European Union leaders are meeting in Brussels for a two-day summit to discuss, among other priorities, the EU’s long-term budget for 2028-2034.
In the run-up to the discussions, the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO), together with Europe’s transport sector, is making another stand against any cuts in the Transport budget through a joint letter to the Heads of State or Government of the EU Member States.
Commenting ahead of the Sunnnit, Isabelle Ryckbost, Secretary General of ESPO, said, “Even if the EU Member States around the table are defending different priorities, from competitiveness and resilience to cohesion, they should keep in mind there is one budget line that serves all these priorities, and that is the transport budget."
“A well-connected and state-of-the-art transport network is fundamental in enhancing connectivity, ensuring efficient supply chains, and thus improving Europe’s competitiveness and sustainability and strengthening the geo-economic and geopolitical resilience. So if there is one thing European leaders should agree on, it is not to cut the transport budget, but to further strengthen it.”
Transport is not only the backbone of the EU Internal Market and a cornerstone of the EU's economic growth, connecting markets and bringing regions and communities closer. A strong, adapted, and well-integrated European transport sector is also imperative for ensuring Europe’s resilience and military readiness in the face of geopolitical uncertainty.
Ryckbost added “The investments Europe’s transport sector is facing today are enormous but are so much value for money if one considers how crucial the sector is in enabling Europe to reach its priorities and ambitions.”
Hence, now is the time to make the right choices and safeguard what is of strategic importance.
This is why Europe’s transport sector is calling on the EU Member States to restore the transport envelope of the Connecting Europe Facility, to ring-fence a minimum share for transport in the National and Regional Partnership Plans, and to open the European Competitiveness Fund explicitly to transport as a complement to dedicated infrastructure funding, never a substitute for it.
This joint letter follows the open letter that the sector sent earlier this year.
