The new Commission has given immediate attention to the issue of environmental sustainability and climate neutrality (to be achieved by 2050), accelerating the process of reducing pollutant emissions planned for 2030.
As a sector with a high environmental impact, transport is naturally also affected by this strategy. The European Commission has therefore set a 90% reduction target compared to current levels which are, unlike other sectors, on the increase.
To achieve this objective, the Commission proposes to review the TEN-T policy in 2021, introducing a specific strategy for smart and sustainable mobility from 2020.
Multimodality will become one of the major areas of investment in this sense. The Commission is considering withdrawing the regulation on combined transport to present a new one during the 2021-2027 programming period. Moreover, it intends to incentivize connected mobility and Mobility as a Service (MaaS) solutions also through a reconsideration of the support mechanisms for the funding available through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).
The strategic guidelines, which will have an impact on EU transport measures, have been drawn up, although all this will of course have to be translated into operational objectives and funding schemes for the next programming period 2021-2027.
The intersectoral relationship between transport, energy and telecommunications is increasingly emerging as a key element in infrastructure support. Nowadays, infrastructure is not only considered from a physical and constructive point of view. It is increasingly becoming a critical factor in a network made up of information, goods/passenger and energy flows.
The Green new deal puts all this in a climate neutrality perspective, which is even more radical than the environmental sustainability required in the 2014-2020 programme.
The transport sector, which is responsible for 25% of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions and which for the time being has gone against the trend towards a general reduction in pollution from Member States, will once again be under the spotlight in relation to these goals of efficiency and eco-sustainability.
The development of infrastructure and networks cannot therefore disregard these scenarios, which not only concern new infrastructure, but also and above all existing infrastructure and its adaptation to climate change.