Opinion on General budget of the European Union for the financial year 2025 - all sections

05.09.2024

Mr Johan Van Overtveldt

Chair

Committee on Budgets

BRUSSELS

Subject: Opinion on General budget of the European Union for the financial year 2025 - all sections (2024/0176(BUD))

Dear Chair,

Under the procedure referred to above, the Committee on Transport and Tourism has been asked to submit an opinion to your committee. At its meeting of 24 July 2024, the committee decided to send the opinion in the form of a letter.

The Committee on Transport and Tourism considered the matter at its meeting of 4 September 2024. At that meeting, it decided to submit the opinion set out below to the Committee on Budgets, as the committee responsible.

Yours sincerely,

(signed) Elissavet VozembergVrionidi

OPINION

A. Whereas the Connecting Europe Facility for Transport (CEF-T) is the main European instrument for strategic investment in infrastructure development along the TEN-T network that enables the improvement and modernisation of the EU network of roads, railways, inland waterways, maritime routes, urban nodes, ports, airports and terminals as well as transformation thereof into an interconnected, safe, smart and sustainable European transport system; whereas the recently concluded revision of the Regulation on TEN-T guidelines confirmed the obligation to finalise the core network by 2030, the extended core network by 2040 and the comprehensive network by 2050;

B. Whereas the new geopolitical situation brought about by Russia’s illegal and unjustified war against Ukraine highlighted the importance of a well-connected military mobility network with shorter reaction times as well as secure, sustainable, and resilient transport infrastructure and capabilities;

C. Whereas the EU-Ukraine Solidarity Lanes are laying the ground for the longer-term connectivity between the EU and Ukraine and will be fundamental to Ukraine’s reconstruction and integration into the Single Market; whereas CEF has been instrumental to the funding of the critical border needs and taking initial steps toward the integration of Ukraine’s and Moldova’s transport systems into the EU’s TEN-T network; whereas significant progress has also been made in transitioning to the European standard gauge, contributing to the creation of an interoperable EU railway system;

D. Whereas the ongoing crisis in the Red Sea has disrupted the global maritime transport network, underscoring the critical importance of ensuring resilient and sustainable maritime supply chains for the Union, in alignment with the objectives of the European Maritime Space as established under the revised TEN-T guidelines;

E. Whereas, despite the repeated calls of the European Parliament, membership of Bulgaria and Romania in the Schengen area remains limited to the air and sea routes; whereas staying outside of the Schengen’s land borders affects commuters, transport companies and tourism operators, disrupting the free flow of people, goods and services across the EU and ultimately hampering smooth functioning of the Single Market;

F. Whereas most new legislation applying to the transport sector implies additional responsibilities for the Union transport agencies, which indicates that appropriate funding thereof should match this growing level of their responsibility, but should not come at the expense of the CEF-T envelope; whereas ensuring adequate budget for the transport-related joint undertakings as driving forces behind innovation and development in the field of transport is equally important;

G. Whereas the Commission’s 2021 Industrial Strategy identified tourism as one of the main industrial ecosystems in the EU; whereas tourism was among the sectors hit hardest by several successive crises, including COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine; whereas it is heavily affected by the climate change; whereas addressing these challenges requires a coordinated approach at the EU level and appropriate funding;

1. Calls for an increase to CEF-T funding, notably in view of the cuts from the previous years as well as the rise in construction and raw material prices, which could ultimately augment the foreseen budget of projects; points out the substantial investment needs for the construction, maintenance and upgrading of infrastructure, for increased cross-border transport capacity for a sustainable and resilient air and maritime transport network, and for their efficient use to eliminate bottlenecks and missing links, to support the objective of transport decarbonisation and to provide high quality services to citizens as well as to businesses; in this context, draws particular attention to the funding required for the deployment of alternative fuels supply infrastructure, such as publicly accessible electric recharging pools, biofuels, and hydrogen refuelling stations across the EU’s main transport corridors and hubs;

2. Calls for sufficient resources to reduce regional disparities by supporting the completion of the TEN-T network in the countries benefiting from the Cohesion Fund; calls for an increase to Just Transition Fund (JTF), which invests in safe, sustainable and resilient transport infrastructure in the most affected – sparsely populated and rural, environmentally vulnerable and disadvantaged – areas, contributing to the promotion of affordable and accessible, smart and sustainable mobility services as well as the up- and reskilling of workers in the transport sector;

3. Insists that, following the drastic, more than four-fold reduction of the military mobility budget compared to EUR 6,5 bln. initially foreseen for the whole period of MFF 2021–2027, it is crucial to restore it at least on the basis of the Commission’s original proposal which has received full support from European Parliament; stresses that the Russian aggression demonstrates the need to upgrade the dual use transport infrastructure along the Europe’s military mobility network, adapting, where necessary, parts of the TEN-T infrastructure to a dual use in order to address both civilian and defence needs, paying particular attention to the itineraries needed for short-notice and large-scale movements of military forces;

