Efficient transport is a fundamental condition for sustainable prosperity in Europe. Transport provides citizens with essential means of mobility and contributes to employment, growth and global exports. The European transport industry represents 6.3% of the Union’s GDP and employs nearly 13 million people.

However, our transport systems and habits are too dependent on oil, which will become scarcer and is a serious polluter of our planet. Transport accounts for about 63% of oil consumption and 29% of all CO2 emissions.

Unless the present trends are corrected, the economic costs of traffic congestion will increase by about 50% by 2050, the accessibility gap between central and peripheral areas will widen and the social costs of accidents and pollution will continue to rise.