The European Union proposed a set of measures to clean up freight transportation as part of a sweeping strategy to make the bloc climate neutral.
The European Commission wants to improve rail infrastructure management, offer new incentives for zero-emission vehicles, and provide better tools for companies to calculate their carbon footprint, according to a statement Tuesday. These will help the EU toward its target of cutting transport emissions by 90% by the middle of the century.
“Freight transport in the EU is responsible for an annual turnover of 938 billion euros, and through our initiatives, we want to increase the availability of rail capacity for freight and cross-border trains,” Transport Commissioner Adina Vălean said. “We instate an accurate, homogeneous system of counting emissions from transport operations, and we make road transport more efficient.”
The decision complements the Green Deal, the EU’s wider strategy to decarbonise the economy by 2050. Freight transportation contributes significantly to climate change, accounting for more than 30% of carbon dioxide emissions in the sector, according to the commission.
The package comes a day before a crucial vote in the European Parliament on a draft nature restoration law, another element of the Green Deal. The biggest political group in the assembly said it would oppose it amid concerns about costs for the ambitious transition.
The main proposals under the transportation package, which needs support from the European Parliament and member states to take effect, are listed below:
| Type of transportation | Measures |
| Rail | Package aims to harmonise international rail traffic. The new framework for cross-border coordination will allow infrastructure managers to plan timetables, maintenance works and allocation of capacity. Cross-border coordination will also provide new long-distance services. |
| Road | The commission proposed revising rules on maximum dimensions for heavy-duty vehicles to allow for additional weight for those using zero-emission technologies. It wants to encourage the uptake of more aerodynamic cabins and other energy-saving devices. |
| Carbon footprint | Package includes a proposal on common methodology for companies to calculate their greenhouse gas emissions if they want to publish this information, a move that will increase transparency. |
