. It also requires the rollout of alternative fuels infrastructure along the core network of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) and its urban nodes - with milestones for 2020, 2025 and 2030 for different alternative fuels infrastructure for roads and ports. The Directive sets common technical specifications for recharging and refuelling stations to ensure interoperability and adequate consumer information. In parallel, financial instruments have been established to support the uptake of alternatively fuelled vehicles/vessels and their infrastructure, most notably through the Connection Europe Facility.

155.The Commission also adopted an action plan on alternative fuels infrastructure 95 to support the implementation of the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive and mobilised considerable investment of public and private market actors through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), the CEF blending facility and the CEF debt instrument. Since 2014, more than EUR 6.8 billion of investments were thereby supported for alternative fuels infrastructure and mobile assets, the vast majority being for infrastructure. In particular the Blending Call for proposals launched in 2017/2018 aimed at combining grants with bank lending. Moreover, considerable investment has been made in research and development to support progress with technological and non-technological innovation. In this context, an important role is played by transport-related research and innovation partnerships. These are supported by and coordinated with European research and innovation on more sustainable alternative fuels.

156.In 2019 the co-legislators adopted the Clean Energy for All Europeans package that contained a number of legislative acts supporting the uptake of alternative fuels, including renewable and low-carbon fuels. The revised renewables energy directive (RED II) sets a 14% target for 2030 for the use of renewable transport fuels. The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) requires the installation of charging points or related pre-cabling in all new office and apartment buildings and in those going through major renovations. Finally, the electricity directive 96 requires Member States to provide a framework to facilitate the connection of recharging points to the distribution network and Distribution System Operators to cooperate with the undertakings that own, develop, operate of manage recharging points for electric vehicles. It also supports the cost-efficient integration of electric vehicles into the electricity system by laying the basis for enabling smart charging and setting a framework for the development of bi-directional charging (car batteries feeding electricity into the grid).

157.As part of the Mobility Packages, emission reduction of GHG and air pollutants from road transport have been strengthened by the CO2 standards for new cars, vans and heavy goods vehicles, by the Clean Vehicles Directive 97 which relies on public procurement rules; and by the deployment of recharging infrastructure for electric vehicles and refuelling stations for fuel-cell vehicles and multimodal travel information services supported by digital tools and data sharing.

158.In 2019, legislation was adopted with stricter CO2 emission performance standards for cars as well as for light and heavy duty vehicles from 2025 and 2030.

159.The weights and dimensions directive 98 was revised in 2015 and provides for derogations on the maximal lengths to make heavy goods vehicles greener by improving their aerodynamic performance. Derogations on weights are also allowed for vehicles powered by alternative fuels. The directive was modified again in 2019 to allow manufacturers to commercialise such vehicles already from September 2020. This package was completed by implementing rules on the vehicle approval legislation.

160.The revision of the Eurovignette Directive proposed by the Commission in 2017 aims at further implementing the “user and polluter pay” principles, by providing that all road charging schemes applied to heavy duty vehicles reflect the level of CO2 emissions. These revised rules should serve as an incentive for users to invest in less polluting vehicles.

161.In the past decade, the EU has adopted a number of essential policy instruments to address the environmental footprint of aviation. These instruments, are grouped in a so-called “basket of measures”, namely market-based measures such as emissions trading, research and development for greener aircraft design and technology (CO2 standards, Clean Sky), more efficient air traffic management operations (Single European Sky and SESAR), and the use of sustainable aviation fuels.

162.CO2 emissions from aviation in the EU have been included in the EU emissions trading system (EU ETS) since 2012. Under the EU ETS, all airlines operating in Europe, European and non-European alike, are required to monitor, report and verify their emissions, and to surrender allowances against those emissions. Aircraft operators receive tradeable allowances covering on average, almost half of emissions from their flights. It is estimated that between 2013 and 2019, a net saving of more than 160 Mt CO2 has been achieved through the inclusion of aviation in the EU ETS. The auctioning of allowances to the aviation sector has moreover generated revenues which have been used in part for climate- and energy-related purposes including the Innovation Fund for demonstration of innovative low-carbon technologies. The EU ETS also contains incentives to promote the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF). For the time being, the scope is limited to intra-EEA flights, with a “stop-the-clock” provision, as regards outbound to and incoming flights from non-EEA countries, in the EU ETS Directive which is valid until the end of 2023. This provision was intended to provide momentum for a global market-based mechanism.

163.In 2016, the EU played a leading role in the adoption by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) of the first ever sectoral scheme regulating CO2, the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). All EU Member States will participate in the pilot-phase of the scheme, which will start in 2021, with the aim to offset growth in emissions beyond 2020 levels 99 , without prejudice to the upcoming revision of the EU ETS Directive as regards aviation. Depending on participation and quality of offsets used, at global level, the ICAO CORSIA scheme could mitigate up to 2.5 billion tonnes of CO2 and generate up to approximately USD 40 billion of climate financing by 2035. The Commission is assessing different policy options for a legislative proposal to implement further aspects of CORSIA in the EU, through amending the EU ETS Directive.

164.The EU has also adopted new standards for aircraft CO2 emissions, which entered into force in 2019 100 . These standards, which follow the global standards adopted by ICAO in 2017, provide additional requirements into the design process to focus on fuel efficiency. Also the adoption of new aircraft engine non-volatile Particulate Matter (nvPM) standards in ICAO was supported by the EU.

165.To develop the green and cutting-edge aircraft technology of the future, the EU relies on the Clean Sky Joint Undertaking. With a budget of EUR 4 billion and composed of over 600 entities from 27 countries, the Clean Sky 2 initiative (2014-2024) was designed to build on the Clean Sky 1, which aimed to develop technologies with reduced CO2, NOx and noise emissions.

166.The Single European Sky framework aims to make European skies more efficient, and can deliver important environmental benefits. The SESAR project, sponsored by the EU and the aeronautical industry, contributes to develop and deploy innovative ATM solutions with a potential to further reduce emissions. In 2013, the Commission proposed to complete the SES through amendments that could allow to decrease emissions up to 10%. However, with no progress on this proposal, the Commission presented an amended proposal on 22 September 2020 101 , which is expected to facilitate discussions between the co-legislators.

167.Recognising the need for long-term sustainability of aviation and the commitment to continue efforts to reduce aviation sector’s negative environmental impacts, the European associations collectively representing the entire European aviation called for an EU Pact for Sustainable Aviation. Through collaboration between all stakeholders in the aviation eco-system and policy-makers, the Pact is to contribute to the implementation of the European Green Deal, by reaching the objectives of significant CO2 emission reductions by 2030 and net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050 from all flights within and departing from the EU. The Pact will also consider the feasibility of making 2019 the peak year for CO2 emissions from European aviation while enabling the sector to continue delivering its social and economic benefits. 102  

168.Tackling maritime emissions is of key importance to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement as the share of shipping emissions in global anthropogenic emissions has increased from 2.8% in 2012 to 2.9% in 2018. In addition, international shipping emissions are expected to grow quickly without the implementation of appropriate policies at all levels. 

169.At EU level, following up on the 2011 EU White Paper on Transport, the Commission adopted a strategy on the decarbonisation of shipping in 2013, calling for a gradual approach in the EU, starting with an EU monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) scheme, which was implemented through Regulation (EU) 2015/757 on the monitoring, reporting and verification of CO2 emissions from maritime transport. In 2018, the revised Emission Trading System Directive (EU) 2018/410 calls for “action from the IMO or the Union to start from 2023, including preparatory work on adoption and implementation and due consideration being given by all stakeholders”. In 2019, the European Green Deal has outlined measures to be developed, including a proposal to extend European emissions trading to the maritime sector and legislative options to boost the production and uptake of sustainable alternative fuels for the different transport modes. In 2020, the Commission published its first annual report on the monitoring, reporting and verification of CO2 emissions from ships, which confirmed that maritime transport is a substantial CO2 emitter. In addition, the Climate Target Plan communication confirmed that, in accordance with its international commitment to economy-wide action under the Paris Agreement, the EU should include at least intra-EU maritime transport in the EU ETS.

170.At the international level, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) agreed in 2018 to a first quantitative target: to peak GHG emissions from international shipping as soon as possible and to reduce total annual GHG emissions by at least 50% by 2050 compared to 2008 (to be reviewed in 2023), while pursuing efforts to achieve full decarbonisation as soon as possible in this century and following a pathway of CO2 emissions reduction consistent with the Paris Agreement temperature goals. It also sets the target to reduce the carbon intensity of international shipping by at least 40% by 2030, pursuing efforts towards 70% by 2050, compared to 2008. The EU is closely involved in work to develop measures for reaching these objectives at IMO level as shipping remains a fundamentally global business.

171.Previously, the IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) adopted in 2011 a package of technical measures for new ships and operational reduction measures for all ships. This package was composed of two main measures: the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI), which requires new ships to comply with minimum mandatory energy efficiency performance levels, increasing over time through different phases; and the Ship Energy Efficiency Plan (SEEMP), which establishes a mechanism for shipowners to improve the energy efficiency of both new and existing ships using operational measures such as weather routing, trim and draught optimization, speed optimization, just-in-time arrival in ports, etc. The regulations entered into force on 1 January 2013 and apply to all ships of 400 gross tonnage and above, irrespective of flag and ownership. These measures are the first ever mandatory global GHG reduction regime for an entire industry sector 103 .

172.As regards air quality, in 2016 the IMO confirmed the entry into force of the stricter 0.5% global sulphur limit (down from 3.5%) in marine fuels from 1 January 2020. EU action was decisive in securing this decision. This framework is anticipated in the EU Sulphur Directive of 2012, which also contains tighter limits in the emission control areas established in the Baltic, North Sea and English Channel. The fuel standards successfully reduced sulphur oxides in these protected areas established by the IMO, and are instrumental in further reducing emission pollutants across all EU waters as of January 2020. Similar low emission areas are currently envisaged by the Mediterranean Countries under the Barcelona Convention. The Commission will continue to engage with Mediterranean coastal states 104 to push for the creation of new Emission Control Areas to protect the health of coastal citizens, their environment as well as sea-related economic activities from NOx and other air shipping emissions.

173. Regulation 2016/1628 105 on non-road mobile machinery was adopted in 2016 under which new engines for inland waterway vessels have to meet stricter pollutant emission limits from 2019 for engines smaller than 300 KW, and 2020 for engine bigger than 300 KW, respectively.

Since 2017, the Commission (DG REFORM) manages the Structural Reform Support Programme (SRSP) for technical support projects in EU Member States, with a budget of EUR 222.8 million until 2020. Under the SRSP, Member States can request support to implement reforms in a wide range of areas, including for building sustainable and competitive economies. In the area of sustainable and smart mobility, Member States have received technical support, among others, for preparing regulations on sustainable mobility; performing gap analyses of a national policy frameworks for alternative fuel infrastructure in transport; improving inland navigations and traffic conditions in a major port area; and supporting new transport and mobility masterplans. The Commission has proposed a new Technical Support Instrument as part of the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework so as to continue provide its support to improve Member States’ administrative capacity to design, develop and implement reforms, including in the area of sustainable and smart mobility.

In 2018, the Commission also issued a Communication on the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality 106 . It noted that “it is essential that the 41 national Parliament chambers, 74 regional legislative assemblies, the 280 regions and the 80 000 local authorities, who are at the forefront of implementing EU laws, are more fully engaged in the policy process. Active subsidiarity and a new way of working with these entities will help deliver policies that work while strengthening the understanding and ownership of what the Union does.”

174.As explained in section 2.3.3, digitalisation in transport can bring huge improvements in efficiency, safety and sustainability. This includes a better organisation and integration of transport modes towards efficient multimodal door-to-door transport and by progressively introducing new technology, which has the potential to reduce safety risks caused by human error in the longer term.

175.Research and innovation programmes (especially Horizon 2020 107 and the European Regional Development Fund) have been essential to test and validate new technologies and solutions and prepare them for market deployment.

176.The EU has developed legislative and non-legislative digitalisation initiatives in all transport modes, such as the Intelligent Transport Systems Directive, the Electronic Freight Transport Information Regulation and a new Regulation on a European Maritime Single Window environment. The Commission has also established a dedicated expert group, the Digital Transport and Logistics Forum (DTLF), where public and private stakeholders work together to support digitalisation in freight transport and logistics; as well as the High level Steering Group for the Governance of the of the Digital Maritime System and Services.

177.Similarly, a key element towards making maritime transport smarter is the implementation of the EU Vessel Traffic Monitoring and Information System (VTMIS) – the EU-wide interoperable and safe system that provides the digital maritime picture for enhanced traffic and transport at sea. The main objective of the VTMIS Directive 108 is to: “establish in the [Union] Community a vessel traffic monitoring and information system with a view to enhancing the safety and efficiency of maritime traffic, improving the response of authorities to incidents, accidents or potentially dangerous situations at sea, including search and rescue operations, and contributing to a better prevention and detection of pollution by ships.”

178.Better sharing of data between transport operators can be ensured by horizontal initiatives or transport-specific ones, for example the Delegated Regulation on EU-wide multi-modal travel information services 109 and the Implementing Regulation requiring freight rail undertakings to provide dynamic data to multimodal terminals 110 .

179.In this regard, the European Strategy for Data 111 aims at creating a single market for data that will ensure Europe’s global competitiveness and data autonomy, where data can flow within the EU and across sectors, for the benefit of all. In particular, it highlights the need for cross-sectoral actions towards a European data space through the development of sectoral data spaces in strategic areas such as manufacturing, agriculture, health, and mobility. In the field of mobility, such data spaces will facilitate access, pooling and sharing of data from existing and future transport and mobility databases.

180.Based on the Commission's Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) action plan of 2008, a dedicated legal framework was established with the entry into force of the ITS Directive 112  in 2010. This framework supports the harmonised deployment in the EU of ITS solutions in road transport. It provides in particular for EU wide specifications in different domains, such as multimodal travel, real-time traffic and safety-related information services 113 . It supports both the deployment of services, in particular through the financial support from the CEF programme 114 , and the organisation of the access to transport data through the creation of National (data) Access Points 115 .

181.Also in the remit of the ITS Directive, the interoperable EU-wide eCall system, which automatically dials Europe's single emergency number 112 in the event of a serious road crash and communicates the vehicle's location to the emergency services, benefitted from the development of a specific legal framework 116 (see also the section on Safety). 117

182.In 2016, the Commission presented a European strategy for the coordinated deployment of cooperative intelligent transport systems (C-ITS) 118 to avoid a fragmented Single Market for cooperative transport. The strategy emphasises the need for interoperability, established a list of mature Day 1 services and the need to adopt a hybrid approach to communication technologies. It also addresses other critical issues, including cyber-security and data protection. More recently, the "Europe on the Move" Communication in 2018 highlighted the role of C-ITS in enabling cooperative and in the future connected and automated mobility.

183.In line with the C-ITS Strategy, 14 Member States plus several associated countries have started the large-scale deployment of interoperable C-ITS services through the C-ROADS platform, a Member State driven harmonisation platform supported through the Connecting Europe Facility. Since 2019, C-ITS based on ITS-G5 has also been introduced at large scale in series-produced vehicles, enabling safety critical information services increasing the road safety for every equipped vehicle.

184.With the Communication “On the road to automated mobility: An EU strategy for mobility of the future” 119 , the Commission proposed in May 2018 a comprehensive EU approach towards connected and automated mobility setting out a clear, forward looking and ambitious European agenda. This agenda provides a common vision and identifies supporting actions for developing and deploying key technologies, services and infrastructure. In June 2019, the European Commission has created a single EU wide platform grouping all relevant public and private stakeholders to coordinate open road testing of connected and automated mobility and making the link with pre-deployment activities. In addition, the European Commission has proposed to establish a European Partnership under Horizon Europe to give a clear long-term framework to the strategic planning of research and pre-deployment programmes on connected, cooperative and automated mobility at EU and national levels.

185.In support of the introduction and deployment of connected and automated mobility), both the Gigabit Society Communication and the 5G Action Plan (2016) 120 established the goal of having uninterrupted 5G coverage in European major terrestrial transport paths by 2025. Consequently, some Member States set relevant cross-border corridors, in which new 5G based mobility services are being tested in order to leverage their full potential.

186.In this regard, the recently published 5G Strategic Deployment Agenda presents a common vision for investing in 5G-ecosystems in the field of Connected and Automated Mobility and identifies the key drivers for accelerating infrastructure roll-out. It will serve as a basis for the upcoming privately as well as publicly supported deployment projects in this field with a particular focus on the upcoming Connecting Europe Facility 2 Digital programme. It complements existing deployment and provides an alternative for allowing connected vehicles to access mission-critical information in real time, which will significantly contribute to road safety, to a lower carbon footprint, and to a broad range of digital services for drivers and passengers.

187.This agenda is complemented by the 5G Strategic Deployment Agenda for Rail, looking at synergies between the dedicated rail radio network and Mobile Network Operators (public networks), and to maximise the connectivity for Rail users. In parallel, the upgrade of the Rail Radio System for safety-critical functions to 5G (FRMCS) is developed in terms of standardisation and will be supported by Connecting Europe Facility 2 Transport Programme, potentially by Connecting Europe Facility 2 Digital and Synergic projects, as well as by the Cohesion Policy.

