The European Union stands at a crossroads in its mobility ambitions. While having some of the world's most advanced transport networks, the bloc still grapples with fragmented cross-border connections, ageing infrastructure, a heavy reliance on road and air travel, as well as fossil fuels that undermine its climate goals.
The path forward is full of obstacles — from mobilising hundreds of billions in investment and harmonising 27 different national systems, to overcoming regulatory bottlenecks and convincing both industry and citizens to embrace the shift.
As the bloc races against time to meet its climate commitments, the question is no longer whether Europe can transform its mobility landscape — but whether it can do so fast enough.
The vast majority of EU citizens (75 percent) live in cities and urban areas, with that number expected to grow in the next decades.
With many cities having problems with congestion and bad air quality, the primary focus for changes in mobility lies in cities and how they are connected with their neighbouring rural areas.
“The role that cars have in the city will diminish in the future," Thomas Lymes, policy director at Eurocities, told EUobserver. "They will have to be zero emission, because cities have ambitions in terms of climate, in terms of air quality. It's about really providing alternatives.”
EU law stipulates that all new cars sold from 2035 must emit zero emissions, effectively banning the sale of combustion engines. But there has been mounting pressure from industry and governments, including Germany, Italy and Slovakia, for reconsideration.
The Commission’s review of the legislation, originally planned for 2026, has been moved up to the end of 2025.
One of the alternatives for high-emission, individual transport is public transport, and thus, that is the focus of the mobility transition.
Marc Rozendal, the CEO of European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Urban Mobility, sees autonomous or self-driving vehicles as a solution for many problems faced right now.
“Hopefully, with the introduction of these kinds of new technologies and new trends, that can also tackle connecting rural with urban areas,” he said.
EU-backed trials are putting self-driving electric buses on city streets, aiming to make public transport cheaper, greener, and more accessible.
Initiatives like ULTIMO are deploying electric, self‑driving minibuses in European cities, such as Herford (Germany), Groruddalen in Oslo (Norway) and Geneva (Switzerland) to cut costs, reduce emissions, and improve access to public transport for residents.
Meanwhile, the European Commission adopted a transport package called the High-Speed Rail Action Plan on Wednesday (5 November).
The idea is to better and faster connect European cities by 2040 in a more sustainable way. Concretely, the commission wants to cut the duration between Sofia to Athens from 13 hours and 40 minutes to six hours.
“Imagine travelling between Berlin and Copenhagen in four hours instead of seven. The train would definitely be preferred to the plane," EU commissioner for sustainable transport and tourism Apostolos Tzitzikostas said on Wednesday.
However, according to a 2023 Greenpeace report, train tickets are on average twice the price of flights, pointing out that price remains a major barrier to shifting passengers from air to rail.
The strategy also aims to boost EU high-speed rail by enhancing cross-border cooperation like ticket-booking systems, mobilising investment through a "High-Speed Rail Deal," improving regulatory conditions and digital systems for operators, and strengthening EU-level coordination on infrastructure and standardisation.
The European Commission estimates it will cost about €345bn to complete the planned TEN-T high-speed rail network by 2040. Other studies suggest that expanding it even further — to triple the current size with trains running at 250 km/h or more — could cost up to €546bn.
In the future, European mobility could be dominated by zero-emission public transport, a focus on cyclists and pedestrians and possibly more autonomous driven vehicles.
But challenges remain.
The ambitions in Europe are high, but cities struggle with space, budget and resentment from some citizens.
Every year, Eurocities, a network of Europe’s 200 largest cities, polls the group's mayors to find out what their biggest concerns are.
This year, they found that the fight against climate change remains one of the top priorities and, when it comes to mobility, urban areas put a lot of emphasis on making their transport more sustainable — but the money is scarce.
A big challenge policy director Lymes sees in cities is “convincing citizens to change their habits. It takes time and effort. And if you don't invest in getting your citizens on board, then you create backlash. We've seen it in certain cities.”
But beyond technology, one of the greatest challenges to mobility change is people.
A new study examined psychological factors in mobility transitions. People prefer familiar routines and fear losing convenience, which significantly hinders modal shifts.
Behaviour change requires positive first-hand experiences with the alternatives. Effective interventions must combine incentives with structural measures like improved infrastructure and supportive policies.
The EIT paid for flight and hotel fees that partly allowed this kind of reporting.
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Hannah Kriwak is a junior reporter from Austria at EUobserver, covering European politics.
Hannah Kriwak is a junior reporter from Austria at EUobserver, covering European politics.