On Friday 20 November, the European Commission published its inception impact assessment on revision of Regulation 1315/2013 on Union guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network (TEN-T). The Commission plans to present a legislative proposal on this matter by the end of summer 2021.
The main aim of this initiative is to tackle three problems: the TEN-T’s ineffectiveness in reducing the sector’s greenhouse gas emissions, its lack of preparedness for the digital transition in transport, and its lack of resilience.
Climate target. First, the Commission believes that the current TEN-T Regulation will not achieve the 90% reduction in emissions from the transport sector by 2050 as set out in the European Green Deal.
The Commission points out that transport “accounts for a quarter of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions” and is still the worst performer in terms of environmental impact: emissions from the sector “only started to decrease in 2007 and still remain higher than in 1990”.
The aim of this revision of the Regulation is therefore to tackle the inadequate quality of infrastructure (see EUROPE 12599/14), persistent bottlenecks, mainly caused by the delay in implementing the TEN-T (see EUROPE 12507/18), or the “inappropriate” rollout of infrastructure for recharging and refuelling with alternative fuels, which has an impact on the market penetration of low and zero emission vehicles and vessels.
Digital dimension. The Commission also criticises the “insufficient focus on the digital dimension of TEN-T”, and would like to see it better prepared for emerging technological concepts such as automation, drones, digital freight logistics, and digital passenger mobility services.
Resilience to crises. This revision of the Regulation will also contribute to making infrastructure more resilient, particularly in the light of extreme weather events, new safety and security risks, deteriorating infrastructure, and civil protection requirements, such as in the event of a pandemic (see EUROPE 12449/1).
In the final part of its assessment, the Commission refers to the draft European Parliament own-initiative report on this matter, which was presented in September (see EUROPE 12552/3). The political groups are currently finalising the text, which will be put to the vote in the European Parliament Transport Committee (TRAN) next Monday, 30 November.
The Commission’s impact assessment can be found at: https://bit.ly/3pXBtNs (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)