188.The Artificial Intelligence White Paper of 2020 deals with technological, ethical, legal and socio-economic aspects to boost the EU's research and industrial capacity and to put artificial intelligence (AI) at the service of European citizens and economy. AI has become an area of strategic importance and a key driver of economic development. It can bring solutions to many societal challenges, especially those affecting the environment and sustainability. It also offers a large potential for accessibility, provided that data and algorithms are inclusive of persons with disabilities. Mobility applications, such as autonomous driving, are identified as one key sector in which focus is needed.

189.The Commission adopted its strategy on Automated and connected mobility as part of the third mobility package in May 2018 together with a legislative proposal on the approval of automated/connected vehicles. Regulation (EU) 2144/2019 121 , was subsequently adopted by the legislator and will provide the EU industry with a strong internal market to be able to compete globally.

190.A key element of making rail transport smart is the implementation of the European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS) – the interoperable and safe EU Signalling system that replaces 21 national systems. ERTMS is now a global standard for train control and communication. Its development has provided excellent opportunities for developing high value business and expertise within Europe and for export around the world. And it is being deployed in almost 50 countries around the world, with over 21,000 km deployed.

191.For inland navigation 122 , significant steps have been taken to support the deployment of harmonised River Information Services (RIS) in order to enable seamless transport and traffic management on the European inland waterways. The evolution of RIS needs to take into consideration new requirements stemming from the digital transformation happening in the sector (e.g. digital ship operator platforms, port information systems, synchromodality, corridor management, Smart Shipping and Inland Waterways Autonomous Ships), including potential adaptions and extensions of the legal framework on RIS. The legislative framework on the River Information Services 123 is currently being evaluated.

192.In order to facilitate the collection, exchange and maintenance of reference data that forms the basis for many technical and operational services of RIS, the Commission introduced the European Reference Data Management System (ERDMS) and took over its operation. To improve the functioning of the ERDMS and its compliance with evolving technical specifications and regulations, the Commission is working on improvement of the system and its service levels to ensure its fitness for the digital transformation in inland waterway transport.

193.The Directive (EU) 2017/2397 on the recognition of personal qualifications in inland navigation requires Members States to keep electronic registers of such qualifications, and the EC to set up an IT platform (the so called ECDB 124 ) for exchanging information on crew certificates. This platform should be operational by January 2022.

194.The Commission services are preparing a support study on a smart tachograph for IWT. The general objective of the initiative is to contribute to a smooth and fairer functioning of the IWT market, through the use of digital technologies, so that this low carbon sector can play its role as a competitive actor in the logistic chain. More specifically, the initiative aims at: 1) minimising the administrative burden; 2) improving enforcement; 3) increasing the uptake and acceptance of electronic documents/solutions167. In order to facilitate collection and exchange of data on inland waterway vessels the Commission introduced the European Hull database (EHDB). To improve the functioning of the EHDB and to ensure security of vessels’ data the Commission is working on improvement of the system.

195.The 2017 Digital Inland Waterway Area (DINA) study 125 identified three key challenges that hamper the IWT sector’s competitiveness: inefficient navigation and traffic management, inefficient integration of IWT in logistics processes and high administrative burden for complying with legislation. In order to tackle these challenges and recognising that ‘digitalisation helps reduce the administrative burden and simplify procedure for authorities and businesses’, the 2018 DINA Staff Working Document 126 initiated an examination of synergies with other transport modes, which resulted the so called Digital Synergy Study 127 .

196.The final report of the Digital Synergy Study was published 128 in July 2020. The study aimed at identifying informatics solutions and/or legislative frameworks with digital aspect in other transport modes to assess their potential re-use in the IWT sector. The study outcomes can be used by different actors in the IWT sector as a useful source of information and potential guidance for current project activities or the development of new initiatives ranging from pilot projects to cross border systems. Digitalisation can act as accelerator to achieve the overall ambition to improve IWT sector’s competitiveness and integration with other modes.

197.To support the digital transformation process in strategic transport sectors, dedicated research and innovation partnerships have already been established for rail (the Shift2Rail joint undertaking) and air traffic management (the SESAR Joint Undertaking). These partnerships reflect requirements across the European network, and also allow close alignment with regulatory bodies, aiding early adoption of successful projects.

198.In the last ten years, the Commission has taken several initiatives to further foster the development of the Single European Transport Area. Progress towards this goal has been made for all transport modes, for instance with the Fourth Railway Package, the Blue Belt initiatives and efforts to build a Union information system for maritime transport, the EU Aviation Strategy, urban mobility package and the NAIADES Programme for inland waterways.

199.The successive railway packages have now created the conditions for a genuine Single European Rail Area with open markets and technical interoperability, to ensure that trains are able to operate with ease across national borders, and the same rolling stock be used all across Europe but full implementation is still required to reap the benefits..

200.Whilst the rail freight and international passenger services markets have been open for competition for some time, rail domestic passenger markets are only being opened by the Fourth Railway Package, which is currently being implemented: European railway undertakings are allowed to offer rail services in any Member State since 3 December 2019, subject to specific safeguards and transitional provisions. Where services are economically not viable, the public service contracts through which they are funded will have to be tendered from 2023 onwards at the latest. Experience from countries where such contracts are already tendered shows that this leads to an improved offer and lower costs to the authorities. Joint enforcement of sectorial and competition rules has been stepped up, but those efforts are still much needed to ensure an effective market opening and to remove the remaining market access barriers such as ticketing and access to rolling stock will require attention, among several other issues. Rail market issues are discussed in more detail in section 4 below.

201.EU legislation as now implemented via the Technical Pillar of the Fourth Railway Package provides a harmonised set of technical standards for the European Railway network, and provides EU wide single vehicle authorisation and safety certification for railway undertakings based on EU specifications and standards, which the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) issues for the Single European Rail Area since June 2019 129 . The Commission and ERA, together with Member States, are identifying and eliminating national rules made redundant by this new regime. Collectively, these measures will promote cross-border services, enhance interoperability and permit the development of rolling stock and other rail equipment standardised at EU level.

202.The EU has established 11 rail freight corridors, to enhance coordination between infrastructure managers on issues linked to capacity allocation and management. Regulation (EU) 913/2010 130 on the rail freight corridors is currently under review.

203.In the road transport sector, the market for international (intra-EU) freight and passenger services has been entirely opened to competition, but domestic transport remains largely protected. On the freight side, "cabotage", i.e. domestic transport performed by foreign hauliers, is subject to the EU rules which were revised under the first Mobility Package (adopted in July 2020), together with social rules for road transport sector. One of the objectives of the revision was to improve the working conditions of drivers, by clarifying the driving and rest time rules, by establishing specific rules for posting of road transport workers and by improving enforcement of those rules with the aid of smart tachograph and other digital systems (e.g. IMI – Internal Market Information system). The other objective was to eliminate distortions of competition on the internal road transport market by clarifying the existing rules on the access to the haulage market and to the profession of road transport operator and strengthening their enforcement. Limitations to cabotage operations are part of the newly adopted rules.

204.Since the early 1990s the aviation market has been gradually liberalised. The creation of the aviation single market has produced significant socio-economic benefits for passengers, businesses and regions. Air traffic has more than doubled since 1990 and in 2018 more than a billion passengers travelled through some 500 European airports. More than 3,500 intra-EU routes provided access to both large cities as well as peripheral regions. The fostering of competition in the market 131 has contributed to making air travel affordable, to creating jobs and to stimulate business.

205.While the Single Market for aviation has been a success, there remain challenges and room for improvement in some areas of its functioning, in addition to the need to make aviation more sustainable. In particular, the Single European Sky remains incomplete. The current fragmentation of the airspace leads to inefficiencies, additional fuel burn and extra costs for the whole aviation value chain.

206.In 2015, the Commission adopted the EU Aviation Strategy 132 which pursued three key priorities:

·Maintaining high EU safety and security standards, by shifting to a risk and performance based mind-set. Creating high quality jobs and maintaining a strong social agenda.

207.The Single Market for aviation has delivered key achievements for European citizens, regions and businesses. The over 1.1 billion passengers – an average yearly growth of 6.9% between 2015 and 2018 – that travelled through European airports in 2018 meant that the global share of EU traffic in terms of passengers carried has remained stable at around 26% 133 . Since 2015 close to 700 new routes (city to city) have been opened within EU, representing an increase of 15% 134 and contributing to increasing connectivity. Over the same period, nearly 200 additional routes (+30%) 135 have seen a third airline as an operator, contributing to increase in competition and affordability within EU.

208.In the area of waterborne transport the Commission, in the policy framework of the 2011 White Paper, has taken initiatives to consolidate the internal market for sea shipping services and better connect EU ports to create an EU maritime transport space without barriers. In this context measures were adopted to improve maritime surveillance capabilities for safe and efficient maritime transport and traffic, to simplify procedures for regular shipping services and reporting formalities during port calls, review restrictions of port services and improve transparency of ports’ financing.

209.As regards international multimodal transport, the range of legal instruments shippers and transport operators have to consider for each transport operation, is very broad. This includes the rules applicable to vehicles (technical, safety and environmental norms and standards), workers (e.g. professional qualifications, working time), services (access to market) and goods (e.g. customs, rules applicable to dangerous goods). Each operation is accompanied by a large amount of information, which in vast majority of cases still involves paper documents at one stage or another. Technical systems for the electronic exchange of transport information vary between and within countries and transport modes. Some of these problems will be tackled by the implementation of the eFTI Regulation 136 which establishes the conditions under which certain information relevant under the acquis for intra-EU movements of freight is accepted by the authorities in electronic form and which provides for common rules for processing the data for intra-EU cargo movements.

210.Passengers in the EU are protected by a full set of passenger rights, whether they travel by air, rail, ship, bus and coach. This framework provides a minimum level of protection for people using transport services, including the most vulnerable, i.e. persons with disabilities and reduced mobility. It recognises that passengers, as the weaker party to the transport service contract, need to be treated fairly when the service has not been provided as expected.

211.As a consequence, the framework addresses the three steps of the journey (prior, during and after the journey) to facilitate mobility and social inclusion. It contributes to reducing the negative impact of travel disruptions on users of collective transport modes and to improving service quality for passengers. This also contributes to the creation of a level playing field for transport operators within and across modes in the EU and a European standard of passenger protection, which is essential in the context of the single market. Today passenger rights apply to a growing market of over 400 million citizens performing several billions of journeys every year for private or business purpose. In this context, passenger protection has become a cornerstone of EU transport policy 137 , building on international conventions and the general consumer protection framework of the Union.

212.Attention is being paid to accessibility of transport service information for persons with disabilities in the European Accessibility Act, 138 complementing existing passenger rights legislation which covers also the assistance to be provided to passengers with disabilities and reduced mobility when travelling by air, rail, waterborne or bus and coach transport. Accessibility is a key component of social sustainability and inclusiveness, contributing to usability and durability.

213.In its Communication ‘A stronger and renewed strategic partnership with the EU's outermost regions’ 139 , the Commission committed itself to reducing the outermost regions' "accessibility gap" caused by remoteness from continental Europe, insularity (in most cases) and difficult topography and to testing low-carbon transport and energy efficient solutions.

Infrastructure developments

214.To develop the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T Network), the EU adopted a Regulation in 2013 140 providing Union guidelines for transport investment. The Regulation establishes a legally binding obligation to develop the so-called "core" and "comprehensive" TEN-T Networks. The TEN-T covers all transport modes and connections between them (ports, airports and other transport terminals), they set standards and requirements to be met along the whole network, and they include smart and innovative components to facilitate efficient infrastructure use and high-quality services.

215.The core network is strategically the most important part of the TEN-T and must be completed by 2030. The core network has been designed to connect the main urban areas of the EU with the different transport modes and to ensure multimodal connections to the most important ports. It includes about 67,000 km of railway lines, 50,000 km of roads and 15,700 km of inland waterways. Motorways of the Sea are the maritime dimension of the network. At this stage, about 8,500 km of railway lines, 1,600 km of roads and some major inland waterway projects remain to be newly constructed or substantially upgraded until 2030. The TEN-T network serves also as basis for the deployment of alternative fuel infrastructure and digital infrastructure.

216.Along the existing part of the TEN-T, efforts are still needed to fully comply with the standards set out in the Regulation. However, significant progress has already been made. Along the nine core network corridors, for example: 89% of the rail infrastructure is electrified. 85 % of the inland waterways infrastructure meets the requirements of a minimum draught of 2.5 m and of a minimum height of 5.25 m under bridges. 89% of the TEN-T ports on the core network corridors are connected to the railway network.

217.Projects of common interest, identified in accordance with the TEN-T Regulation, can be supported under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). The CEF Regulation 141 , adopted in 2013, allocated a seven-year budget (2014-2020) of EUR 23.3 billion for investment projects in the transport sector.

218.Cohesion policy provides substantial support to develop a multi-modal, door-to-door European transport system which addresses the needs of commercial actors and citizens for long-distance, cross-border transport, as well as for regional and local mobility. In the period 2014-2020 around EUR 70 billion have been programmed to support transport investments from Cohesion Fund and ERDF. Around EUR 33.4 billion for TEN-T have been programmed and around EUR 36.6 billion for other national, regional and local infrastructure. This support is delivered through over 200 national, regional, and Interreg programmes, tailored to the particular situation in the Member States and regions (in line with relevant national and regional transport plans). During the period 2014-2019, CEF Transport has awarded EUR 23.3 billion in grants to co-finance projects of common interest, out of which EUR 11.3 billion was transferred from the Cohesion Fund. These funds are dedicated to completing the TEN-T Network, building cross-border links to better integrate national networks and to foster digitalisation and improved performance of the existing network.

219.For road safety, the Commission adopted in 2010 Road Safety Policy Orientations 142 that set a target of halving the number of road fatalities by 50% by 2020 and that included a mix of initiatives, focusing on improving vehicle safety, the safety of infrastructure and road users' behaviour. Faced with stagnation in the reduction of EU-wide fatality figures in the second half of the last decade, the Commission received a strong mandate for a new road safety programme from the EU Transport Ministers in the “Valletta Declaration” of 2017 143 . The Commission in 2018 adopted the Road Safety Policy Framework 2021-2030 as part of the Third Mobility Package, along with a Strategic Action Plan on Road Safety, which set a new target for 2021-30 to reduce deaths and – for the first time – serious injuries by 50%. It also set out how the Safe System could be implemented at EU level – i.e., focusing holistically on the different elements, such as vehicle safety, infrastructure, road user behaviour such as speed, governance aspects and post-crash care, with Key Performance Indicators to benchmark progress. 144  

220.In terms of vehicle safety, safety technologies and type-approval requirements have been significantly upgraded for all vehicle categories in recent years. Lane departure warning and advanced emergency braking for lorries were required as from 2015 in the General Safety Regulation 145 and anti-lock braking systems are mandatory for motorcycles in the EU since 2016 146 , eCall for emergencies in cars and vans is required for new models since 2018 147 . In 2019, the General Safety Regulation was reviewed again 148 , requiring cars, lorries and buses to be fitted with a range of important new safety technologies such as Intelligent Speed Assistance, Lane Keeping Assistance and Automated Emergency Braking. A number of the most significant new safety systems will be mandatory from 2022 in new models and by 2024 for all new cars.

221.The Directive on Road Infrastructure Safety Management was also upgraded in 2019 149 . The Directive, which prescribes safety assessments at all stages of the lifecycle of a road (design, construction, operation), now applies not only to TEN-T roads, but also to all motorways as well as primary roads. The upgrade also introduced a network-wide pro-active risk assessment and the obligation to take the needs of vulnerable road users into account systematically in all safety assessments.

222.In addition, the legal framework for the training of professional drivers was upgraded in 2018 150 , a package of measures on roadworthiness testing was adopted in 2014 151 and rules on the cross-border pursuit of road traffic offences were introduced in 2011 (re-published in 2015) 152 .

223.Aviation safety has been a great success story, not least because fatal accidents for commercial air transport involving EU operators have fallen to zero since 2016 153 . Work in this area is influenced by the inherently international nature of the aviation industry and most standards adopted at global level are implemented into EU aviation safety legal framework. International cooperation is thus essential to ensure aviation safety and development of globally agreed standards. The EU is actively engaged in strengthening aviation safety at the international level, notably through its work with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

224.The European aviation safety system is based on a comprehensive set of common safety rules, which are overseen by the European Commission, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the National Aviation Authorities. In the context of the 2015 Aviation Strategy, a new Aviation Safety Regulation 154 replacing Regulation 216/2008, has been elaborated and adopted. The aim is to prepare the EU aviation safety system for the challenges of the future, including a new era of innovation and digital technologies. It consists of a shift towards a risk and performance-based approach, measures to increase efficiency of the system and promotion of cooperative safety management between the EU and its Member States. Furthermore, the 2015 Aviation Strategy recommended the adoption of a basic legal framework for the safe development of drone operations in the EU, as part of the new Aviation Safety Regulation. The new Aviation Safety Regulation extended the EU safety rules to all drones and the recently adopted Implementing Rules 155 covering drone technical requirements and drone operations should help opening the EU drone services and foster the development of the manufacturing market.

