Mobility sphere Interview Borders

At the European level, what are the challenges facing mobility?

Elisabeth Kotthaus, Head of Unit at the European Commission's DG Transport Rédigé le June 11, 2024

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“First of all, there is the challenge of the double transition — both green and digital. Then we have a demographic problem, and the fact that our networks are not yet where we would like them to be.” “The Trans-European Transport Networks, whether the core network or the comprehensive network, are not yet ready… this requires funding from both the EU and the Member States. These are billions in investments, and they take time.” “On the social side, we are working on what we call ‘transport poverty’ and vulnerable households. The idea is to understand how best to support them: is it through the traditional network, or do we rather need demand‑responsive mobility?” “Everyone is committed to working together. We hope that with the national plans under the Social Climate Fund, we will take a major step forward in providing support.”

In this video, Elisabeth Kotthaus answers the question: What are the main challenges facing mobility in Europe?

We face a number of challenges:

The dual challenge of ecological and digital transition
The demographic challenge
The challenge of our networks, which are not yet up to our expectations

We have a complete backbone network that's not yet ready, but we have a clear idea of where we want to go. But all this requires funding from the EU and member states. We have a clear vision of where we want to go, but we're not there yet. We're talking about billions of euros of investment, so it takes time. However, we are working to make this vision a reality, notably through legislative provisions illustrated by maps, and also through the publication of calls for funding and projects.

As far as the social aspect is concerned, our objective is clear: to fight precarious mobility of vulnerable households. There are several questions to ask ourselves:

Where are these people and how can we support them?
Are we talking about the network, or do we need on-demand mobility services?
How can we finance it in a way that is sufficiently environmentally friendly, while still meeting their needs?
How do we mesure it?

There's a lot of work to do, but we're moving in the right direction. We just need to make sure it progresses quickly enough. But I think everyone is committed to working together. We hope that these national plans, as part of the Social Climate Fund, will at least be a big step forward in providing help.