Transport

Rail vs aviation, charging points rollout criticism, and measuring microplastics

Greetings and welcome to the EURACTIV transport newsletter! Below you’ll find the latest roundup of mobility news from across Europe. Want to suggest a story? Or just say a digital hello? Drop me a line at: sean.carroll@euractiv.com. Receive the Transport...

EU seeks ‘reliable’ method to measure microplastic pollution from tyres

An EU regulation on tyre labelling due to come into force on 1 May will not cover the rate at which tyres shed particles – a major contributor to microplastics in Europe – as an agreed method for the calculation of abrasion is still not in place.

The EU’s green fuels law uses tools from the combustion engine age. It’s time for a change

Green electricity seems set to be the transport fuel of the future, but an unwillingness to look beyond the internal combustion engine has led to a focus on biofuels. The EU should allow fuel suppliers to meet environmental targets with renewable electricity, writes Geert De Cock.

The EIB needs to support the transformation of EU mobility, not undermine it

The upcoming review of the EIB's transport policy provides an opportunity to shift public spending away from high-carbon and polluting projects to more sustainable transport modes such as trains, public transport, and cycling, writes Clara Bourgin.

France to ban some domestic flights where train available

French MPs have voted to suspend domestic airline flights on routes that can be travelled by direct train in less than two and a half hours, as part of a series of climate and environmental measures.

Airlines could use new EU COVID pass this summer, Reynders tells MEPs

Airlines could check new European Union COVID certificates before allowing onboard passengers going on summer holidays, a senior official said on Tuesday (13 April) as the bloc seeks to restart a travel sector ravaged by the pandemic.

Clean trucks, tyres recycling controversy, and a metro made of cars

Welcome to EURACTIV’s weekly Transport Brief – your one port of call for all the news moving the world and much more!

Space experts: Cheaper ‘real-time data’ needed for earth monitoring services

Satellites can help track things like extreme weather, forest stocks and methane emissions, but more and cheaper "near real-time data" is needed for next generation applications to emerge, say Miguel Bello and Ricardo Conde.

US vaccine ‘passports’ advance despite growing controversy

As the United States' vaccination campaign accelerates, so-called vaccine passports are gaining traction despite political divisions and a fragmented health care system that complicates the centralization of data.

Tyre industry and environmentalists lock horns over potential rubber infill ban

Green campaigners have warned that failure by the EU to designate rubber infill derived from tyres as a banned microplastic will lead to significant environmental harm – a claim the tyre and recycling industries strongly reject.

The EverGiven effect and the ‘controlled vote’ in Bulgaria 

This week on EURACTIV’s Yellow Room, we are talking about the EverGiven cargo ship blocking Egypt’s Suez Canal for nearly one week, the impact this had on transport and the economy before it was freed on Monday.

EU urged to keep ‘low-carbon fuels’ out of renewable energy mix

A group of 88 lawmakers in the European Parliament have joined environmental NGOs and the renewable energy industry to demand the exclusion of low-carbon fossil fuels from the upcoming revision of the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive.

Unblocking the Suez Canal, the Connecting Europe Express, and putting a price on road emissions

Welcome to EURACTIV’s weekly Transport Brief – your one port of call for all the news moving the world and much more!

Too big to sail? Suez incident latest evidence of risks of megaships

The grounding of the Ever Given has caught the public’s attention. But it’s just the latest example of an accident in an industry where losing control can have disastrous consequences, writes Albert de Hoop.

Commissioner supports modernising, expanding EU railways

European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reform Elisa Ferreira has expressed her support for expanding railways in the European Union, calling for investment in modernisation and regional connections.

MEPs, EU leaders put pedal to the metal to ready vaccine certificates for summer

EU lawmakers are picking up the pace in their race against the clock to have vaccine certificates ready for the summer, although technical problems need to be adressed.

Digital solutions can stem the economic toll of road congestion, official says

Digitalising European roads will save lives, reduce harmful polluting emissions, and cut down the “pure economic waste” caused by traffic congestion, according to an EU official.

Suspension of Suez Canal traffic deepens global container crunch

The suspension of traffic through the Suez Canal has deepened problems for shipping lines that were already facing disruption and delays in supplying retail goods to consumers, shipping sources said.

ETS revision will include buildings and road transport, EU Commissioner says

The European Commission's upcoming June package of energy and climate laws will “propose the extension of the emission trading scheme to sectors such as building and road transport,” the EU's energy commissioner Kadri Simson said on Thursday (25 March).

RED II: EU Commission can’t see the wood for the trees, analysts warn

The revision of the Renewable Energy Directive II (RED II) as part of the new Green Deal should recalibrate the legislative initiatives which have so far failed to decarbonise Europe’s transport sector, stakeholders have said.

Making batteries sustainable, rights for drivers, and the European Year of Aviation?

Welcome to EURACTIV’s weekly Transport Brief – your one port of call for all the news moving the world and much more!

Commission’s ‘ambitious’ green battery proposal criticised during Council debate

EU countries expressed concern Thursday (18 March) that the European Commission’s sustainable battery proposal sets unworkable targets and deadlines and would increase bureaucratic costs for battery producers, raising the prospect that the legislation will require significant changes before entering into law.