Mobility and transport

The proposal for a European Declaration on Cycling, adopted on 4 October, aims to unleash the full potential of cycling in the EU. The declaration sets out clear commitments, such as safe and coherent cycling networks in cities and better links with public transport, which are necessary to improve the quality, quantity, continuity and attractiveness of cycling infrastructure across all Member States.

The European Commission welcomes the signature of three grant agreements under the Connecting Europe Facility for Transport worth almost €45 million to improve transport connections between Moldova and Romania along the trans-European transport network (TEN-T). These investments will strengthen the EU-Ukraine Solidarity Lanes used since Russia's blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea ports to transport Ukraine's and Moldova's exports and imports.

The approval of the revised Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) Directive will make high-quality and timely data available for services such as multimodal journey planners, navigation platforms, and emergency services. Access to better data will allow more effective management of traffic and mobility across transport modes, enabling users to better combine the most sustainable modes of transport.

The Commission announced the winners of the 2023 Excellence in Road Safety Awards, recognising the best contributions by the European Road Safety Charter's community of organisations, authorities and companies towards safer roads across Europe. Nearly 80 road safety initiatives were nominated, with 15 projects from Belgium, Czechia, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Austria, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia being shortlisted.

We welcome the final adoption of the ReFuelEU Aviation Regulation, requiring aviation fuel suppliers to blend increasing amounts of sustainable aviation fuels with kerosene. The measure is expected to reduce aviation CO2 emissions by around two thirds by 2050 compared to a ‘no action’ scenario, and to improve air quality.

The Commission published the eighth Rail Market Monitoring Report (RMMS) on the state of the EU rail market covering data from 2015-2020, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sector. The report includes data on rail traffic, competition in the market, employment, environmental impact, and infrastructure.

The 20,640 deaths on EU roads in 2022 represented a 4% increase in relation to 2021, as traffic levels recovered after the pandemic. While the underlying long-term trend is downward (-9% compared to pre-pandemic year), it is not decreasing at a fast enough pace to reach the EU target of halving the number of deaths by 2030.

On Wednesday 6 December, transport will be on the agenda of the COP28, and the EU Pavilion will be all about transport too, with panels discussing the role and contribution of transport in fighting climate change at a global level. Topics will range from the climate change resilience of transport infrastructure to the role of hydrogen and critical raw materials to bring down transport emissions. We hope you will be able to attend the EU Transport Day and evening reception! Save the date – registration will open soon!

DG MOVE is pleased to invite you to our upcoming workshop for the seafaring profession: “The impact on maritime safety of seafarers’ living and working conditions, education and training.” The event will take place in Brussels.

Save the date for Europe’s mobility flagship event! Connecting Europe Days will bring together politicians, financial institutions, industry representatives, transport stakeholders and the Commission to discuss concrete measures and exchange good practices on creating a fully decarbonised, resilient, seamless and digital transport and mobility network in Europe.

Apply now! The aim of the call for proposals is to support the deployment of alternative fuel supply infrastructure, contributing to the decarbonisation of transport along the TEN-T network.

The 2023 CEF Transport call for proposals makes over €7 billion available for projects targeting new, upgraded and improved European transport infrastructure on the trans-European transport network (TEN-T). Projects funded under these calls will involve rail, inland waterways, maritime or inland ports, and roads.