225.As part of the 2015 Aviation Strategy, the Commission also presented a revised European Aviation Safety Programme, laying out, through an integrated set of regulations, processes and activities at Union level how aviation safety is managed in the EU, and thus providing Member States a reference for the elaboration of their own State Safety Programmes in the context of the ICAO.

226.The set of common safety rules is complemented with legislation on accident investigation and on the reporting, analysis and follow-up of occurrences in civil aviation which have been revised respectively in 2010 156 and 2014 157 .

227.Finally, the EU has concluded over the past years bilateral aviation safety agreements with the United States of America, Canada, Brazil, China and Japan and the Commission is undertaking technical cooperation projects with third countries in the area of safety.

228.The legislative framework for maritime safety was thoroughly assessed by way of the 2018 Maritime Transport Fitness Check. The maritime safety situation today is one characterised by a limited amount of accidents and very few fatalities. Whilst it remains hard to pinpoint ultimate safety outcomes to individual legislative acts, it was concluded that overall EU maritime legislation has contributed to decisively improve the safety situation at sea. The added value of EU intervention is shown both by the swift adoption of international safety rules, as well as the harmonised enforcement and implementation of such rules across the EU Member States and for ships under an EU Member State flag.

229.The Directive (EU) 2016/1629 on technical standards for inland navigation vessels was adopted by the European Parliament and the Council in October 2016. This Directive strengthens the Internal Market ensuring technical harmonisation throughout the Union's inland waterways while providing flexibility for taking into account the particular features of each inland waterway section in the EU and to ensure safety of inland navigation vessels.

230.Rail safety in the EU is assured via stringent safety requirements for the technical specifications of rail vehicles and infrastructure as well as safety management tools for rail operators and infrastructure providers set out in the Railway Safety and Railway Interoperability Directives (2016/798 and 2016/797). These rules also require the various elements of the Union rail system to be supervised by national safety authorities, while authorisations to place rail vehicles on the market and to operate as a railway operator are, in most of the cases, given by the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA). The level of safety on EU railways is by far the highest for surface mobility (0.1 fatality per billion passenger km), though it can vary between Member States. The Commission and ERA work with Member States to maintain these high levels of safety and share best practice to increase safety levels where needed. Particular focus is put on the promotion of safety culture and will come through the roll-out of the new versions of the European railway signalling and train protection system. ERTMS ensures trains cannot over speed or pass red signals.

Security

231.There is currently no EU legislation addressing land transport security (apart for dangerous goods where there is some overlap of safety and security requirements). Though theft of cargo from road and rail is estimated to cost some EUR 8 billion per year, EU Transport Ministers, to date, have not called upon the Commission to bring forward any legislation for EU security requirements for either road or rail transport. The Commission has pursued efforts to implement an Action Plan to improve rail passenger security, notably via the establishment of the EU Rail Security Platform. The outcome of its work could potentially form the basis of a regulatory initiative.

233.Since 2002, the Commission has established common rules in the field of civil aviation security aimed at protecting persons and goods from unlawful interference with civil aircraft.

234.Regulation (EC) 300/2008 158 lays down common rules and basic standards on aviation security and procedures to monitor the implementation of the common rules and standards. Since then, it has been supplemented through implementing legislation as regards, among other, liquids, aerosols and gels, the use of security scanners, the adoption of alternative security measures, controls of air cargo internally as well as internationally and the specifications of national quality control programmes. The Commission has powers to carry-out inspections to verify compliance with the EU legislation.

235.In the maritime security domain, the Union benefits from a Regulation (EC) 725/2004 159 covering security measures on board ships and the immediate interface between ships and ports. Directive 2005/65/EC 160 addressing elements of port security not covered by the Regulation complemented it in 2005. The Commission was also given powers to conduct inspections.

236.The Council in 2014 adopted a Maritime Security Strategy for the global maritime domain to coordinate national policies and give a European response to maritime threats and risks, cooperation within the EU and international bodies, such as the International Maritime Organisation is progressing only slowly.

237.Various initiatives are on-going to tackle cyber security and the EU established a dedicated agency – the EU Agency for Network and Information Security – for this purpose. The Directive on Security of Network and Information Systems (NIS Directive) constitutes a common baseline to enhance cyber-resilience, also in transport.

238.The legislator also adopted Regulation (EU) 2144/2019 161 which provides for the Commission to adopt type approval rules on cars regarding their protection about cyberattacks. These implementing rules are under development and are intended to be applicable from July 2022.

239.In 2018, the transport and storage services sector (including postal and courier activities) in the EU-27 employed around 10.3 million persons 162 , some 5.3 % of the total workforce 163 . Around 52% of them worked in land transport (road, rail and pipelines), 3 % in water transport (sea and inland waterways), 4 % in air transport and 27 % in warehousing and supporting and transport activities (such as cargo handling, storage and warehousing) and the remaining 14 % in postal and courier activities.

240.A third of transport workers are above 50 years old 164 . Only 22% of transport workers are women (most of which work in administrative positions). Less than 5% work as pilots, seafarers and truck or train drivers. While the labour markets per transport mode may be separate, they may nevertheless have similar characteristics 165 : male-dominated, ageing, in need of highly mobile skilled workers, labour shortages, fatigue and stress, work-life balance, skills mismatch, global competition, law application and enforcement.

241.A well-functioning Single Market needs to be based on fair working conditions ensuring a level playing field. Every EU worker has certain minimum rights relating to health and safety at work, equal opportunities for women and men, protection against discrimination, labour law. The EU Member States must make sure that their national laws protect these rights, in particular those laid down by EU law.

242.Many transport companies operate across borders. As outlined in the recent Commission Communication on ‘A strong social Europe for just transitions 166 , EU rules need to be fit for purpose to guarantee that this happens in a fair and transparent way and ensure fair competition among businesses, protect workers’ rights, and avoid double contributions and social dumping. To this end in the EU adopted the set of social rules in road transport, including sector-specific rules on posting of highly mobile road transport workers. The newly created European Labour Authority (ELA) will be a key tool to facilitate the application and enforcement of EU rules in this area, improving the functioning of the Single Market. It will provide to individuals and employers information on working or operating in another EU country, and support cooperation between national authorities, including on strengthening inspections, tackling undeclared work and fighting fraud.

243.The transport sector often suffer from a negative image in terms of working conditions, which may discourage in particular young people and women to look for transport jobs. In a sector that has been largely liberalised and where the mobility of workers is high, social protection and labour law rules remain primarily a responsibility of the Member States. This can lead to a different implementation and different levels of enforcement across the Member States. This brings challenges in particular a lack of clarity on applicable social rules for some workers and a low level of enforcement and the risk of unfair employment practices. Social dialogue and the involvement of workers is one of the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights 167 . At European level, employers’ and workers’ organisations (the social partners) regularly meet within sectoral social dialogue committees 168 established in the various segments of the transport sector: civil aviation, inland waterways, maritime transport, ports, railways, road transport, including urban public transport. The Commission supports these committees, which are intended as representative bodies for consultation, joint initiatives and negotiation and were established with due regard for the autonomy of the social partners. The Commission has regular exchanges with the European social partners in the transport sector.

244.There is a risk of skills mismatch for certain transport workers and the need to keep pace with changing skill requirements. Changes in skills requirements are most visible in sectors that are strongly influenced by the green transition, notably in transport. The “European Skills Agenda for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience” is the EU’s response to these challenges, in transport and in other sectors. A flagship action of the Skills Agenda is the “Pact for Skills”, which will bring together stakeholders, private and public, and will, among others, set up large-scale partnerships, including at regional level, in strategic industrial ecosystems and priority areas identified in the European Green Deal. These partnerships can build on the “Blueprint for sectoral cooperation on skills” 169 for gathering sectoral skills intelligence, mapping key occupation needs, defining occupational profiles and developing training programmes. Three Blueprint Alliances are relevant to sustainable transport: one for automotive 170 , one for maritime shipping 171 and one for rail supply and transport industries. To be able to comply with EU accessibility legislation and provide better service for persons with disabilities and those with reduced mobility, training to enhance skills on these areas is needed.

245.Another flagship action of the Skills Agenda is the Commission Proposal for a Council Recommendation on VET for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience 172 . It proposes that by 2025, 8% of learners in vocational education and training benefit from a learning mobility abroad. Learning and working placements abroad teach young people not only job-specific technical but also soft skills, such as adaptability, resilience, intercultural or language skills - skills that are very sought after, and not only in the transport sector.

246.Digitalisation and automation are already affecting employment in certain sectors, including transport. The Commission is looking how to address associated social impacts, through cooperation with interested parties, including social partners, and by supporting research in the field. The 2017 Digital Transport Days addressed the social impact of digitalisation and automation and concluded that the social dimension should be at the heart of the transition (technical standards are not enough). A Commission conference in 2018 confirmed that stakeholders expect public authorities to be active in accompanying the transition. This was also addressed during the 2019 Digital Transport Days in a dedicated session on ‘Managing the transition towards digitalisation and automation – social aspects’.

Women in transport

247.With the setting-up of the ‘Women in Transport – EU Platform for change’ 173 in 2017, first steps were taken to address the sector’s gender gap and lack of attractiveness. Meanwhile, all important EU associations covering all transport modes, including social partners, have joined this action-oriented platform that aims at increasing the number of women employed in the sector by putting forward and exchanging good practices. Until now companies have brought 18 different actions to the platform. Another tool is the Declaration on equal opportunities for women and men in the transport sector. In 2019 the Commission published 174 a list of measures that companies can take to improve their gender balance (based on real case studies) and powerful messages on what a gender policy can bring about for companies. In rail for example, social partners are negotiating an agreement to promote the employment of women in the railway sector.

Persons with disabilities 175 and reduced mobility

248.The EU and all Member States are parties to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. According to the Convention, States parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure access to persons with disabilities, on an equal basis with others to transportation. These measures include the identification and elimination of obstacles and barriers to accessibility inter alia in buildings, road and transportation. Appropriate measures to be adopted also concern services open or provided to the public. Moreover States parties are to take appropriate measures inter alia to develop, promulgate and monitor the implementation of minimum standards and guidelines for the accessibility, to ensure that private entities offering facilities and services which are open or provided to the public take into account all aspects of accessibility for persons with disabilities, to provide training for stakeholders and forms of live assistance and intermediaries and to promote other appropriate forms of assistance and support to persons with disabilities to ensure their access to information. State Parties shall take effective measures to ensure personal mobility with the greatest possible independence for persons with disabilities, including by facilitating the personal mobility of persons with disabilities in the manner and at the time of their choice, and at affordable cost.

249.Attention is being paid to accessibility of transport for persons with disabilities in the European Accessibility Act 176 , complementing existing passenger rights legislation. Accessibility is a key component of social sustainability contributing to usability and durability. The Technical Specifications for the accessibility of the railway system for persons with reduced mobility (PRM TSI) have been amended in 2019, to ensure inventories of assets, including a website providing practical information about the accessibility of railway stations.

250.The revision of the road transport social legislation adopted under the first Mobility Package provides urgent solutions to the current social and employment challenges in the sector. These include: revised rules on driving and rest times – to improve working conditions by giving more flexibility for drivers to organise their activities and by obliging employers to ensure adequate accommodation for drivers and enable them to return home at regular intervals; revised enforcement requirements, in particular for the rules on the tachograph which controls the driving and rest time of drivers - to improve the efficiency and consistency of enforcement practices; and the sector specific rules on the posting of drivers - to adapt the application of posting rules to the highly mobile nature of the road transport workforce and ensure more uniform and lighter administrative and control measures.

251.The Commission is engaged in dialogue with stakeholders to promote young people and especially young women, who can help replace an ageing workforce. With a budget of EUR 4 million, “Rail supply and transport industries” (including both manufacturers of trains and train equipment and provision of services) is one of the sectors included in the fourth wave of the Blueprint initiative, starting in 2021 177 .

252.Language requirements for train drivers were revised in 2016, to allow the exemption from the B1 level language requirement for train drivers if they only reach the border station of a neighbouring Member State, while ensuring that safety is not be negatively impacted. The sector is currently exploring options such as rail-specific communication terminology, or a lower general language level combined with alternative, electronic means to support effective communication without the stringent language requirements. The European legal framework for train driver licensing and training has been evaluated in 2019, modernisation to meet digital challenges and for creating a level playing field for new rail service operators seems necessary.

253.The Commission has been supporting the sectoral social dialogue committee on railways, which promotes the dialogue between the social partners in the sectors at European level. The committee has put the social impact of automation/digitalisation on its work programme, and carries out activities to anticipate and manage change. The Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking has contracted a study to identify what skills will be most important in the future for different categories of railway staff.

254.Maintaining and promoting high social standards was highlighted as a priority in the 2015 Aviation Strategy for Europe ensuring worker protection and a level playing field for airlines. The work done so far in this context lays the ground for any further action necessary to: improve legal certainty for mobile aircrew and airlines; support better enforcement of applicable social and employment law acquis for aircrew; develop and enhance competency-based training; pursue efforts to address social issues in aviation at the international level, including ICAO and the ILO, as well as including relevant provisions in comprehensive air transport agreements with partners worldwide; to establish, in coordination with stakeholders, a human dimension roadmap to accompany the digital transformation in air traffic management.

255.Since the 2000s the EU has also sought to include ambitious social and labour clauses in its aviation agreements with third countries. In some cases, the EU has secured the application of the EU social acquis of relevance to aviation, in particular among those neighbourhood countries with which aviation agreements are in force.

256.To support better enforcement of applicable social and employment law acquis for aircrew, a practice guide was published in 2016 on applicable labour law and competent courts, which is also relevant for the transport sector.

257.In the context of the evaluation of the Air Services Regulation, the Commission services assessed possible unintended social impacts of the legislation, notably on working conditions of aircrews.

258.In March 2019, the Commission published a Report focusing on aircrew which took stock of progress on the social agenda in aviation, also drawing on the findings of a study on aircrew’s employment and working conditions in today's EU aviation market. It outlined concrete actions for a stronger social agenda to be implemented in the short term. It concluded that better enforcement is key to improve the situation for aircrew. The Commission renewed its commitment to support Member States in this. An expert group with Member State experts both from the aviation and employment side of the administration was set up. The conclusions of the expert group will be taken into account when assessing possible options for future action at EU level. In February 2020, the European Platform Tackling Undeclared Work which promotes collaboration between competent authorities organised a seminar to tackle undeclared work in the air transport sector, with a special focus on bogus self-employment of aircrews 178 .

259.As regards ATM, in June 2017, the Commission adopted a Communication on Aviation: Open and Connected Europe accompanied by a Staff Working Document on practises favouring service continuity. An expert group with representatives of the ATM industry and social partners was set up to assess the impact of the Single European Sky in 2019 on staff working practices. A study was launched on the working conditions in the air traffic management sector, the issues air traffic controllers are facing and how things will evolve in the next 15 years or more.

260.The European associations collectively representing the entire European aviation recognised in their report the importance of the social dimension in the EU Pact for Sustainable Aviation. They called for ensuring that social and employment rights enshrined in European and national legislation are applied effectively for all workers and highlighted the particular importance of effective oversight and enforcement of the social acquis. Moreover they called on the industry to ensure secure and fair working conditions, and stressed the need to ensure that the social dialogue structures are used effectively. 179  

261.Working and living conditions for seafarers are regulated mainly at international level through the Maritime Labour Convention of ILO (which entered into force in 2013), and are further implemented at EU level through various Directives 180 . Directive 2008/106 181 on the minimum level of training of seafarers, as amended, incorporates into EU law the International Maritime Organisation’s Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) for Seafarers. The Directive applies to seafarers serving on board seagoing ships flying the flag of a Member State. Following a REFIT exercise, it was amended in 2019 in order to legally clarify the scope of seafarers’ certificates mutually recognized by EU Member States, and to raise the efficiency of the EU centralized mechanism to recognize third countries at EU level. Furthermore, Council Directive 1999/63/EC concerning the Agreement on the organisation of working time of seafarers sets out minimum standards for the working conditions of seafarers. In inland waterway transport, Directive 2014/112/EU was adopted to lay down more specific requirements relating to the organisation of the working time taking into account the specificities of this transport mode, in particular that certain categories of workers have not only their place of work but also their accommodation or living quarters on board the vessel 182 .

262.There are also a number of non-legislative initiatives and projects 183 to enhance the attractiveness of the seafarer profession and improve working and living conditions.

263.Directive (EU) 2017/2397, on the recognition of professional qualifications in inland navigation and repealing Council Directives 91/672/EEC and 96/50/EC, was adopted by the European Parliament and the Council. With this Directive, crew members can find work more easily in a cross-border environment as the EU certificates of qualification will be valid on all EU inland waterways. At the same time, the new rules will be built on a modern competence based system that will provide new career prospects and contribute to safety.

264.Within the sectoral social dialogue committee for inland waterways transport, social partners exchange views on issues relevant to the sector, such as the application of horizontal social legislation (e.g. working time and social security) in the IWT sector, as well as developments stemming from EU inland waterways legislation and policies, e.g. development of databases and digital tools for the implementation of legislation concerning professional qualifications.

