July Developments In The Transport Sector

Decarbonisation of transport is at an early stage notwithstanding the significant contribution this sector is likely to be required to make to cutting harmful greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. The urgent need for change is reflected in the rapid pace of law and policy development aimed at increasing public transport capacity and active travel infrastructure, as well as replacing fossil fuels with fuels from renewable sources. Here we identify some of the main developments over the past month.

At EU level, the European Commission proposed a Council Regulation enabling the exemption from prior notification under EU State aid rules of certain types of aid for rail, inland waterway and multimodal transport. The Commission aims to increase legal certainty and reduce the administrative burden in relation to national aid measures supporting a shift of freight and passengers from road to less polluting transport solutions. The proposal seeks to address a gap in