The rail sector's priorities for the European Green Deal 15/11/19

The rail sector's priorities for the European Green Deal

The EU and its Member States should implement a number of policy measures to set transport on a path to full decarbonisation by 2050, with a modal shift to rail, effective tools to implement 'user pays' and 'polluter pays' principles and proper funding for clean mobility. European railways are therefore proposing priority measures for the upcoming European Green Deal.

European railways are calling on the European Commission, Parliament and Member States to agree on a strong European Green Deal, one that will help to progressively reduce to net-zero the greenhouse gas emissions from transport and from the wider economy by 2050 at the latest. As the existing green mode of motorised transport – thanks to very low externalities, high degrees of electrification and increasingly zero-carbon operation – they can greatly help greening transport. The European Green Deal should support their contribution.

Overarching policies: With the European Green Deal, the EU and Member States should set ambitious, but realistic milestones 2030/40/50 for decarbonising EU transport. A shift to rail should be supported, for rail freight with an action plan of EU and national measures, for passengers with support for a shift to rail particularly in the case of cross-border travel up to 1,000 km. Marginal social-cost pricing should be promoted in transport, i.e. implement the principles of 'polluter pays' and 'user pays'.

Financing and funding: It is important to significantly increase the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) budget for transport. Besides developing rail infrastructure, investment is specifically required for electrifying further rail tracks, further digitalising railways and further reducing rail freight noise. Robust funding should be provided for railway research and innovation. A scale-up of private investment in rail projects should be facilitated.

A level playing field for rail: To allow rail to compete with other transport modes on an equal footing, the European Green Deal should help implement robust carbon pricing for transport across the EU. Specifically, it should allow taxing energy used in international aviation or maritime shipping and end subsidies for flying. Moreover, it should make road charging more comprehensive.

Other priority policies for the European Green Deal include promoting low-emission transport in Erasmus+ programmes, improving cross-border interoperability by swiftly implementing the TEN-T-Regulation, increasing interconnectivity between rail and road and mainstreaming the European Green Deal across all EU policies, to boost the energy transition and develop sustainable cities.