Transport Archives

Without a doubt, fully automated cars are coming to a road near you – and soon. But if the mesmerized governments and technocrats don’t pause to address the concerns of the man and woman on the street, they may find themselves facing social upheaval on a massive scale, writes Jonathan Gornall.

A new Franco-German cooperation plan on battery cell production will include the construction of two factories, one in France and one in Germany, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday (13 February).

Following the rejection of the Alstom-Siemens merger, France and Germany are working on a review of the EU’s competition rules to create European champions capable of competing with US and Chinese multinationals.

Italy’s transport ministry insisted on Tuesday (12 February) that a planned railway tunnel underneath the Alps to France would be a waste of money, in what could ratchet up tensions between Rome and Paris.

Transport is widely accepted as a very difficult sector to decarbonise but one of the leading experts on all things freight and transport explained to EURACTIV.com how and why it needs to be done.

In an eagerly-awaited decision, the European Commission last week categorised palm oil as a high-emitting biofuel crop but provided some controversial exemptions for smallholders and spared soybeans from the delegated act's provisions.

European Union lawmakers struck an agreement on Monday (11 February) on green public procurement rules for new buses requiring that local authorities purchase a minimum share of clean vehicles running on gas or electricity by 2025 and 2030.

A European Court of Justice decision on Germany's controversial motorway toll and a proposed tightening of deportation laws for asylum seekers has stoked the ire of Austrians over the past week. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Every country in the world has to count its emissions so that global commitments to fight climate change can be kept. Now efforts are underway to ensure that this particular brand of accountancy is as accurate and effective as it can be.

Climate targets can only function if countries, cities and companies report their emissions accurately. A new project hopes to show how reporting should be done, but building trust looks set to play a huge part in overcoming the challenge.

The ink is barely dry on the EU’s revised renewable energy policy and already it is under threat from the aviation sector, warn Jori Sihvonen and Andrew Murphy.

The responsibility for pursuing long-term sustainable goals falls upon those in the wider community who can stake a claim in the climate debate. One such player is Europe’s tech industry, who made their intentions clear during last week’s Industy Day’s conference in Brussels.

Fully automated driving may be years away, but a new EU law being debated by legislators would mandate some semi-autonomous features in new cars, such as intelligent speed assistance. And the auto industry is worried about driver backlash.

Technological advances, in connectivity and automation, create new opportunities to eliminate or compensate for human error. Automated driving holds great potential to further improve road safety in the near future.

Deutsche Bahn has recently reached a record number of passengers, despite defective reservation systems, chronic delays, poor maintenance and not enough staff. But German frustration with a service that is meant to be the pinnacle of reliability is on the up and was recently creatively expressed by one Munich commuter.

Thousands of flights by carriers such as Iberia or Vueling could be grounded because of their non-EU ownership, in the case of the UK's no-deal exit from the EU. But the European Commission stressed on Tuesday (5 February) that airlines have been warned to prepare.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Tuesday (5 February) that the institution “will never play favourites” as the EU executive reportedly prepares to reject the Alstom-Siemens merger, despite intense political pressure from France and Germany.

Natural gas alone will not help shipping cut greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new study, which means that alternative fuels and even barnacle-resistant paint will be needed to meet ambitious climate targets.

Most goods arriving from the European Union will be allowed into Britain without full customs checks for at least three months if it leaves the bloc without an exit deal, the British government said on Monday (5 February).

Europe’s poorest, least educated and most jobless regions are bearing the brunt of the air pollution crisis, according to the first official stocktake of its kind. EURACTIV's partner The Guardian reports.

The new vice-president of the Belgian capital’s transport operator (STIB) has suggested rolling out free public transport for residents during the evening or on weekends. His socialist party has upped the ante and suggested it should be free every day.

Everybody enjoys clean air. It invigorates you, draws the pollution out of your lungs and makes you feel alive. We even spend fortunes to escape the city in search of it. But some people in Germany do not seem to be interested in that and even think that air quality standards are protecting our health too much.

EU climate Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete is in no doubt that the EU has to achieve ‘climate neutrality’ by 2050 and wants to use his final months in the job to push the bloc towards Paris Agreement-compliance.

The Commission is set to offer Washington a way out from current trade tensions with China authorising imports of soybeans from the US to produce biofuels. However, the new imports to help ease trade relations are not helping the environment.