4. Stresses the importance of the projects aiming for a greater capacity along the EU-Ukraine Solidarity Lanes, which include improvements of the rail, road transport and inland waterways infrastructure between Ukraine, Moldova and the EU, such as works to increase capacity on rail border crossings, new road sections as well as studies and work to integrate the Ukrainian railways into the EU rail system;

5. Recalls that Bulgaria and Romania have continuously acted as key contributors to the internal security of the Schengen area; stresses that their partial accession to the Schengen area negatively affects not only freedom of movement but also the objectives of the EU transport policy and draws particular attention to the economic losses experienced by the two countries as a result of increased transport costs and delays as well as reduced trade and tourism;

6. Recalls that the EU Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is a major force behind the efforts to support the resilience and future evolution of the aviation sector, and to guarantee a high level of safe and sustainable air transport; therefore, regrets the decrease in the budgetary allocations for EASA and calls to provide adequate funding to the Agency in view of its new responsibilities, particularly stemming from its role under the ReFuelEU Aviation regulation and the recently agreed reform of the Single European Sky;

7. Notes that the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) already performs functions that are not covered by its current budget; stresses the importance of ensuring the continuous enhancement of the THETIS-MRV system; recalls the expected upgrading of the Agency’s role and tasks in the relevant fields of response to marine pollution caused by ships, and the possibility of including spills from gas and oil installations; reminds of pending interinstitutional negotiations on the new EMSA regulation aiming to strengthen the Agency’s role in serving EU maritime interests for a safe, secure, sustainable and competitive maritime sector; in this context, calls to provide EMSA with additional resources that are commensurate to its mandate;

8. Deplores that at the time when the EU is set on increasing the share of passenger and freight rail transport, with concrete targets for 2030 under its Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy, the budget of the EU Agency for Railways (ERA) remains unacceptably low; recalls the number of severe rail accidents in the past years and the manifest absence of an adequate incident reporting framework in the EU; notes that the Agency requires adequate resources at the height of its tasks, including its strengthened oversight role in shifting passenger and cargo transport from road to rail, removing cross-border bottlenecks and inefficiencies, deploying European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) and supporting TEN-T completion objectives, especially along cross-border sections; in view of the above, calls for a significant increase to the Agency’s budget to enable better monitoring and enforcement of safety requirements and ensure that the upcoming regulatory obligations defined in the Commission proposal for the rail capacity regulation are met;

9. Reiterates that the Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking (CAJU) is central to the successful and timely deployment of globally competitive new aircraft with disruptive performance gains for increased sustainability of aviation; welcomes the increase in the budgetary allocation to CAJU, however, calls for an additional increase in view of its needs related to the preparation for the flight demonstration phase and bringing its research closer to the market;

10. Stresses that the establishment of SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking under the Horizon Europe programme recognised the importance of air traffic management in building smarter, safer and more sustainable aviation; recalls that SESAR 3 JU is expected to contribute to strengthening the competitiveness of Europe’s aviation industry and the establishment of European airspace as the most efficient and environmentally friendly sky in the world; therefore, asks for an increase to ensure the continuity of this ambitious work;

11. Recalls that the Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking (EU-Rail) is at the core of transforming the European rail system into a high capacity integrated network and achievement of the Single European Rail Area, which facilitates a shift of passenger and cargo transport from road to rail; calls for a significant increase to support a fast transition to a more efficient and sustainable European rail system, integrated into the wider mobility system;

12. Recalls, as reported in the recently approved TEN-T Guidelines, the importance to finance a masterplan for the development of a European high-speed network to connect EU Capitals and major cities;

13. Reminds that hydrogen technologies and systems, particularly those based on renewable energy, have been identified by the Commission as a strategic value chain for Europe; stresses that the Clean Hydrogen Joint Undertaking is key to reinforcing competitiveness of the EU clean hydrogen value chain, in particular with a view to accelerating the market entry of innovative competitive clean solutions, which could primarily be used in hard-to-abate transport modes such as aviation and maritime; cautions against any decreases that could undermine strengthening strategic value chains for a future-ready EU transport;

14. Reiterates the long-lasting and regular call by the European Parliament to include a dedicated budget line for sustainable tourism in MFF 2021-2027 and beyond; stresses the need to support the recovery and modernisation of the sector in the context of the green and digital transition in order for tourism to become more sustainable and resilient; is convinced that this requires a coordinated response at the EU level, reflecting the importance of the tourism sector to the EU economy and workforce, backed by adequate budgetary means.

ANNEX: ENTITIES OR PERSONS FROM WHOM THE RAPPORTEUR HAS RECEIVED INPUT

The rapporteur for the opinion declares under his exclusive responsibility that he did not receive input from any entity or person to be mentioned in this Annex pursuant to Article 8 of Annex I to the Rules of Procedure.