265.The EU sectoral social dialogue committee in the port sector provides the social partners with a framework to develop a joint approach to the social challenges related to port labour relations, including working conditions, health and safety questions, digitalisation, training requirements and professional qualifications.

266.The Treaties entrust the Commission with the task of ensuring that EU law is properly applied. The Commission’s monitoring/infringement work takes place in the context of the major policy overhaul that was introduced by the 2016 Communication from the Commission on EU law: Better results through better application 184 , which underlines the need for a more strategic approach to enforcement actions.

267.Such enforcement is one of the means to assist Member States in their efforts to implement EU law, and to ensure that they live up to their responsibilities in correctly applying EU legislation. According to the Communication, moreover, the Commission will prioritise its enforcement efforts on the most important breaches of EU law affecting the interests of its citizens and business. The Communication also encourages good cooperation and communication between the Commission and the Member States as a method conducive to reaching compliance at an early stage, rather than having to resort to infringement procedures. The Communication further recalls that the work done to ensure the effective enforcement of existing Union law should be recognised as being of equivalent importance to the work devoted to developing new legislation.

268.The importance of the Commission’s work on monitoring the implementation of EU legislation in the field of mobility and transport was emphasised by President von der Leyen in her mission letter to the Commissioner Vălean, where the need to focus on the application and enforcement of EU law in the field of transport, and the need to take swift action if EU law is breached, were underlined as key objectives 185 . Co-operation with Member States is also encouraged by the President, in particular to support their efforts when implementing EU legislation.

269.The importance of the transport area translates both into the large number of relevant legislative and non-legislative acts (25% of the EU legislative corpus, including over 70 Directives and 200 Regulations) and the sensitivity of a number of transport issues (such as safety, security, technical standards, social rules and environmental protection).

270.The Commission’s commitment to and proactivity in monitoring the implementation of the transport acquis, often with the support of dedicated Safety Agencies, led over the last decade to its managing of an infringement portfolio of circa 1,800 cases accounting for the Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE). A large proportion of these cases arises from Member States’ failure to timely notify the Commission of their national implementing measures of Directives (1,000 cases). Complaints by citizens and businesses over the application of the transport acquis also play an increasingly significant role.

271.The Commission’s monitoring initiatives in the area cover notably the non-communication of national measures transposing Directives and non-conformity cases (i.e. cases of incorrect transposition of Directives), as well as the implementation of decisions from the Court of Justice but also address the need to pursue persistent failures in correctly applying EU law and breaches of the fundamental freedoms. In the area of transport, particular attention has been devoted to cases falling under EU policy priorities in this area, such as safety and security, digitalisation and decarbonisation, sustainable/intelligent transport, and the completion of the single market.

272.In recent years, the Commission monitored in particular the national implementing measures aimed at creating a single European rail area. This concerns aspects relevant to competition 186 in this field the regulatory oversight and financial architecture of the railway sector, the power of national regulators, the improved framework for investment in rail, and the fair and non-discriminatory access to rail infrastructure and rail-related services. The Commission has also been very active in monitoring safety rules in road transport (particularly regarding the training of drivers, roadworthiness inspections and safety requirements for tunnels), maritime transport issues (training of seafarers, accident investigations and marine equipment) and aviation (Single European Sky, airport charges, groundhandling and aviation safety technical requirements and administrative procedures).

273.To better monitor the compliance of transposition measures by Member States, the Commission has developed a number of tools to assist Member States transposing and implementing EU law correctly and on time, which include guidance documents, implementation plans, expert groups, explanatory documents, training, organising workshops and holding package meetings.

274.To facilitate the implementation of the transport acquis, the Commission has relied among others on the organisation of workshops in Member States, for instance, with representatives of national and regional competent authorities for the award of public service contracts. In these workshops ex ante interpretative guidance is provided of the relevant provisions of EU law applied to concrete practical questions, thus enhancing legal certainty and administrative capacity.

275.The Commission also organised transport infringement package meetings with Member States (20 meetings in the period 2017-2019) which allowed for dedicated discussions of infringements/EU Pilots and of general infringement policies. By establishing strong communication channels with the Member States, the Commission is able to engage in ex ante and ex post assessments of infringement procedures, to improve its knowledge of national administrations’ transposition and implementation constraints, thus contributing to the swift correction of shortcomings.

276.At the end of 2019, 1,564 infringement cases remained open at Commission level, of which 203 concerned mobility and transport. Of these infringement cases, 44 concerned the rail sector, 43 road safety, 24 road transport, and the remaining 92 concerned other policy areas (digitalisation, maritime, aviation, sustainable transport, passenger rights):

277.As far as the types of infringements handled by DG MOVE are concerned, between 2015-2019, in broad terms, two-thirds of the infringement cases in the field of transport were opened for non-communication of national implementing measures of Directives (while they account for more than 80% for the Commission as a whole). The remaining cases were opened as own-initiative cases for non-conformity or incorrect application. They are most often the result of a breach of legal obligations (such as absence of reporting, absence of connection to a network, etc.) rather than the operational conclusions arising from a comprehensive overview of the enforcement of the EU transport legislation within the Member States.

278.More than half of the infringement cases (297) handled between 2015 and 2019 by DG MOVE involve safety and security issues. The achievement of the single market and the development of new technologies (digitalisation and alternative fuels) are the other main targets of DG MOVE’s monitoring efforts.

279.The number of contacts established with Member States through the structured problem-solving dialogue tool known as EU Pilot decreased substantially over the 2015-2018 period. The EU Pilot tool was set up as a means to quickly resolve potential breaches of EU law at an early stage without resorting to an infringement procedure. However, in 2019-2020, DG MOVE restarted contacting Member States through EU Pilot, which has a proven record of flexibility and effectiveness.

280.Finally, DG MOVE receives and handles over one hundred complaints per year (2019: DG MOVE, 161; Commission: 3525) regarding legislation in the field of transport, mostly on incorrect implementation issues relating to passenger rights, public service obligations, recognition of driving licences, market and professional access, port services, and independence and powers of air regulatory bodies.

281.Of the 161 complaints received in 2019, 53 concerned road safety, 28 road transport, 22 passenger rights and 58 concerned other areas.

282.Transport currently accounts for almost a quarter of all EU GHG emissions (road transport alone is 20% of total) and it is also a major contributor to air pollution, a problem particularly acute in urban areas. Noise pollution remains a major health problem in Europe, with the transport sector being the main cause. Illegal discharges of oily waste, hazardous substances, sewage and garbage as well as underwater noise from ships harm and disturb the marine and river environment. Transport infrastructure also exerts pressure on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, in particular from habitats loss, degradation and fragmentation. In total, the external costs of transport related to GHG emissions (direct and indirect, from power generation and well-to-tank emissions), air and noise pollution, and habitat loss due to the transport infrastructure has been recently estimated to amount to about EUR 388 billion/year in the EU-27 187 .

283.Transport is the only economic sector whose GHG emissions are higher than in 1990 and have been growing again since 2013 despite the mitigation efforts already undertaken. On the one hand, this reflects the close link between economic activity and transport as well as the important role that mobility plays in the life of citizens: between 1995 and 2018, the number of tonne-kilometres and passenger-kilometres transported in the EU-27 has increased by more than 30 %.

GDP: at constant year 2005 prices and exchange rates    

284.On the other hand, it also shows that the sector remains overly dependent on oil due to insufficient progress in overcoming technological constraints, in developing and deploying cost-effective clean alternatives, as well as in switching to more sustainable transport modes. This is due to the combined effect of market failures, inadequate market signals, regulatory shortcomings and insufficient policy alignment at various governmental levels, in addition to weak international cooperation. Furthermore, transport is not a uniform industrial sector, but covers various modes operating under very different conditions, which in turn influences their decarbonisation potential.

285.Based on the analysis underlying the 2030 Climate Target Plan and in line with Communication on the European Green Deal, in order to reach the objective of a climate-neutral economy by 2050, a reduction of 90% in transport CO2 emissions must be achieved, relative to 1990 levels. This raises the ambition of the existing target of 60% (from 2011 White Paper) and requires significant efforts compared to developments under current trends and policies (i.e. projected to deliver around 18% emissions reductions by 2050 relative to 1990).

286.All transport modes need to become more sustainable as all are indispensable for our interconnected transport system (see below sections 4.1.1 and 4.1.2). In the meantime, as each mode is in the process of decarbonising, more sustainable alternatives need to be made available now (see below section 4.1.3 and 4.1.4), and there is a need to rethink the incentives for transport users to make more sustainable choices (see below section 4.1.5).

287.This will lead to a transport system in which people and businesses have the freedom to choose their preferred ways of moving or doing business, while making all transport modes cleaner in a technologically neutral manner, and providing the right mix of incentives to support sustainable choices.

Key externalities of transport 188

288.Transport is a key enabling service to the whole economy contributing to economic growth and to satisfy the mobility needs of people. Efficient and accessible transport services are crucial to ensure the connectivity of our societies, from remote areas such as the outermost regions to our largest cities. Yet, transport activities also produce negative externalities to the environment and to society. In the context of pressing environment and climate challenges, updated and comprehensive assessment of the external costs of transport activities are an important aspect to be taken into account by EU transport policy. According to the “Handbook on the External Costs of Transport”, commissioned by the Commission, the external environmental costs of transport (linked to GHG emissions, local air pollution, noise, energy production, habitat damage 189 ), together with the costs of congestion and crashes sum up in the EU-27 to almost EUR 900 billion annually 190 .

289.Road transport causes more than 80% of such external costs (approximately EUR 550 billion in passenger transport and EUR 170 billion for freight). These costs include road crash costs (almost EUR 250 billion), congestion costs (some EUR 230 billion) and environmental costs (almost EUR 250 billion).

290.Other modes cause smaller total external costs than road 191 192 , namely:

291.The high modal share of road is clearly an important reason for this, but road also shows the highest average external costs across modes (costs per passenger-kilometre and ton-kilometre). Looking at passenger transport, cars show the highest average 193 costs 194 . Buses and coaches, trains and aviation have similar magnitude of average external costs, three to four times less than cars. The lowest external costs are shown by rail: the average costs of aviation and buses and coaches is 10% higher than in rail.

292.As far as freight is concerned, lorries show the highest average costs, followed by inland waterways (roughly 50% less than lorries), rail (roughly two third less than lorries) and maritime (80% less than lorries).

293.The above includes all external costs of individual transport modes, i.e. environmental costs as well as crashes and congestion, with the exception of walking and cycling where data at EU level is not available.

294.It should be noted that road users, while producing the highest costs to the society, are also those who “pay back” the most, in terms of transport related taxes and charges 195 . Overall, road is the mode paying the highest share of its total costs, nearly 50%. However, there are good economic reasons to exclude fixed infrastructure costs from the cost coverage indicators, therefore charging only the marginal infrastructure costs. Excluding them leads to the rail sector showing the highest cost coverage of 80% (with high-speed rail paying even more than it costs to society).

Environmental costs

295.Looking at just the environmental costs 196 , cars and aviation are the passenger modes with the highest external costs. Rail and collective road transport (all buses and coaches) produce the smallest environmental external costs, both in total and per passenger kilometre, with the exception of active modes. Compared with cars and aviation, the level of environmental costs in euro per kilometre is about 30% lower for rail, and 50% lower for collective road transport 197 . On the freight side, lorries have the highest environmental footprint, closely followed by inland waterway transport. On average, rail environmental costs are almost half and maritime almost one third of those of lorries.

296.In 2018, the transport sector contributed 30.5% of the EU-27 final energy consumption 198 . 24.6% of GHG emissions (31.8% above the 1990 levels) in the EU stemmed from transport, excluding international maritime. Including international maritime, the share of GHG emissions was 27.2% in 2018.

297.The share of GHG emissions from transport (including international aviation and maritime) in EU-27 total GHG emissions has increased from 16.5 % in 1990 to 27.2% in 2018. The level of GHG emissions from road transport alone have increased by 26.8% between 1990 and 2018 and accounts for 71.8% of the transport GHG emissions. 199

298.When looking at GHG emissions from individual modes of transport in the EU, and including international bunkers, the rise in emissions from aviation since 1990 stands out, whereas the railway sector has been the only transport mode to consistently reduce GHG emissions since 1990.

299.Road transport is by far the mode with the highest total GHG emissions, accounting for around 72% of the total transport emissions. After a decrease mainly caused by the 2008-2009 economic crisis and high oil prices, emissions from road transport started growing again in 2014, at an average yearly pace of 1.5%.

300.Aviation has a much lower share in GHG emission than road transport, but emissions would increase as air traffic is projected to increase in Europe and worldwide. 201 According to the data reported by Members States to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the CO2 emissions of all flights departing from EU and EFTA increased from 88 to 171 million tonnes (+95%) between 1990 and 2016. Between 2014 and 2017, average fuel burn per passenger kilometre flown has reduced at an average rate of 2.8% per annum. However, this efficiency gain was not sufficient to counterbalance the increase in CO2 emitted due to the growth in the number of flights, aircraft size and flown distance. During the 2013-2017 phase, the total verified CO2 emissions from aviation covered by the EU ETS increased from 53.5 Mt in 2013 to 64.3 Mt in 2017, equal to an average increase of 4.7% per year. Beyond CO2, although more research is needed to fully understand the non-CO2 climate impacts from aviation activities, these have recently been estimated to be at least as important in total as those of CO2 alone. The Commission has provided and updated analysis of the science and potential policy measures to address these non-CO2 drivers of climate change. 202

301.EU waterborne transport consists of two very distinct segments: international shipping (ships calling from third countries in EU ports and sailing between two EU Member States) and inland navigation (ships sailing within the same EU Member State, including inland waterways). GHG emissions from inland navigation are subject to the EU Effort Sharing Regulation. Member States have to implement measures to fulfil the Union’s target of reducing its GHG emissions by 30% below 2005 levels in 2030 in these sectors.

302.Data collected from the EU MRV system 203 confirmed that CO2 emissions from maritime transport are substantial, with over 138 million tonnes of CO2 released into the atmosphere in 2018. This represents over 3.7% of total EU-27 plus UK CO2 emissions. While compared to other modes of transport, maritime transport remains the most carbon efficient mode of transport per ton km, the reported CO2 emissions in the EU, based on the fuel sold and also accounting for the inland and domestic navigation, make up around 14% of the total transport CO2 emissions.

303.The EU's CO2 emissions from inland and domestic navigation 204 are about 16 million tonnes of CO2 and have decreased over time (about 26% below 1990 levels). This decrease is related to the renewal of the fleet, increase in energy efficiency (EU standards for inland waterways have been put in place since 2003).

304.On the contrary, CO2 emissions from the EU-related international shipping (i.e. from ships calling to EEA ports from third countries and ships sailing between 2 or more EU Member States) have continued to increase, and are currently around one third above 1990 levels. This increase is primarily driven by the growth in transport activity and the current heavy reliance on oil derivatives despite the uptake of energy efficient technologies.

305.Direct GHG emissions from rail transport are very low, due to the majority of traffic running on electrified lines, representing only 0.4% of transport emissions. On this basis, shifting substantially more passengers and freight to rail would significantly contribute to decarbonising transport.

Air pollution

306.Transport is responsible for more than half of all nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions and significantly contributes to the total emissions of the other air pollutants. The situation has improved though compared to the past. NOx emissions from road transport decreased by 37% between 2007 and 2017 (non-road transport: -20%). 205 During the same period, emissions of total particulate matters that have diameter less than 2.5 micrometre (PM2.5) by road transport decreased by 42%, in non-road transport the decrease was 28% in the same timeframe 206 . Sulphur oxides (SOx) emissions from road transport and non-road transport were 70% and 60% lower in 2017 than in 2007, respectively.

307.SOx and NOx are known to be harmful to human health since they are precursors of PM pollution and ozone, causing respiratory symptoms and lung disease. In the atmosphere, SOx can lead to acid rain, which harms crops, forests and aquatic species, and contributes to the acidification of the oceans. NOx deposition in the oceans and seas induces eutrophication, which together with acidification, is a severe pressure on marine biodiversity.

308.The contribution of road transport to harmful NOx concentrations is particularly problematic in urban areas, because emissions occur close to the ground and mainly in densely populated areas. In “street canyons”, i.e. streets enclosed by a high density of usually tall buildings and high levels of road traffic, NOx emissions can be very high, leading to exceedances of air quality standards. 95% of the EU urban population remain exposed to pollutant concentrations above WHO air quality guidelines 207 and majority of EU Member States are in breach of the Union air quality legislation.

309.While gaseous emissions from transport are mostly arising from fuel combustion, other releases contribute to both non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) (from fuel evaporation) and primary PM pollution, namely from road transport - exhaust and non-exhaust (from tyre- and brake-wear, and road abrasion). Combustion engines remain a significant source of transport nanoparticles. The relative importance of non-exhaust emissions for the larger sizes of particles has increased since the introduction of vehicle particulate abatement technologies, which reduced exhaust emissions 208 for some types of vehicles.

310.Maritime transport also contributes significantly to air pollution in Europe 209 as ship combustion generates SOx, NOx and particulate matter. Even though international and EU legislation has lowered the allowed sulphur content of marine fuels, these continue to contain more sulphur than fuels used on land. NOx reducing engine standards or retrofits are also much less stricter. 

