MEPs on the European Parliament’s transport committee voted mainly in favour (31 to 2) of an own-initiative report drawn up by István Ujhelyi (S&D, Hungary) on the future of mobility in the European Union, pointing out the benefits of new technology for transport.
The outcome of the vote was unsurprising since the compromise amendments were backed by most of Parliament’s political families.
The own-initiative report follows on from three presentation of a communication by the European Commission on 31 May 2017, attached to the proposals in the first mobility package (see EUROPE 11799). The text recognises that the digital revolution has to be at the heart of action to make road transport cleaner and safer in line with the European Union’s objectives.
In order to achieve this in the appropriate manner, MEPs feel that the European Commission and the member states should boost financing for research and ensure professional training in this domain. They call for the future multiannual financial framework (MFF) to ensure a speeding up of the deployment of new technology in transport. In this connection, the Commission recently unveiled the EU's draft budget and the budget for the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for 2021-2027 (see EUROPE 12013, 12035).
The own-initiative report also highlights the social and societal impacts of the digitalising of transport, particularly regarding autonomous and connected vehicles. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)