European policies significantly influence the transport systems in each country of the EU and even beyond it, as we can see from several OPSTE bulletins through the example of Switzerland.
With the Green Deal and the priority given to decarbonization of the economy, the 2019-2024 European mandate elevated transport policy issues rise to the highest level in the EU agenda, with a proactive legislative momentum which involved all modes of transport.
Transport world observers and actors could thus assume that transport policy issues would find a new and more obvious place in the debates of the Member States in spring 2024.
A new place for transport in the electoral debate?
But almost nothing came of it. Transport issues played a very limited role in the debates in preparation for the elections held between June 6 and 9 in the Member States, except for one very particular point involving high economic, social and even ideological stakes, crystallizing objections: the decision made by the EU to ban the sale of new combustion engine automobiles starting in 2035.
The OPSTE experts met in a video conference in July 2024 to carry out an analysis and to put this into perspective for nine countries (Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Poland, Romania, and Switzerland). Transport/Europe bulletin #11 offers you a summary of this.
Consult or download bulletin #11:
- The Place of Transport in the European Elections of June 2024: Transport/Europe bulletin #11
- La place des transports dans les élections européennes de juin 2024: le bulletin Transport/Europe #11
This work was nourished by the thinking of the Scientific Council of TDIE for the preparation of its questions for the candidates for the European elections in France. The complete file is available in French:
- Quelle politique européenne des transports demain? 18 questions aux candidats – TDIE
- Les réponses au questionnaire de TDIE – TDIE
The editorial and the questionnaire for the candidates, which could be adapted to many European countries and which offer a formulation of the major stakes in the orientation of European transport policy for the coming years, are available in English.
And now, what are the orientations for European transport policy?
As we were publishing this work, the new college of commissioners was just being approved by a vote of the European Parliament. Each commissioner is now preparing to act. The actors and stakeholders in the world of transport are impatiently waiting to see what first initiatives will be taken by the Commission.
To accompany this bulletin, TDIE offers you an overview of the first signals from the Commission concerning transport (these two documents are only available in French):
- Wait and see pour les transports et le climat au démarrage du mandat européen 2024-2029
- Quelle feuille de route pour Apostolos Tzitzikostas, commissaire désigné aux transports? Une feuille de route fortement marquée par les propositions des rapports rendu par E. Letta au printemps 2024 et M. Draghi début septembre 2024
These two documents published by the journal TI&M (Transports, Infrastructures & Mobilité) were produced within the framework of the strategic European watch carried out by Cécile Combette-Murin for TDIE.