311.Air transport also contributes to air pollution especially in the vicinity of airports. More precisely air quality is influenced not only by the emissions from aircraft engines, but also from other sources such as ground operations, surface access road transport and airport on-site energy generation and heating. The most significant emissions related to health impacts from aviation activities are particulate matter (PM), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) 210 . The ICAO technical design standards limit emissions of NOx, carbon monoxide (CO) and unburnt hydrocarbons (HFC) 211 . The general EU air quality legislation 212 establishing limit values for the certain pollutants (mainly NOx and particulates in the case of aircraft emissions) also applies at and around airports.

312.Black Carbon 213 is of great relevance for the EU in view of the on-going developments of the EU's air quality policy and the interlinkages to EU climate change policy. EU legislation addresses Black Carbon in the Directive 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe by setting binding air quality standard requirements on PM10 and PM2.5 214 . Although the Directive excludes PM emissions from international maritime shipping, future reductions of PM emissions from maritime transport due to the reduction of sulphur content and uptake of alternative fuels will contribute to a decrease of long range transboundary air pollution affecting background concentrations of air pollution in the EU. The joint Communication by the Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy 215 on An Integrated European Policy for the Arctic of April 2016 outlines that the EU should contribute to international efforts to limit emissions of short-lived climate pollutants such as black carbon and methane that further accelerate climatic changes in the Arctic 216 .

Noise pollution

313.Noise pollution is the second largest health problem due to transport in the EU, with road traffic being the most widespread source of environmental noise. An estimated 120 million Europeans are affected by noise levels dangerous for health, mostly from road transport, above the recommended WHO levels 217 . 48,000 new cases of ischaemic heart disease are causes each year by transport, and 6,500,000 citizen have their sleep heavily disturbed 218 . It is also harmful to nature and certain eco-systems exposed to it 219 .

314.Transport related noise generates an external cost of about EUR 60 billion in the EU-27. 220 According to the latest data reported under the Environmental Noise Directive 221 , around 100 million people in the EU are exposed to average sound levels of 55 dB or higher during the day, evening and night for road traffic noise, 20 million for railway noise and 4 million for aircraft noise. Similarly, road traffic is by far the biggest source of environmental noise during night time, affecting around 75 million people, followed by rail with 15 million people, air with 1.5 million people and industrial noise with 0.5 million people. While aircraft noise does not affect a wide geographical area, it causes more stress and disrupted sleep than road or railway at the same noise levels. 222

315.Although modern electric passenger trains running on well-maintained track are relatively quiet, older freight wagons equipped with cast iron brake blocks can generate a significant noise issue, in particular since many freight trains are operated at night. This is a public health and political concern in some Member States, and leads to substantial opposition to increases in rail freight. Retrofitting of freight wagons with composite brake blocks (replacing cast iron brake blocks) is the most efficient way of addressing the matter 223 , 224 . The banning of “noisy” freight wagons from the busiest rail freight routes from December 2024 as a result of the revised Technical Specification for Interoperability for Noise will largely address the European dimension of the issue.

316.In spite of technological improvements which have made aircraft less noisy, the problem of aircraft noise in the EU has continuously increased in the past years. This is due to the continuous overall growth of air traffic in Europe as well as the expansion from population affected by aviation noise, linked to demographic growth and weak land use planning. Noise from aircraft is the third largest source of noise pollution affecting EU citizens, and research shows that people perceive noise from aircraft as more annoying than noise from road or rail, at the same noise level exposure. It is estimated that in 2017, more than 2.5 million EU citizens were subject to 55 dB noise level from aircraft, an increase of 12% as compared to 2005. With the expected continued overall growth of air traffic in Europe in the next decades - generating more flights in particular at medium size airports, the total population affected by critical noise levels from aircraft will likely further increase, especially at regional airports. Aircraft noise at night time is also a growing concern. In 2017, around 1 million EU citizens were exposed to at least 50 dB aircraft noise levels at night, an increase by 13% as compared to 2005.

Water pollution

317.According to a recent report from the European Environment Agency 225 , the increased threats posed by overexploitation of marine resources, pollution and climate change call for urgent action to bring Europe’s seas back to good condition, and we are running out of time to reverse decades of neglect and misuse.

318.Illegal discharges of oily waste, hazardous substances, sewage and garbage from ships harm the marine & river environment. The use of antifouling agents for ship paint is another source of emissions of toxic substances, generally organic pollutants, metal-organic compounds or heavy metals. In maritime transport and inland waterways, waste water and ballast water leads to the pollution of seawater, lakes or rivers. The emissions mainly occur in ports but also affects inland waterways, and can lead to substantial water and sediment pollution 226 .

319.In inland navigation there is no common rule at EU level on protecting rivers against wastes from vessels. The absence of a policy and regulatory framework creates a “gap” in relation to the protection of waters and it would require close cooperation with relevant international organizations to address this.

320.Maritime transport and tourism (cruises) can also be a significant source of plastic pollution, as demonstrated also by its accumulation along shipping routes. The accidental loss of 342 containers in 2019 in the North Sea and the resulting waste dissemination is another case in point. The EU is aware of the problem and, further to adopting a new Directive on Port Reception Facilities focused on reducing litter from shipping and fishing as a follow-up of its Strategy for Plastics and the Circular Economy Action Plan, is considering additional initiatives to tackle sea-based sources of marine litter, including microplastics, in close cooperation with international partners and other relevant initiatives, notably the IMO Action Plan to address marine plastic litter from ships.

Biodiversity loss

321.Transport can also cause several significant negative impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity. The design and use of road, rail and waterborne transport infrastructure alters the quality and connectivity of habitats and can create physical barriers to the movement of plants and animals between habitat areas. Species can be injured or killed by vehicles, become isolated by habitat fragmentation or incapable of fulfilling their life cycle, lose their habitat, or exhibit behavioural changes that put their survival at risk, such as feeding on or near roads, or changes in migratory behaviour including for migratory fish, which can prevent them from reproducing and consequently exerts high pressure on the survival of populations. Fragmentation of rivers and deterioration of their hydrological and morphological conditions is one of the main pressure affecting freshwater in the EU. Barriers in rivers can also prevent the flow of sediments and consequently affect downstream water bodies. The development and use of transport infrastructure can also increase pollution levels in surrounding habitats.

322.Noise and light pollution can affect the breeding success of many species of birds and mammals (e.g. bats) as well as their feeding, migration and wintering needs. Noise from ships can alter the capacity of fish and marine mammals to locate themselves, their capacity to search for food and to escape from predators.

323.Furthermore, transport infrastructure and vehicles can serve as a vector for the spread of invasive alien species (through hull fouling, ballast water in relation to maritime and inland waterways transport, stowaway species attached to vehicles, infrastructure facilitating dispersal of species across physical and environmental barriers (e.g. a mountain range now crossed by a tunnel, new canals etc.). 227 Invasive alien species have significant impacts on native species through competition, predation, etc., may cause alteration and/or loss of native habitats, or even impact overall ecosystem functioning.

324.The loss and fragmentation of habitats through land use for transport infrastructure are estimated to amount to EUR 37 billion annually at EU-27 level. 228  The biggest share of these costs is produced by road infrastructure. However, railway infrastructure also tends to have a high impact on habitat, as well as inland waterways.

325.Transport activities lead to other negative impacts on soil and water through abrasion of brakes, tyres, road surfaces and rail track (road, rail). Tyre abrasion in particular is one of the largest sources of microplastics, ending up in the food chain. Finally the deposit of combustion emissions from air onto land and into water may be the cause of severe instances of eutrophication and acidification hampering linked biodiversity.

Insufficient physical activity

326.Over-reliance on individual cars, in particular in urban areas, is linked with insufficient levels of regular physical activity for adults and children, and related health problems, including premature deaths 229 . A review of 28 health impact studies related to greater active transport and less car use found people who switched from using a car to active transport received substantial health benefits from increased physical activity. This benefit well outweighed any risks cyclists or pedestrians might experience from exposure to air pollution or being involved in motor vehicle crashes 230 . Being physically inactive is associated with many non-communicable diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, overweight/obesity, dementia, type 2 diabetes and stress and anxiety. One study found that people who get insufficient exercise have a 20-30% increased risk of all-cause mortality compared with people who exercise for 30 minutes a day. The European Code against Cancer 231 , an initiative of the European Commission, informs individual citizens about actions they can take for themselves or their families to reduce their risk of cancer. The Code calls for people to be physically active in everyday life and to limit the time spent sitting.

327.Walking and cycling (combined with public transport or shared mobility if necessary) provide the opportunity for city dwellers, particularly those who do not have time for other exercise, to incorporate more physical activity into their daily routines 232 . The Commission’s sustainable urban mobility planning (SUMP) concept and published guidelines provide an appropriate approach to facilitate active mobility in cities. In addition, the WHO’s Health Economic Assessment Tool (HEAT) 233 estimates the value of reduced mortality that results from regular walking or cycling and should be part of comprehensive cost–benefit analyses of transport interventions or infrastructure projects, in particular at urban level.

Degradation of public space

328. Road and parking infrastructure for individual cars contributes to soil sealing and takes up valuable space that could be used to create green areas as well as pedestrian and cycling infrastructure, which are beneficial for people’s physical and mental well-being 234 . The average car is parked more than 90% of the time. 235 In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the issue of distribution of public space in favour of motorised traffic: with cars accounting for ~30-40% of journeys and occupying ~70-80% of public space in European cities, there was often insufficient space left for people to walk and cycle whilst complying with social distancing requirements.

329.While visual pollution per se is a lesser concern than safety or noise, in the future it is possible that frequent sighting of remotely-piloted or autonomous aircraft in the sky, in particular in urban environments, may negatively impact social acceptance of their operations, and heighten concerns, justified or not, about privacy, safety or security. Therefore public acceptance is key for new technologies such as drones and Urban Air Mobility.

330.Transport modes prevalent for our mobility and transport must be sustainable for the objective set in the Communication on the European Green Deal is to be attained. To achieve this, it is necessary to boost the production and uptake of low- and zero- emission vehicles, vessels and aircraft, supported by renewable and low-carbon fuels for road, waterborne, air and rail transport. There is need to ensure that the sustainable vehicles and fuels are supplied by the industry, put in place the necessary infrastructure, and incentivise demand by end-users. It will also be necessary to support research and innovation on competitive and future-proof technologies, products and services.

331.The European Green Deal stresses the need to ramp up production and distribution of renewable and low carbon fuels. It notes the relevance of complete alternative fuels connectivity throughout the EU and sets the objective of having 1 million public recharging and refuelling points in place by 2025.

332.This is because EU-27 transport still relies on oil for about 93% of its energy needs. Most energy consumed in road, air and waterborne transport is fossil fuel based. Road transport depended on oil products for 94% of its energy use and rail transport for 23% in 2018. While air transport relies only on kerosene, inland navigation uses few types of fuels, but all petroleum based. International shipping is capable of using a variety of oil based fuels, mainly heavier fuel oils due to their lower cost. In addition a few ships use liquefied natural gas fuel because of its lower pollution characteristics. The total EU oil import bill is estimated at EUR 227.5 billion in 2018 236 .

333.After reaching its peak in 2007, oil consumption in transport (including international aviation and maritime) reduced by 12.2% during 2007-2013 (-2.1% per year). Since 2014, oil consumption has been following an upward trend at an average rate of 1.9% per year. The growth in transport activity, the shift towards larger cars and the low oil prices were the main reasons for the increasing energy consumption.

334.Until 2017, the average fuel efficiency of new light duty vehicles has been improving over time and this has helped to improve the fuel economy of the whole fleet. However, a rise in registrations has been observed in the past years in the sports utility vehicle (SUV) segment. In comparison with other car types, SUVs tend to have characteristics such as large frontal areas, greater mass and higher drag coefficients that have a negative impact on fuel consumption. Following the “Dieselgate” affair of 2015, there has also been a marked shift toward gasoline cars which traditionally have had lower fuel efficiency than diesel ones 239 . These trends have contributed to an overall increase in average fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of the new passenger car fleet. In 2019 (provisional data), new cars registered in the EU, UK, Norway and Iceland had average CO2 emissions of 122.4 g CO2/km (4.3 g/km higher than in 2016).

335.The sales of plug-in hybrid electric passenger vehicles (PHEV) 240 and battery-electric passenger vehicles (BEV) in the EU have steadily increased over the past years. According to incomplete 2020 data from the European Alternative Fuels Observatory, the EU vehicle fleet currently includes around 1.7 million battery-electric and plug-in hybrid light duty vehicles 241 (Category M1 and N1). This is more than four times more than in 2015 (about 280,000). The size of the light electric vehicle fleet also exceeded 157,000. Registration of electric powered-two-wheelers (e-PTWs) have been rapidly growing in Europe 242 . However, electric vehicle deployment is still uneven in the Union. In 2019, the Netherlands (15.2%) and Sweden (5.1%) were the only Member States with comparatively higher market share for electric cars in new vehicle sales, while in 2020 more Member States are witnessing higher growth rates.

336.As regards Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) light-duty vehicles, Italy was the Member State with the largest fleet (close to 1.1 million), whereas fleets in other Member States were considerably smaller. The light-duty vehicle fleet fuelled by CNG in the whole EU has increased slightly since 2015, from about 1.2 million vehicles to 1.36 million vehicles.

337.Heavy-duty vehicle fleets in the bus and coach segment included approximately 20,000 CNG/Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) buses and coaches, approximately 2,200 battery-electric buses and around 100 hydrogen buses. Zero-emission buses are rapidly growing in importance, also due to the requirements of the revised Clean Vehicles Directive. In 2019, 15% of all new bus registrations were alternatively-powered vehicles, according to ACEA. Concerning heavy-duty road freight transport, natural gas currently represents the main alternative fuel, with approximately 24,000 CNG and 4,000 LNG lorries in operation in 2019. While zero-emission lorries are still in an early stage of market development, demonstration fleets of electric lorries for regional use profiles are already in operation.

338.In addition to various national and European support schemes and measures to boost R&I towards clean vehicles such as the successful European Green Vehicles Initiative, the European CO2 standards have been the key driver of the uptake of the low and zero-emission light-duty vehicles. 

339.Current CO2 emission performance standards require average CO2 emissions from new cars and vans to be respectively 37.5% and 31% lower in 2030 compared to 2021; in the case of lorries, average 2030 CO2 emissions must be 30% lower than the 2021 baseline. For all three categories, emission reductions of 15% are required by 2025. These standards will further drive low and zero-emission vehicles in the market.

340.While rail is already largely electrified, it is not economic to electrify some parts of the network (e.g. rural branch lines or production site feeder lines), while it is difficult or impossible for others (e.g. parts of ports where catenary would interfere with cargo handling). Hydrogen, and battery electric rolling stock would allow the elimination of remaining diesel operations. Such alternative fuels powered trains, whose development is supported by Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking and Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU), can bring rail to zero direct CO2 emissions, decrease air pollution, and improve rail’s multimodal performances (hybrid locomotives 244 can switch from an electrified line to a terminal eliminating the need for additional shunting locomotives).

341.Substantial emission reduction has been achieved in the aviation sector by improving the fuel efficiency of aircraft engines and design. The sustained policy and industrial efforts to improve aviation sustainability have allowed to reduce noise from aircraft and fuel burn per passenger by respectively 14% and 24% between 2005 and 2017. However, the overall sustained growth of air traffic (+60% over the same period) has continued to outpace the environmental improvements. Substantial public and private investments and adequate policy frameworks are needed to accelerate the decarbonisation of air transport.

342.New aircraft models provide 20% to 25% of improved fuel efficiency compared to the previous generation. 245 Promoting fleet modernisation by an earlier retirement from circulation of old aircraft and their replacement with a significantly more fuel-efficient aircraft can generate significant CO2 per each flight in the transition until breakthrough clean aircraft are developed and commercially available for deployment. Ensuring the capacity of European industry to increase the environmental performance of aircraft would have an important impact on the greening of global air transport as European aircraft today represent 45% of the worldwide commercial fleet and European engines power 70% of single-aisle aircraft in the world.

343.In the longer-term, new disruptive technologies need to be developed and deployed in the market, notably to unleash the full potential of sustainable fuels and otherwise provide for new clean methods of propulsion and power generation in aircraft.

344.This requires considerable investment in research and innovation, such as envisaged under the Horizon Europe programme by the proposed set-up of a Clean Aviation partnership with the aviation industry and further investment in collaborative research in clean aviation technology. The partnership should follow in the footsteps of the Clean Sky Joint Undertaking, which had a participation of 1.7 billion EUR from the EU budget 246 . The priority focus should be on the development of technologies that can generate the largest impact on overall aviation emissions, notably hybrid and full electric prolusion, ultra-efficient aircraft configurations, and the development of sustainable alternatives such as the emerging potential of hydrogen powered aircraft. Accompanying measures would be necessary to develop infrastructure and production capacity for hydrogen.

