EUobserver takes a deep dive into the workings and new chairs of every single European Parliament committee for the new 2024-2029 session, in a series of articles first published in our print magazine of October 2024
At the heart of the EU’s green industrial agenda is transport and the next five years will see EU lawmakers under pressure to turn the ambitious targets set out for the industry into reality.
Elisssvet Vozemberg-Vrionidi, a Greek conservative lawmaker who was elected in July to lead the European Parliament’s transport and tourism committee, said that the next five years are “crucial” with the EU “facing many challenges in both the transport and tourism sector".
Vozemberg-Vrionidi told EUobserver that the transport policy agenda will likely be dominated by three strands: “increasing the sector’s competitiveness by further expanding EU-wide transport connectivity, ensuring the sustainability of transportation in order to achieve our crucial climate targets, and continuing ensuring and enhancing passenger rights and safety.”
A raft of laws aimed at greening and decarbonising transport were adopted in the last mandate, aiming to reduce the environmental footprint of the transport sector, while supporting the development of clean technologies and energy sources.
The Fit-for-55 package, which was finally adopted in October 2023, established new targets to cut emissions in the transport sector by 55 percent by 2030 and introduced incentives for the uptake of low-carbon and renewable fuels (and related infrastructure).
The EU Commission has focused its transport policies on the electrification of vehicles and zero-emissions solutions for rail, while prioritising the uptake of renewable and low-carbon fuels for aviation and maritime.
Elsewhere, lawmakers adopted new rules on alternative fuels, and the extension of the EU Emissions Trading System to road, air, and waterborne transport.
But if the last legislature was about getting the Fit-for-55 laws onto the statute book, many expect the von der Leyen executive’s second term to be about the delivery and implementation of the new regime.
Vozemberg-Vrionidi appears to concur. “I hope that our most important achievement is efficiency in the legislative process,” the Greek MEP told EUobserver.
“We hope for better implementation of the legislative work that has already been agreed upon, and will work towards ensuring that there will be sufficient funds for transport and tourism in the upcoming multi-annual financial framework (the EU’s next long-term budget),” she added.
Tourism policy is often overlooked at EU level, but the file is likely to get more prominence in the second term von der Leyen commission, which includes a new Sustainable Transport and Tourism portfolio, recognising tourism as a vital sector for the EU in her mission statement.
Apostolos Tzitzikostas, a fellow Greek conservative, has been designated to take on the portfolio, though his mission letter from von der Leyen is dominated by transport commitments.
Among the most notable items in the new commissioner’s in-tray will be drawing up an EU industrial plan for the automotive sector, a blueprint for a new high-speed rail network connecting Europe’s cities and, crucially, rapidly expanding the bloc’s charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.
“As for tourism, I expect that the most important item on the agenda will concern eco-tourism,” says Vozemberg-Vrionidi.
“We will be working together towards finding the right balance between promoting tourism, an industry of essential nature to the EU economy, and protecting our diverse cultural heritage, unique natural environment and local communities,” she concluded.
The TRAN coordinators are: Jens Gieseke (PP, Germany), Johan Danielsson (S&D, Sweden), Roman Haider (PfE, Austria), Jan-Christoph Oetjen (Renew), Kai Tegethoff (Greens, Germany), Roberts Zīle (ECR, Latvia), Merja Kyllönen (The Left, Finland) and Siegbert Frank Droese (ESN, Germany).
Benjamin Fox is a seasoned reporter and editor, previously working for fellow Brussels publication Euractiv. His reporting has also been published in the Guardian, the East African, Euractiv, Private Eye and Africa Confidential, among others. He heads up the AU-EU section at EUobserver, based in Nairobi, Kenya.
Benjamin Fox is a seasoned reporter and editor, previously working for fellow Brussels publication Euractiv. His reporting has also been published in the Guardian, the East African, Euractiv, Private Eye and Africa Confidential, among others. He heads up the AU-EU section at EUobserver, based in Nairobi, Kenya.