Download European Transport Policy Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
Transport and mobility are crucial for Europe's economy and competitiveness as well as for all citizens. The transport industry directly employs more than 11 million people and thus accounts for about 5% of gross domestic product in the EU. Moreover, mobility has a major impact on the daily lives of European citizens, who spend approximately 13% of their household expenditure on transport. However, the transport sector is currently undergoing a number of profound technological, economic and social transformations, which challenge its traditional features. In order to turn these challenges into opportunities and modernise mobility and transport in Europe, the European Commission has recently come up with a major political initiative entitled Europe on the Move. This wide-ranging set of proposals - divided into three "mobility packages" published between May 2017 and May 2018 - reflects the EU's aim of making rapid progress towards the establishment, by 2025, of a clean, competitive and well-connected mobility system, which integrates all means of transport, spans the entire EU and connects it both with its immediate neighbours and the wider world. The European Economic and Social Committee carefully follows all developments and with its numerous transport opinions - almost twenty of them dealing specifically with Europe on the Move proposals - extensively contributes to shaping new policies in the European transport sector. These opinions are the result of the committed work of more than seventy members of the section that I have the honour of presiding over and, more specifically, of 13 rapporteurs. These members are making a significant contribution to EU's transport policy-making. This contribution is being made for, with and by European citizens, in consultation with various stakeholders (businesses, trade unions, consumer groups, environmentalists, etc.). At the same time, the Committee works in close cooperation with the European Commission and other EU institutions and bodies, in particular the European Parliament, whose Committee for Transport and Tourism invited six EESC rapporteurs to present the EESC's opinions on the first mobility package at its meeting of 22 and 23 January 2018. This brochure will provide you with an overview of the EESC's positions, conclusions and recommendations in the form of the eleven opinions adopted to date, referring to proposals released within the European Commission's first and second mobility packages.