345.The stimulus for the development of new technologies should be seen in conjunction with the measures taken relating to innovation, production and deployment of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). This is because in order to decrease significantly its emissions, the aviation sector will especially need to rely on the use of liquid SAF in the years to come. Indeed, whereas other transport modes have access to various sources of energy including renewable energy, aviation is still almost exclusively reliant on liquid fossil fuel, due to the physical properties of flying.

346.Concerning the nature of waterborne transport and the availability of alternative fuels in particular, it is important to distinguish between transport on sea (maritime) and inland waterways. The main distinction in maritime transport is to be done between deep sea shipping (long distance and high energy density requirements) and short-sea shipping, incl. domestic voyages (shorter distances with more technological alternatives available due to the nature of traffic, regular port calls, etc. requiring therefore a lower energy density).

347.The environmental challenges faced by the maritime sector impose to continue improving the energy efficiency of the fleet, the rapid advancements in the development and deployment of innovative low or zero emissions technologies and the widespread use of sustainable alternative fuels 247 . This requires the cooperation of all actors in the maritime sector: fuel suppliers, vessel and engine manufacturers, shipping operators, port authorities and service providers, etc. in particular to demonstrate commercially viable zero-emissions vessels by 2030. Whereas various technologies, including the use of hydrogen or electric propulsion, are being successfully tested for short journeys, the situation is more complex for deep-sea shipping, which has significantly higher power needs, requires much greater autonomy and the availability of global network of refuelling stations.

348.The Commission is preparing the “FuelEU Maritime” initiative, with the aim to deliver a legislative proposal at the beginning of 2021 to boost the demand for renewable and low carbon fuels in maritime transport. Reduction of GHG emissions from international shipping is also being addressed at global level at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the EU is one of the key drivers of the IMO’s work in this area. The agreement at IMO on new mandatory measures setting carbon intensity performance targets for all existing vessels has been reached in November 2020 248 . The new measures add further requirements to existing energy efficiency measures, which state that all vessels must put in place the so-called Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) to demonstrate their efforts to improve ship’s energy efficiency and all vessels built after 2013 must abide by compulsory energy efficiency standards (the Energy Efficiency Design Index, EEDI). In parallel, preparatory work has commenced to support the uptake of alternative low- and zero-emission fuels in shipping, with the EU advocating a lifecycle (well-to-wake) approach to GHG emissions.

349.In accordance with the first EU Annual Report on Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Maritime Transport (data collected in 2018 in the framework of the MRV regulation), more than 90% of all monitored ships have reported the use of heavy fuel oil (HFO). In terms of amounts of fuel consumed, HFO represented a little more than 70% of the fuel consumed by the monitored fleet in 2018. Gas oil accounted for only 10% of the total fuel consumed and another 10% was covered by light fuel oil and diesel oil taken together. The global limit on sulphur in marine fuel has been reduced which means that more of these cleaner fuels are likely to be used. These types of low sulphur fuels are generally used for auxiliary engines and boilers when ships are berthing in EU ports or during the operation of a ship in SOx Emission Control Areas (SECAs). The use of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) represents only 3% of the total amount of fuel consumed. It is mostly used by LNG and gas carriers. Even though the number of LNG-fuelled vessels continued to increase in 2019 across all ship types, these remain a very small fraction of the fleet. In accordance with DNV GL’s Alternative Fuels Insight database, the total number of commissioned LNG ships worldwide has just passed the threshold of 300 in 2019 with about half of them already in operation and the remaining ones on order.

350.At present, there is yet no consensus on the most realistic pathway to decarbonise the maritime sector as a number of fuel/technology combinations could become more competitive over time. In addition, the solutions are likely to be different for individual ships, different ship types and market segments. The key objective is to support the fuels that lead to the most GHG emissions reduction from a “well to wake” perspective, while being sustainable, available at sufficient scale in the mid and long term, safe and affordable. On the short-term, advanced biofuels and biogas are likely to be the first sustainable alternative fuels available to shipping companies.

351.While LNG delivers significant air quality benefits compared to other fossil fuels (reductions in SOx, NOx and PM emissions), it remains a fossil fuel and present limited advantages in terms of GHG emissions. It is therefore important to continue supporting a broader basket of fuel and technologies including electric/hybrid propulsion, advanced liquid biofuels, bio-LNG, liquid and gaseous synthetic fuels as well as the use of hydrogen. Support measures should aim at boosting demand for them, their production and distribution.

352.Due to the nature of the sector, the situation for inland waterways is similar to short-sea shipping (availability of network infrastructure, lower power requirements) and alternatives can be developed and deployed more quickly (including for instance with regards to electricity, and hydrogen). In 2018, more than 15,000 inland cargo vessels were registered in Europe. Looking at the vessels’ age structure, inland navigation fleet is relatively old: the majority of vessels were constructed before 2000 and before 2003 there were no provisions for the emission limits from engines used in IWT.

Source: CCNR based on German Waterway and Shipping administration, Belgian Ministry of Transport. Included are dry cargo vessels, liquid cargo vessels and push&tug boats.

·the long serviceable lifetime of engines in inland vessels (30,000 to over 200,000 hours, depending on the engine type) which translates to ca. 40 years of operation;

·the small and specific market for inland vessels and their engines, making it a less attractive market for engine manufacturers;

·the lack of incentives for vessel operators/owners to increase the environmental performance of the engines;

·The lack of information on existing possibilities for greening, in particular regarding their consequences for actual emissions (and how they relate to possible emission regulation) and the business case of the vessel operators/owners.

355.Whilst potential solutions to enable clean climate neutral shipping exist, these are largely premature and investment in research and innovation, such as envisaged under the Horizon Europe programme through the establishment of the Zero Emission Waterborne Transport partnership, is required. It is envisaged that the partnership focus on decarbonised clean shipping and seek to demonstrate deployable solutions, appropriate for all main ship types by 2030. Addressing efficiency improvement, electrification, renewable energies such as wind, take up of new fuels such as hydrogen within new and retrofitted marine and inland waterway ships.

356.The deployment of vehicles, vessels and aircraft as well as infrastructure and services needs to happen everywhere in the EU, in an interoperable manner. However, there are a number of issues that prevent the uptake of sustainable transport fuels: limitation of appropriate supply, lack of a suitable refuelling/recharging network and low or fragmented demand for the sustainable fuels and vehicles/vessels, influenced also by pricing and tax regimes.

357. The lack of appropriate supply is particularly relevant for certain fuels, namely sustainable biofuels, e-fuels, clean hydrogen, and biogas. Apart from electricity from renewable sources there is still considerable lack of availability of renewable energy sources for transport: the EU share of renewable energy in transport reached 8.3% in 2018 249 .

358.Air and waterborne transport must have priority access to sustainable liquid and gaseous fuels, since suitable alternatives do not exist for these modes, and these fuels are the furthest from mass production and use.

359.Sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) are fully compatible with current aircraft technology and already certified up to 50% of the fuel used in a flight. Although they have the potential to make an important contribution to tackling GHG emissions in aviation (emission savings can go up to 80% compared to conventional jet fuel), this potential is still largely untapped. Current production and use of SAF is below 0.1% of total jet fuel consumption in the EU. While the Renewable Energy Directive and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme contain some mechanisms intended to reward the use of SAF, these measures have so far limited impact to boost SAF supply and demand.

360.As a concrete deliverable of the European Green Deal, the Commission is preparing the “ReFuelEU Aviation” initiative, with the aim to deliver a legislative proposal at the beginning of 2021 to boost the sustainable aviation fuels market. Several Member States also intend to promote SAFs in their national legislations (such as Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden).

361.Sustainable advanced biofuels are not produced at scale, and most biofuel consumption happens at a low percentage blending with conventional fuels. Power-to-liquid and power-to-gas fuels from renewable sources are available only at demonstration scale. While there could be sufficient demand for all types of sustainable transport fuels catering for all the key products along the refining process, there is still a lack of investments in production capacity, also due to limited sustainable production. Volumes are limited and the resulting product price is not competitive with the fossil-based alternatives, even factoring in the carbon price and other existing incentives. In a vicious circle, the resulting lack of demand at such prices does not trigger the necessary investments in feedstock renewable electricity production and refining capacity that could bring about the required economies of scale. A long-term policy framework with strong incentives and closer industrial cooperation appear therefore necessary to break this circle and boost confidence for major investments, particularly for those transport modes that have no other technologically-viable and proportionate current decarbonisation alternative.

362.These issues also affect waterborne and long-distance heavy-duty road transport. While battery- and fuel-cell electric vehicles already represent a viable option for buses and for urban and regional delivery vehicles, alternatives to diesel for long-haul lorries and coaches are not yet widely available. Battery- and fuel-cell electric long-haul lorries and coaches are now in market development, with 331 battery-electric new registered heavy goods vehicles (N2 and N3 categories) in 2019, with larger numbers expected on the EU markets in the next 5 years.

363.On the other hand, LNG vehicles would require significant efficiency improvements in order to meet the required CO2 emission targets in 2030 and would need to find solutions to significantly reduce the emitted air pollutants. Synthetic fuels and biogas, that may have very high cost and renewable energy production needs are not available at scale either, and similarly to sustainable advanced biofuels, they also require fully addressing the issue of urban air quality. Shipping can be flexible in the types of deployable advanced biofuels and may be able to use lower cost fuel options which would not be deployable in other transport modes. An example is bio-ammonia, which however, is an extremely hazardous substance and would have to be handled accordingly.

364.Equally significant is the challenge that the lack of a suitable network of recharging and refuelling infrastructure poses. Two-thirds of EU cars park overnight on the street or in public car parks 250 . There are in particular four issues in relation to this:

1)While there has been considerable progress in some Member States, there are still not enough recharging and refuelling points in all Member States and for all modes. While the formal requirements of the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive 251 (whereby Member States have to adopt a policy framework for the development of the market as regards alternative fuels in the transport sector and to make sure that an “appropriate number” of recharging or refuelling points are available) appear to be fulfilled, infrastructure planning under national policy frameworks in many Member States risks not to be in line with the required update of zero and low-emission vehicles and infrastructure needed to meet the increased ambitions under the European Green Deal.

2)There is no comprehensive network connectivity across borders and modes with minimum coherence in the EU. Recharging and refuelling points are distributed unevenly among Member States and within single Member States. Consumers and businesses also perceive the uneven development of different alternative fuel recharging and refuelling stations as a barrier in acquiring or investing in vehicles powered by alternative fuels.

3)Users of an alternative fuels road vehicle often face problematic conditions for using that infrastructure, particularly when departing from their home fuelling/recharging model. This is particularly relevant in the area of electric mobility, where there is a lack of coherent and transparent user information on availability, accessibility and usability of recharging stations as well as a broad variety of approaches to using and paying at these stations, in particular for cross-border users.

4)If not managed in a smart way, there is a risk that the rapidly increasing fleet of electric vehicles may lead to congestion in the electricity grid, in particular at peak times and at distribution level 252 .

365.To illustrate the first issue, in 2019, the territory of the EU hosted more than 200,000 publicly accessible filling stations 253 for alternative fuels, out of which about 194,000 were electric charging points, including around 22,000 fast-charging points. There are also 125 fuelling stations for hydrogen, as well as almost 4,000 filling stations for natural gas, out of which 249 LNG refuelling stations, and 34,000 LPG filling stations available. 254  

367.In recent years an increase in average CO2 emissions of new vehicles has been observed, together with a diverse, but still low, share of low and zero-emission vehicles among Member States. With this respect, the CO2 emission standards will drive manufacturers to invest in zero and low emission vehicles, to accelerate their deployment.

368.Several experiences across different EU Member States and third countries show that reducing registration and vehicle taxes for those vehicles is a very effective means of triggering consumer demand, in addition to other demand-side incentives such as energy taxes, company car taxation 257 , scrappage and purchasing schemes and premiums, purchase subsidies or favourable infrastructure charges, etc. CO2-based road charging as set out in the Eurovignette Directive currently under negotiation would be an important incentive for greening fleets.

369.Additional policy measures could promote the uptake of zero emission vehicles and sustainable fuels. Public procurement can play a key role in particular in those segments – such as buses and fleets – where it represents a major share of the market. For example the pooled procurement by several cities of clean and safe vehicles (buses, refuse collection vehicles etc.) along with financial support for infrastructure measures and retrofitting of vehicles, for instance with turning assistants could be instrumental.

370.Concerning public transport in particular, the Clean Vehicles Directive 258 and the Clean Bus Europe Platform will help the transition towards low- and zero-emission options. By requiring a minimum share of public procurement of cars, vans, lorries and buses to be covered through clean (and zero-emission) vehicles, the Clean Vehicles Directive will help mobilise this potential in the period 2021-2030. The Directive must be transposed by August 2021, and it sets ambitious targets for two five-year periods (2021-2025 and 2026-2030). Post-2030 targets will be set as part of a 2027 revision.

371.In addition, given the significant additional costs of zero-emission solutions available for long-distance lorries, the adaptation of the Weights and Dimension Directive 259 for allowing zero-emission heavy-goods vehicles additional weight and dimensions on freight tonnage could increase the competitiveness of zero-emission vehicles.

372.Transporting more goods with fewer lorries might increase efficiency and sustainability 260 . So-called European Modular Systems (EMS), which are longer lorries of up to 25.25 metres typically used on inter-urban roads between transport centres, allow reducing fuel consumption and emissions by up to 15% 261 and at the same time congestion.

373.Specifically, the legislation on the maximum weights and dimensions of road vehicles provides for limited circumstances where derogations to the maximum dimensions of the lorries can be granted. The use of such vehicles, in particular the modular concepts, in international transport is however very restricted while their use would be justified for long haul on certain infrastructure. Today, adjacent Member States who wish to use these derogations to authorise longer lorries to cross the border between them can only do so if specific conditions are met. Currently, use of modular lorries is allowed in Finland and Sweden, and is being trialled in Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium Spain, Portugal, Czech Republic and some German Länder.

374.The Commission responded to the Dieselgate affair by overhauling its legislative framework for type approval and market surveillance, introducing new tests in vehicle type approval and during in-service conformity for checking real driving emissions (RDE) on the road 262 and is currently preparing a legislative proposal for stricter emission limits for cars, vans, buses and lorries.

375.A proposal on the EURO 7 is expected in the second half of 2021. The Commission is studying all the relevant issues, such as the simplification of the legislation, technological neutrality, adaptation to connectivity and automation, durability and lifetime compliance, stricter emission limits covering all conditions of use, and possible inclusion of pollutants not yet regulated. The proposal is expected to include also requirements for in-vehicle battery durability.

376.The Commission proposal on batteries, including EV batteries, establishes several sustainability criteria. EV batteries should comply with those criteria to enter (or to be allowed in) the Union market. Moreover the end of life of such batteries, including second-life, recycling efficiencies and materials recovery targets are also covered. Concerning the sustainability criteria, they cover several aspects along the entire life cycle of the batteries, such as the extraction of the minerals used in their manufacturing (the responsible sourcing or supply chain due diligence), the obligation on incorporation a certain level of recycled materials when batteries are manufactures and the carbon footprint of the batteries. Other aspects cover labelling and information disclosure to end-users and economic operators and extended producer responsibility.

377.Following the new stricter emissions limits, more effective emission testing should also be part of periodic technical inspections and technical roadside checks of vehicles. This concerns in particular testing for NOx and particulate matter.

378.Particles emitted by diesel engines are filtered by the diesel particulate filter (DPF), while currently all gasoline direct injection (GDI) vehicles also filter particle emissions via a gasoline particulate filter (GPF). The current framework requires the visual inspection of the filters as a method to verify if the filter is leaking, absent or defective. However, this method has proven to be ineffective, as the filter is often inaccessible (hidden or too hot to check) and the casing is often filled with some material to hide the traces of the filter removal. According to a Dutch study of 2016 263 , in approximately 5-7% of diesel cars with a DPF, the filter was removed or defective. While this does not seem a lot, a well-functioning DPF filters out about 99% of the so-called micro particles. These particles are so small that they enter the human body through inhalation via the lungs and have severe negative health effects.

379.The impact on the overall fleet emissions is very large, for instance a study on vehicles in Prague found that 1% of a fleet with a broken DPF doubles the emissions of the whole fleet, while 1% with a removed DPF due to excess engine-out PM (x10) emissions increase fleet emissions by a factor 10. The most effective solution would be the tailpipe testing of the exhaust gas verifying the particle numbers.

380.The main reason to tamper with DPF appears to be related to the very significant cost of the replacement filter, amounting to several thousand euros especially for heavy duty vehicles. In an older vehicle where the DPF has not been installed during the manufacturing, retrofits can be very effective in reducing emissions, eliminating up to 90 percent of pollutants in some cases, and Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands have experience with national retrofitting schemes for DPFs. However retrofitting may not be an appropriate solution as long as the cost of replacement DPFs has not been lowered enough to make it a reasonable repair in light of the market value of the vehicle in question.

381.After years of research and development conducted by some Member States, there is now a method and suitable equipment at periodical technical inspections to test particle number (PN), which indicate a malfunctioning of the DPF. Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands will introduce testing from 2021. The introduction of the new testing method for PN at EU level will require the revision of the roadworthiness framework, but in the meantime the Commission is closely following the Member States’ experiences and it is looking at possible ways to support the Member States’ efforts.

382.Another issue to consider in this context is tampering with the vehicle’s Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system, mainly a problem linked to heavy goods vehicles. The SCR system uses AdBlue, a liquid developed to react in the SCR and decrease NOx emissions from diesel engines. Vehicles are in principle protected from running without AdBlue, but systems exist that bypass the vehicle controls (AdBlue killers). This is done in order to save its cost which can be a significant saving especially for operators of fleets of lorries. Such tampering is already a reason for failure of a technical roadside inspection of a vehicle, if detected. However, in the absence of a suitable NOx testing method and equipment, it is difficult to detect the often very sophisticated tampering. The Commission is closely following the progress in the development of such testing methods in view of possible legislative action. However, it is also not enough to rely on the legal framework only. The practice of some Member States combining several measures, such as high fines, on-site checks of transport company fleets, withdrawal of transport operator and transport manager licences, follow-up actions after identified manipulations appear to yield good results. The Commission is helping to spread this know-how, via Member States’ experts in the Roadworthiness Committee.

383.The development and supervision of harmonised testing methods for roadworthiness checks, as well as coherence with vehicle type approval, at EU level would have great added value, but requires additional technical capacity and resources.

384.Tyres are an important consideration in road safety.  Nevertheless, tyres are a significant cause of noise above 30 km/h and low performing tyres increase noise and its health effects. Regulating rolling resistance affects the energy consumption, and emissions of vehicles as well, thus again tyres are key in reducing carbon footprint. Last but not least tyres are a main cause of the microplastics released in the environment. Different factors influence the abrasion rate of tyres. Tyre design, type of their raw materials and external parameters such as roads, vehicle characteristics that can be regulated as well as ambient meteorological conditions to be taken into account, are some of these factors.

385.The Report from the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors 264 calls attention to the growing scientific evidence on the hazards of the uncontrolled, irreversible, and long-term ecological risks due to microplastics do exist for some coastal waters and sediments.

386.Ports and airports play an essential role for our international connectivity, for the European economy, and for their regions. There are many best practices already in place by the most sustainable airports and ports 265 . Our airports and ports can be made clean by deploying sustainable alternative fuels, and feeding stationed vessels and aircraft with green power instead of fossil energy; incentivising the development and use of new, cleaner and quieter aircraft and vessels; modulating airport charges; greening ground movements at airports as well as port services and operations; and through a wider use of smart traffic management. Public and private investment in aviation and waterborne transport in research for cutting edge technologies, in fleet renewals, in local renewable energy production, and in more sustainable multimodal access increase.

387.The EU has more than 1,400 inland and seaports, including 329 sea ports and 103 inland ports which are part of the trans-European transport network. Together, they accommodate the safe passage of 75% of the EU’s external trade, one-third of intra-European trade and 400 million passengers annually. Beyond the traffic generated in terms of shipping (freight and cruise/passenger), ports are economic and industrial hubs of their own, and therefore host other major sources of GHG emissions and pollution (air, noise and water): energy production facilities and refineries, landside operations in terminals, and hinterland connections (rail, road, inland waterways). European ports are therefore at the same time critical nodes of transport, energy and industry that constitute a key ecosystem contributing to building European strategic value chains. In this respect ports also have an important role to play in the implementation of the Green Deal.

388.As ports are often located close to heavily populated urban areas, pollution bears direct impact on liveability and quality of life around those areas, be it for ports’ workers or citizens living nearby. Ongoing air quality infringements are a concern for a number of EU coastal cities. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, coastal cities were also particularly affected by the growing popularity of the cruise industry, which relies heavily on highly fuel-intensive ‘mega-vessels’.

389.Exhaust gases from ships are a significant source of air pollution, in particular through sulphur oxide emissions resulting from the burning of fuel oil. Sulphur oxides are harmful to the human respiratory system and make breathing difficult. Ships traditionally used fuel oils for propulsion, which contained a sulphur content of up to 3.50 %, however, since 1 January 2020 a global sulphur cap with a limit of 0.5% applies. For comparison, the sulphur content of fuels used in lorries or passenger cars must not exceed 0.001%.

390.Since 2012, the EU has taken firm action to reduce the sulphur content of marine fuels through the Sulphur Directive. In some very fragile ecosystems such as the Baltic Sea, the North Sea and the English Channel – designated as ‘Sulphur Oxides Emissions Control Areas' (SECAs) – the maximum sulphur content was reduced to 0.1%, in 2015. Also, passenger ships spending more than two hours at berth are already subject to the 0.1% sulphur standard. Such stricter sulphur limits have more than halved sulphur dioxide concentrations around SECAs, bringing health benefits to people in coastal regions and ports, while the overall economic impacts on the sector remained minimal. However, the stricter limit has prompted some ship owners to install exhaust gas cleaning systems whose operation, in particular in open-loop mode, has the consequence of transferring pollutants, including polyaromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals, from the air to the sea water, with potentially negative consequences, especially for port and coastal waters.

391.The designation of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea as NOx Emission Control Area (NECA) starting from 1 January 2021 is expected to further accelerate the uptake of cleaner vessels in Europe. In practice, all new vessels built as of 2021 will be required to reduce their NOx emissions by 80% compared to the present emission levels when sailing in these areas. This target can be achieved through the use of engine technologies and after-treatment with catalysts or by using Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as fuel.

392.In addition, on-shore power supply represents an attractive solution to reduce local pollution generated by vessels at berth in EU ports. This potential has already fully been recognised by Article 4(5) of Directive (EU) 2014/94 on Alternative Fuels Infrastructure, according to which shore-side electricity supply shall be installed as a priority in ports of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) Core Network, and in other ports, by 31 December 2025, unless there is no demand and the costs are disproportionate to the benefits, including environmental benefits. The preparatory work for the evaluation of Directive 2014/94 was launched in 2019 and should identify, inter alia, how effective these provisions have been to deploy on-shore power supply in European ports.

393.Ports have an important role to fulfil to enable the roll-out and uptake of alternative fuels in waterborne transport, including for alternative fuels corridors for inland waterways transport. Ports thus have a clear potential to become alternative energy hubs and to ensure the development of alternative fuels infrastructure through the cooperation and coordinated action of all the relevant ports to guarantee comprehensive and sufficient supply of alternative fuels.

394.In addition to the regulatory approach, the Commission has also identified the promotion of shore-side electricity as a priority for transport investment. It is highlighted in the TEN-T Guidelines and through the Connecting Europe Facility that the Commission has been supporting several projects since 2014, such as ELEMED and TWIN PORT III, for the deployment of onshore power supply in EU ports. Moreover, alternative fuel infrastructure, such as onshore power supply, is eligible under the General Block Exemption Regulation and can thus be funded with public support.

395.To further incentivise the deployment and use of shore-side electricity, Member States can also ask for an authorisation to apply a reduced rate of taxation on electricity directly provided to vessels at berth in a port in accordance with Article 19 of the Energy Taxation Directive. Denmark, Germany, Spain and Sweden, have applied for and been granted such authorisations. France and Italy have recently been granted the derogation.

396.Furthermore, the Communication on the European Green Deal announced action to oblige docked ships to use shore-side electricity, which could provide further impulse to the rollout. Alternative solutions, based on different technology, such as hybrid-ships with batteries charging while at sea, which can then be used when the ship is at berth should also be considered. The Commission is following up on the European Green Deal announcement in the context of the “FuelEU Maritime” initiative for a legislative proposal in 2021

Electrification of port infrastructure and ‘ground handling’ equipment to reduce emissions

397.In addition to the need for reductions of environmental impact of the sea side of the maritime transport chain, there is an important potential for such reductions in the ports themselves, e.g. through the use of alternative fuels in cargo handling equipment or in vessels used for technical-nautical services (pilotage, towage or mooring), the monitoring of the environmental performance of port operations and the replacement of diesel-powered machinery with either electric or gas-powered port machinery (e.g. rubber tyred gantry cranes, mobile harbour cranes, reach stackers, shunting locomotives). Train feeder lines to ports and their electrification support ease of access to sustainable distribution channels for maritime cargo.

398.Digitalisation of port processes and data sharing among port stakeholders could bring further optimisations in logistics operations and thus reduce unnecessary freight movements. Further automation of container management and port operations as well as the adaptation of ports and port infrastructure to automated transport modes could contribute to further enhancing the efficiency of operations. Such measures would contribute reducing pollution and thus to improved air quality in port areas and cities, as well as mitigate health risks for port workers exposed to the combustion exhaust fumes of cargo handling equipment used in ports.

399.EcoPorts under the European Sea Ports Organisation is the main environmental initiative of the European port sector and aims to raise awareness on environmental protections through cooperation and sharing of knowledge between ports and improve their environmental management 267 . It has developed a self-diagnosis method (SDM) to assess the environmental management programme of ports in relation to the performance of the sector and international standards as well as a port environmental review system (PERS) with an independently reviewed certification valid for a period of 2 years.

Promoting the use of environmentally differentiated port fees

400.As regards environmental charging, the 2013 Ports Policy Communication, encouraged a more consistent application of environmentally differentiated port infrastructure charges. According to the Port Services Regulation 2017/352, port infrastructure charges may vary, in accordance with the port’s own commercial strategy and its spatial planning policy, in order to promote a more efficient use of the port infrastructure, short sea shipping or a high environmental performance, energy efficiency or carbon intensity of transport operations. It also called for the Commission, together with Member States, to elaborate guidelines on common classification criteria for vessels for the purpose of voluntary environmental charging. Subsequently, there are around 30 ports in Europe that apply differentiated charges 268 (in the form of rebates) for vessels that have a better environmental performance than legally required. This is a market incentive that can stimulate fleet greening.

Optimisation of port calls to reduce emissions from maritime transport

401.A port call is a particularly important event in the whole maritime transport chain and a potential bottleneck in the entire logistic chain. The benefits of just-in-time arrival in terms of emission savings would potentially be significant if smart routing / steaming was implemented.

402.An international task force on port call optimisation 269 is working to establish standards for the exchange of information and data between all stakeholders, such as the ports and the vessels. The aim would be to have agreed standards recognised at the level of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). The challenges related to port call optimisation has also been retained as one of the discussion topics of the Sustainable Ports Subgroup under the European Ports Forum.

Implementation of the new Directive on Port Reception Facilities (PRF)

403.Although most marine litter originates from land, a significant amount – an estimated 300,000 tonnes – of waste is discharged from ships into our seas, which poses an increasing threat to the marine environment. In this context the Directive (EU) 2019/883 on port reception facilities now also covers all plastic household and operational waste from ships, as well as fishing gear and other waste. It also applies to ‘passively fished waste’ – waste picked up by fishermen at sea. All ship types must comply, from small recreational vessels to large container and passenger ships, as well as the whole range of ports visited by those ships. It has introduced 100% indirect fee for garbage (MARPOL Annex V), meaning that fishing vessels can now dispose of passively fished waste and old/derelict fishing gear without paying extra charges.

404.This new Directive on Port Reception Facilities entered into force in June 2019 and has a two-fold objective: (1) reduce discharges of waste from ships at sea, and (2) ensure the efficiency of maritime operations in port. Currently work is ongoing to ensure implementation of the Directive (transposition deadline mid-2021). Four Implementing Acts are foreseen:

406.While the number of possible oil spills detected in European waters has dropped by half, from an average of 11 possible spills per 1000 km2 monitored in 2007 to five possible spills per 1000 km2 monitored in 2017, also thanks to the satellite monitoring services provided by the European Maritime Safety Agency, other types of marine pollution are increasing.

407.The new Directive on Port Reception Facilities (Directive (EU) 2019/883) calls on the Commission to assess the desirability of a review of Directive 2005/35/EC, in particular a possible extension of its scope, in order to align Directive 2005/35/EC to the relevant MARPOL Convention provisions prohibiting the discharges of waste from ships (recital 13). Directive 2005/35/EC regulates enforcement and sanctions with respect to illegal discharges of substances covered by MARPOL Annex I and II only (oily substances and noxious liquid substances).

408.However, Member States as contracting parties to the MARPOL Convention, also have to ensure that no illegal discharges take place involving packaged harmful substances (Annex III), sewage (Annex IV), garbage (Annex V), and if such discharges occur, that they are properly sanctioned. To strengthen the implementation and enforcement of the MARPOL discharge prohibitions included in these Annexes, through EU law, the scope of Directive 2005/35/EC needs to be widened. This would be in line with Member State obligations as MARPOL contracting parties, and also reflect existing regional cooperation in the framework of the regional sea conventions; in particular HELCOM, OSPAR and Barcelona Convention have established regional compliance networks to improve cooperation on the enforcement of the MARPOL norms, including operational detection/response actions, and the application of sanctions

409.Some difficulties in enforcing environmental rules for ships calling at EU ports arise from the international nature of shipping. Many non-EU flag states do not actively enforce environmental rules and thereby obtain a cost advantage over compliant flags, while putting the environmental burden on those states and areas where their ships trade.

410.Today, the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control aims at eliminating the operation of sub-standard ships through a harmonized system of Port State control. Annually more than 18,000 inspections take place on board foreign ships in the Paris Memorandum of Understanding ports 270 , ensuring inter alia that these ships meet the international environmental standards (MARPOL). In order to support the Port State Control inspections, the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) has developed the THETIS database 271 .

411.For ships visiting EU ports, certain additional requirements apply due to specific EU legislation (e.g. Sulphur Directive, Port Reception Facilities Directive, MRV Regulation, Ship Recycling). In order to enable users to be able to record and exchange data on inspections and verifications foreseen by this specific EU legislation, EMSA has developed an extension to THETIS, THETIS-EU, which facilitates targeting and alerts on the basis of predefined requirements.

412.Air transport provides air connectivity which is a key enabler for the free movement of people, goods and services underpinning the EU internal market as well as EU cohesion, economic integration and inclusive growth. By connecting EU to the rest of the world and remote areas, such as the outermost regions, aviation also supports tourism, export-focused industries and inward investment, supporting jobs and economic growth.

413.Airports are generally built in the vicinity of dense residential area or very close to major cities. While air connectivity brings significant socio-economic benefits, it also comes with climate, environmental and health challenges related to aircraft greenhouse, pollutant and noise emissions. Airports are hence subject to a range of cross-cutting environmental rules including on air quality, noise, and planning permissions (e.g. nature protection areas). Some airports are covered under ETS due to local power generation. The environmental impact of each airport varies greatly depending on the size of the airport, its activities and the type of aircraft operating at it.

414.Decarbonising air transport sector, next to addressing the challenges related to aircraft emissions reductions (including air and noise pollution) (see section 4.1.1, 4.1.4 and 4.1.5), would also require investments into airport infrastructure and operations to optimise air traffic management and strengthen the integration of airports into a genuinely multimodal network. It would necessitate improving airports' energy efficiency, ensuring the supply and infrastructure for sustainable aviation fuels, and hydrogen for hydrogen-powered airport operations and related services as well as renewable energy generation on-site, together with electrification and greening measures of airside activities such as groundhandling, ground traffic operations and aircraft on the ground, and other measures reducing environmental impacts.

415.In June 2019, as part of the aviation industry ambition, vision and roadmap, ACI EUROPE and its members (203 airports) committed to net zero carbon emissions from airport operations fully within their own control by 2050 at the latest, reducing absolute emissions to the furthest extent possible and addressing any remaining emissions through investment in carbon removal and storage. Three airports have already reached this target, while several others have announced to reach it before 2030.

416.So far, 162 European airports (representing 67.2% of European air passenger traffic) have volunteered to join the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme, which provides a common framework for carbon management with the primary objective to encourage and enable airports to implement best practices. 51 airports are carbon neutral suggesting good progress towards the ACI EUROPE target of 100 carbon neutral airports by 2030 and confirming the importance airports place on carbon neutrality. 272 In November 2020, the programme added further obligations, namely alignment with the Paris Agreement, extended carbon footprint covering all significant operational emissions from third parties, including airlines, and enhanced stakeholder engagement. 273

Airport charges, slot allocation and groundhandling services

417.The existing framework on airport charges, airport slots allocation and groundhandling services can also play an important role in making the sector more sustainable.

418.Airport charges are paid by airlines to airports for the use of facilities and services, which are exclusively provided by the airport managing body and which are related to landing, take-off, lighting and parking of aircraft and processing of passengers and freight. While the Directive requires that airport charges are non-discriminatory, it permits modulations for environmental issues provided that they are relevant, objective and transparent. The 2019 evaluation of the Directive showed that only 61% of airports modulate charges on account of noise and only 20% of airports do so on account of NOx emissions. The 2019 evaluation did not find any airports that would modulate airport charges on account of CO2 emissions. The planned revision of the Airport Charges Directive could aim to ensure the setting of airport charges is strategically aligned with the Green Deal Communication and environmental ambitions of the EU.

419.Current rules concerning the allocation of slots do not contain measures that would align slot allocation with environmental objectives. However, the Slot Regulation states that slot-coordinators shall take into account industry rules, such as the Worldwide Slot Guidelines in the slot allocation process. In their 11th version, published June 2020 the guidelines state that slot coordinators should try to ensure that due account is taken of environmental factors in the allocation of available slots. Environmental concerns could also be considered in local rules which apply to specific airports. However, their scope is quite limited with only a local impact.

420.Groundhandling is an essential service provided for airport users and often represent important costs for them. It involves ground administration and supervision, handling of passengers, baggage, mail, freight, and ramps, aircraft services, fuel and oil handling, aircraft maintenance, flight operations and crew administration, surface transport and catering services. Groundhandling services generate GHG and air pollutant emissions at airports. These are caused by usage of diesel fuel for airport vehicles and ground support equipment (GSE), fossil fuel for electricity and heating, jet fuel for auxiliary power units (APUs) that power aircraft at airport gates, and other sources. Airport operators can implement several measures to reduce the environmental impact of groundhandling services, including provision of electric buses for passenger transport, pre-conditioned air fixed power units to avoid GPU/APU (which run on diesel or kerosene), centralised de-icing pads to avoid contamination of groundwater, and alternative fuels for ground support equipment. Ground support equipment could also be pooled for use by all groundhandling service providers. Under this approach, either by agreement or as mandated by the airport, groundhandling equipment at the airport is owned centrally by the airport itself or by a leasing company on behalf of the airport. Such equipment can consist of for example electric lower deck loaders, electric conveyor belt loaders, electric passenger steps, main deck loaders, electric baggage tractors, power tractors and cool container dollies. The groundhandlers are then required to use the (modern and environmentally friendly) equipment to serve the aircraft, which they are contracted to handle.

421.The Groundhandling Directive 274 leaves it to the Member States to ensure the adequate level of environmental protection. Member States may make the groundhandling activity conditional upon obtaining the approval of a public authority independent of the managing body of the airport. The criteria for such approval can include environmental protection. The Directive allows the limitation of the number of groundhandling service providers in case of four categories of groundhandling services: baggage handling, ramp handling, fuel and oil handling and freight and mail handling. In case such a limitation is applied, the providers need to be selected in a public tender and the Member States may establish standard conditions or technical specifications covering also environmental aspects.

422.The Groundhandling Directive is currently being evaluated. This evaluation will closely examine issues related to the environmental and climate impact of groundhandling activities (particularly noise and emissions) and to climate change mitigation/adaptation policies employed by and/or incumbent (and enforced) upon groundhandling service providers and airports.

Addressing “airside” ground vehicle movements

423.Aircraft ground movements at airports have an impact on the local air quality as well as on the local noise emissions. Aircraft ground movements include taxiing from the aircraft stand to the start of the runway and vice-versa. Figure 24 shows the total aviation CO2 emissions per flight phases for flights in the ECAC region in 2019. It indicates that 4% of CO2 emissions, i.e. 8.6 million tonnes of CO2 came from aircraft ground movements, including the take-off run.

424.Overall, it is estimated that around 6% of CO2 emissions in aviation, i.e. 11.6 million tonnes of CO2 are generated by ATM routing inefficiencies 275 . As illustrated in Figure 25 , of these, around 13% are estimated to be due to inefficiencies in aircraft ground movement, i.e. taxi-out for 9% and taxi-in for 4%. However, these estimated ATM inefficiencies are not based on actual fuel burn, and it is the view of some experts - including Eurocontrol - that actual inefficiencies could be higher and up to 10%. This can be explained by the fact that there are likely further inefficiencies, which until now are unaccounted for, for instance, related to the flight level and aircraft speed.

425.Solutions provided through the SESAR project are available for airports, airspace users and air navigation service providers to optimise usage of the airspace and the sequencing of ground traffic operations of aircraft before take-off and after landing. Large deployment of such solutions would allow engine running time reductions thus less emission for local residents. Examples of SESAR solutions include taxi route displays for pilots, pre-departure sequencing supported by route planning, wake turbulence separation optimisation, traffic optimisation on single and multiple runway airports, enhanced guidance assistance to aircraft and vehicles on the airport surface combined with routing, time-based separation, and others.

426.The Directive on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure 276 does currently not contain any specific obligations for Member States to decarbonise ground movements. However, it stipulates that the national policy framework, to be adopted by Member States, must consider the need to install electricity supply at airports for stationary aircraft. Moreover, hydrogen-powered airport operations and related services will also require adequate refuelling infrastructure at airports.

Impact of noise on local residents

427.Long-term exposure to aircraft noise is linked with a variety of health impacts, including ischaemic heart disease, sleep disturbance, annoyance and cognitive impairment. The legislative instruments in place, notably the “Balanced Approach” Regulation 277 , shall be applied by Member States in order to meet specific noise abatement objectives at the level of individual airports, where clear objectives of reduction in population exposure to noise should be set through the Environmental Noise Directive 278 . The Regulation compels Member States to ensure that the Balanced Approach is adopted in respect of aircraft noise management at those airports where a noise problem has been identified. The “Balanced Approach” refers to the process developed by the International Civil Aviation Organization under which the range of available measures, namely the reduction of aircraft noise at source, land-use planning and management, noise abatement operational procedures and operating restrictions, is considered in a consistent way with a view to addressing the noise problem in the most cost-effective way on an airport-by-airport basis.

Greener access to the airport

428.Today, an important share of passengers still use their car to access European airports. Although greener alternatives exist (rail, bus shuttles), these may not always be deemed the most practical or economical by passengers and not always seamlessly integrated into urban transport. In addition, car parks are still a significant source of revenue for airports. On average, 36% of passengers travelled to airports by public transport in 2018, compared to 43% in 2016 279 .

429.The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) is financing multimodal connections to airports, such as the “Genoa Erzelli” in Italy or the connection of the Budapest-Arad railway line to the multimodal hub at Budapest Airport. The TEN-T Regulation requires that for airports on the network, both core and comprehensive, the improvement of multimodal interconnections with other transport modes is given priority 280 . In practice, this is very much focused on rail and light rail i.e. sustainable passenger connections.

430.Generally speaking, airports and the companies operating at airports are self-financing from user charges and commercial revenues, and the possibility to grant compatible State aid is limited under the current State aid rules, including under the 2014 EU Guidelines on State aid to airports and airlines. The Commission is conducting a Fitness check of State aid rules, including those for airports. Should this process conclude on the need to revise the rules for airports, current limitation could be revisited in respect of green investment. This would be particularly welcomed by smaller regional airports, many of which are essential to regional connectivity but are loss-making (71% of “small airports” are reportedly loss-making).

432.Urbanisation has been increasing in the past decades and this trend is likely to continue. So our mobility is an equally increasingly urban question, and poses challenges both for those who live in cities and those who travel into them, often every day. Urban congestion costs, for example, are estimated to account for EUR 180 billion per year in terms of delay costs and about EUR 32 billion per year in terms of deadweight loss at EU-27 level. 281 In addition, model estimates indicate that urban transport is responsible for about 22% of EU's CO2 emissions from transport. 282

434.The Urban Mobility Package of 2013 284 , the main EU policy basis, aimed to support cities to improve their urban mobility, with the concept of sustainable urban mobility plans (SUMPs) in the centre of the approach. Related EU guidelines were published to support local authorities in the process. The EU approach to urban mobility has inspired many cities within and beyond Europe, with over 1,000 SUMPs in place now 285 . Whilst the guidelines continue to be used extensively, major new trends in many areas of urban mobility have emerged and a wealth of practical SUMP experience has been acquired over the last few years. Therefore a major overhaul took place in October 2019: a revision of the Guidelines itself, as well as the development of a range of complementary guides on specific aspects of SUMP 286 .

435.The preliminary evaluation results of the 2013 Urban Mobility Package indicate that the package was a relevant step towards sustainable mobility, but the problems identified in 2013 still exist, with some – such as congestion or deteriorating climate and local environment – getting worse. In addition, as indicated by the Court of Auditors in their performance audit of the EU urban mobility policy and funding, no real progress at local level is possible without stronger involvement of Member States.

436.Clearer guidance is needed on mobility management at local and regional level, and on connectivity with rural and suburban areas so that commuters are given sustainable mobility options. European policies and financial support should also reflect the importance of urban mobility for the overall functioning of the TEN-T, with provisions for first/last mile solutions that include multimodal mobility hubs, park-and-ride facilities, and safe, active mobility infrastructure. 

437.Under the Environmental Noise Directive, Member States have to prepare action plans to reduce noise from transport in approximately 500 European agglomerations. Nevertheless, reduction of noise in urban areas require a mix of global and local actions that result in noise reduction for instance the improvement of the vehicle fleet needs to be accompanied by the deployment of better tyres and better roads. In that sense, the Environmental Noise Directive could be enhanced to coordinate the efforts needed for this co-benefit.

438.Under the Ambient Air Quality Directives 287 , Member States have to comply with air quality standards for a number of pollutants harmful for human health, including limit values for nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5). In over 130 cities located in a majority of Member States, limit values for one or more of these pollutants have been exceeded for many years, with significant consequences for public health and the economy. Specific measures are not prescribed, although an increasing number of cities have turned to SUMPs which can contain different measures focusing on various aspects of urban mobility, with urban vehicles access regulations (UVARs) being one of them.

Source: European Environment Agency.

Source: European Environment Agency.

Source: European Environment Agency.

439.In recent years, more and more European cities have started to introduce different kinds of Urban Vehicle Access Regulations (UVARs) to pursue a variety of policy objectives ranging from air quality to liveability and infrastructure optimisation.

440.Regulating vehicle access to cities should be part of integrated mobility policies: Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) should, whenever applicable, cover also the question of UVAR. In order to support cities in better grasping this aspect, a dedicated guide on UVARs was published in October 2019 within the revised guidelines on SUMPs. 291

441.While urban mobility is largely a matter of national and local competence, the diversity of UVARs, in particular low-emission zones (LEZs), has posed new challenges for passenger and freight transport by creating obstacles to the seamless mobility of vehicles across the EU. If access of private cars to cities is to be restricted, doing it on a more harmonised or coordinated basis seems to be necessary, given that at present more than one quarter of the overnight trips carried out by EU residents in 2017 were abroad (the vast majority of which were in another EU Member State), and in two-thirds of the cases by car. It is clear that there is a need for better coordination across Member States despite the different EU policy initiatives and as shown by studies 292 that have addressed UVARs at EU level over the past years.

442.The lack of harmonisation or transparency has been the basis of concerns expressed by some stakeholders for example in relation to the availability of information online and in foreign languages, the difficulties for foreign drivers in particular to comply with the rules and issues related to enforcement, the level of fines, or the lack of provision of sustainable alternatives such as public transport. There are also concerns relating to different rules for access of domestic and foreign vehicles. On the other side of the argument, some cities report that existing UVARs are often not fully respected, sometimes also noting problems in enforcing fines. At the same time, it should be possible to use a comparable methodology for vehicles from all EU countries, which could remove the need for registration of vehicles that comply with the LEZ-criteria, and thus reduce the administrative burden for foreign vehicle owners and city administrations.

443.There are different types of UVAR. Low Emission Zones restrict access by the most polluting vehicles to a specific area within a city. The Commission is currently aware of over 300 low-emission areas. 293 Designating a certain area as a LEZ or environmental zone can result in a substantial decrease of emissions within the LEZ and therefore are a tool to reduce air pollution in cities. Often LEZs are implemented where and when EU air quality standards are breached 294 .

444.There are also congestion charging schemes, different types of parking regulations, and a growing trend towards other traffic restriction schemes, such as Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, roads which offer priority to cyclists or pedestrians, or pedestrian only zones. The Commission has received fewer concerns about such schemes.

652.Achieving the Green Deal in the field of mobility, making full use of digitalisation and maintaining the EU industry’s global competitiveness cannot happen without research and innovation support. 412  For example, R&D investments in the automotive industry reached EUR 57.4 billion in 2018, i.e. 28% of EU spending (source ACEA)  413 , mainly on clean vehicles and also a large amount spent on digitalisation and mobility of the future. There is currently a risk of significant decrease in the R&D effort which has major spill-over and cross-fertilisation effects for other sectors of the EU economy and competitiveness.

653.The research and innovation framework programme Horizon 2020 already deployed EUR 5 billion for the period 2014-2020 to develop and test innovative solutions for seamless, green, integrated, inclusive, affordable, safe, secure and resilient transport systems. Furthermore, research and close-to-market innovation is supported by the European Regional Development Fund, within the framework of Smart Specialisation. By investing in both technology and socio-economic research, pooling resources and sharing risks, the programme supported improving the transport sector’s efficiency in the use of natural resources and reducing its dependence on fossil fuels, thus reducing its environmental impact while sustaining the European transport manufacturing industries and related services to maintain or take worldwide leadership. Facilitating strategic planning and a trans-national approach to common European and global problems, it tackled growing mobility needs for people and goods and enabled public acceptance and uptake of new technologies. 414

654. However, challenges still persist as far as the full innovation cycle from policy-based need for research to large market deployment is concerned. The transport sector requires a close alignment between R&I initiatives for specific modes and a systemic approach towards a multimodal integrated transport system that is safe, secure, efficient, affordable, sustainable and based on user needs for hassle-free door-to-door passenger mobility and freight transport. However, this is still not the case.

655.There is currently still an insufficiently strong pathway between R&I projects, policy development and the market introduction of innovation. Furthermore the coordination needed between EU and national funding programmes (where about 80% of public R&I funding is programmed) is not yet optimal.

656.The transport sector with its large assets (esp. aircraft, trains, vessels) and long-term investment cycles for infrastructure (roads, rail, ports, inland waterways, airports and traffic management) also requires specific strategic approaches for large scale innovation deployment. It is expected that this can best be achieved by specific public-private partnerships such as in aviation (Clean Sky and SESAR) and rail (Shift2Rail), if accompanied by a suitable regulatory framework and market measures to ensure uptake of results. Similar initiatives are being investigated to achieve zero emission waterborne transport and for connected, cooperative and automated mobility as well as clean road transport. 415

657.Under Horizon 2020 416 and in the framework of smart specialisation thematic platforms 417 , partnerships have successfully engaged major, strategic industrial partners in research and innovation in the respective industrial sectors, thus becoming important drivers for a systemic transformation strengthening Europe's competitiveness. They helped respond to major socio-economic challenges in areas where well-identified market risks and fragmentation require a long-term concerted effort. They also linked activities across the innovation cycle, from research outcomes to closer-to-market activities, facilitating the creation of an internal market for innovative technologies, products and services. These partnerships will have to strengthen even further their impact, accelerating research, development and demonstrations of innovative technologies and operational solutions as well as increasing market uptake. They are expected to develop close synergies with national and regional initiatives, acting as dynamic change agents, strengthening linkages within their respective ecosystems and along the value chains, as well as pooling resources and efforts towards the common EU objectives.

658.The need for systemic change in transport also requires a new approach between innovations in those sectors relevant for this transformation. The decarbonisation of transport can only be successful in close collaboration with the energy sector and its work on smart electric grids, batteries and production of innovation alternative fuels (hydrogen, biofuels, and synthetic fuels). Digitalisation and automation in transport relies on technology transfer and application of latest technologies in the areas of big data, artificial intelligence as well as information and communication technologies.

660.Mastering the threefold challenges of GHG neutrality, digitalisation and competitiveness requires much higher efforts and funding for R&I than in the past. A more integrated approach has been proposed with a common R&I cluster on climate, energy and mobility. EU support to R&I will be vital to avoid fragmented approaches and prepare larger European markets for innovation uptake. Financial instruments such as blending under InvestEU or under the EIC can leverage private innovation deployment funding.

661.In addition, so far the EU has not yet developed a coherent policy and research framework related to “mobility of the future” innovations. Often cross-modal, and not so long ago only abstract ideas, technological breakthroughs and innovative business models requiring new policy and regulatory solutions are maturing at a very fast pace with physical prototypes and projects springing around.

662. Furthermore, mobility is facing a massive transformation, as new digital technologies enable innovative related businesses. As such, a redesign of conventional siloed approaches to transportation modes and mobility is taking place, blurring the traditional roles. This phenomenon is amplified with the entrance of new actors from other sectors.

663.Hyperloop for example 418 , is a concept which essentially allows the transport of people and goods at very high speeds via magnetically levitated (mag-lev) pods in vacuum tubes. Potential speeds of over 1000 km/h are in theory possible. Thus it could potentially compete with aviation over long distances – while being electrically powered and thus readily decarbonised.

664.The technology is still at an early development stage, with its true economic and technical feasibility still to be demonstrated. Nevertheless, given its potential it is important that the EU can help to assess the potential of the new technology and potential services and can support the development of a suitable regulatory, standardisation, safety and interoperability framework.

665.At the same time some of the brightest engineers in the world are racing to make previously science fiction personal air vehicles a reality. While none are ready to fly yet commercially, some industry representatives point to the possibility to having them ready in the near future, with tests starting as early as 2020/2021. 419

666.While many of Europe’s strategic competitors have pushed ahead with developing an enabling environment for emerging technologies, the case for Europe to become the test bed and pilot deployment destination for these innovative and potentially game-changing technologies is not obvious. While inventors and investors are ready to test them, it is often not clear how these new transport means should be approached from a regulatory point of view, in particular, with respect to traditional vs adaptive and flexible regulatory responses. The EU is often considered too complex and not ‘friendly’ enough to deploy new ideas. EU Member States may also be tempted to proceed on their own to gain a competitive edge and avoid lengthy coordination processes.