Submitted by Political Commission 2 – Internal European Affairs
Adopted by the online Federal Committee on 5 April 2020.
Re-adopted by the Federal Committee in Prague on 13 November 2022.
Re-adopted by the Federal Committee in Sofia on 30 March 2025.

 

The mobility of people and goods are two of the four freedoms of the Single Market and major pillars of a better integrated Europe. Transport, however, is one of the key sectors emitting greenhouse gases, mainly through the construction of infrastructure, the manufacturing of vehicles and the production of fuels and electricity. Climate change and climate action are some of the top priorities on the political agenda of the European Union and need to remain there. Therefore, we call for developments in the transport sector which are beneficial for citizens and are aligned with the EU’s climate targets.

JEF Europe,

• Highlights the need for a public transport network across the EU which is viable, accessible and affordable for all residents;
• Emphasising the European Green Deal target of climate neutrality by 2050, and the intermediate step outlined in the Fit for 55 package of a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, taking note of the legislation for sectors not covered by the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and urging further action;
• Taking into account the European Commission’s Strategy on Sustainable and Smart Mobility;
• Taking into consideration the initiatives to increase and better manage the capacity of railways and inland waterways;
• Alarmed by the fact that the transport sector’s emissions amounted to almost a third of the EU-27’s total greenhouse emissions in 2022 and that transport is the main cause of air pollution in cities;
• Noting with worry the current costs of cross-border rail travel, which can prevent groups with fewer financial resources from accessing it;
• Recognising the challenges in planning cross-border travel connections and the insecurity this can cause;
• Emphasising the issues surrounding ageing infrastructure;
• Highlighting the creation of the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) as the single point of contact for cross-border authorisations for rolling stock, which clarifies the procedures and obliges national authorities to respond within a certain timeframe;
• Recalling the strong symbol set by train movement throughout Europe during the European Year of Rail in 2021 while noting that the rail carriages that made the journey were of a very old standard, thus emphasising once more the need for implementing modern standards consistently in all of Europe;
• Lamenting the excessive focus placed on high-speed lines as the central axis of railway connectivity measures as it comes to the detriment of commuter and regional rail, which further deepens the divide between rural and urban areas in life quality and access to services;
• Stressing the importance of free movement across borders for all the residents of the EU, as well as of the free movement of goods, both being two of the four freedoms of the Single Market;
• Further emphasising free movement as one of the key factors in building a European identity;
• Recalling JEF’s “Environment does not stop at the borders: Towards a Sustainable Europe and a Sustainable Global Climate Policy” resolution;
• Recognising the lack of adequate public transport infrastructure in certain regions of Europe, as well as the lack of adequate service in some places where the infrastructure exists but is not being used up to its full potential;
• Condemning protectionist attitudes regarding competition in high-speed and long-distance rail networks, which are severely hampering the development of cross-border long-distance rail routes;
• Concerned that authorities and transport operators in border regions still too often fail to integrate the cross-border dimension in their thinking and planning, thus resulting in less public transport options for regional and commuter cross-border transport;
• Highlighting the DiscoverEU initiative as a tool for young people to discover European cultural heritage by using sustainable means of transport;
• Reaffirming the necessity of having an affordable and well-developed rail-network, with competitive prices relative to air travel, in order to make environment-friendly modes of transport the best option;
• Understanding the importance of commuter transport and commuter-to-long distance connectivity as an essential element for the establishment of a rational and well-connected transport network;
• Acknowledging the necessity of cross-border service, timetable and tariffication system coordination in order to rationalise operations and adapt them to both the reality of cross-border regions but also the necessities of trans-European railway services;
• Deploring the difficulties in the purchase of train tickets throughout Europe;
• Recognising the efforts of European countries, regions and cities to promote cycling and other sustainable means of transport, as well as taking note of the remaining difficulties in accessing bicycle and other transport-sharing networks in other cities and towns, regions and countries;
• Welcoming the launching of the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) by ICAO and acknowledging that its implementation in the EU is harmonised through the European Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), with all EU Member States applying its provisions;
• Also underlining the necessity of the development of sustainable sea transport to promote free sustainable mobility between regions with little or no land connection;

JEF Europe therefore,

1. 1. Demands that Member States respect the Schengen Agreement for everyone in the European Union when they use public transport across borders, and that all exceptions should be duly motivated and limited in time;

   2. Calls for the EU to internalise externalities for all modes of transport to ensure a level-playing field and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases in the transport sector as a whole, if possible by using existing instruments and by creating new ones where necessary;

   3. Calls for the EU to renegotiate the international provisions to prevent kerosene for aviation from being purchased tax-free; as a first step the EU should create a legally-binding mechanism to ensure fair taxation of kerosene in aviation for domestic European flights;

   4. Calls upon the EU, European states and regional and local authorities to accelerate their efforts to decarbonise the transport sector by:
      – favouring low-carbon options in all procurement processes for mobility services for all modes of transport (be they road or rail-based),
      – funding research into the entire value-chains, from production to distribution and storage, of advanced biofuels, electric batteries, hydrogen and renewable synthetic fuels,
      – creating the necessary infrastructure to support mobility using these decarbonised, new types of fuels,
      – creating the market conditions that allow these decarbonised fuels to compete and replace carbon-based mobility, by adequately pricing fossil fuels and removing existing subsidies and other incentives for using fossil fuels;

   5. Calls upon the EU to uphold the goal of ending the sales of combustion engine cars by 2035, in line with the EU’s proposed 100% CO₂ reduction target for new vehicles, and against strengthening ideologically motivated opposition;

   6. Stresses that the European strategy on electric and hydrogen vehicle charging points should come with strong guarantees of origin to ensure the electricity and hydrogen come from clean energy sources;

   7. Stresses the fact that any transport infrastructure project should be subject to strong environmental impact assessments to minimise detrimental impacts on the climate and the environment, and calls for the EU to require this as a condition for EU funding for infrastructure projects in the Member States;

   8. Urges member states and regions to better coordinate cross-border infrastructure projects so that they become operational at the same time;

   9. Demands that the EU, Member States and other European states, as well as public transport operators, work together to reach full interoperability for all modes of transport by implementing existing standards where possible and developing new ones where necessary;

   10. Asks for the EU, Member States and railway infrastructure managers to speed up the expansion of the European Train Control System (ETCS) and the fourth railway package, and to reduce the number of exceptions that are allowed;

   11. Requests national and regional authorities to fully cooperate in good faith when realising cross-border transport projects and expand both cross-border high-speed rail and night train services;

   12. Calls for coordinated action on the European level for transnational transport networks, supports the TEN-T Regulation, and stresses the need to include conventional commuter rail lines, especially for rural connectivity;

   13. Demands interconnectedness and sustainability be reflected in EU funding (CEF, InvestEU, Cohesion Policy, etc.) to close gaps between local border networks and long-distance rail routes;

   14. Encourages increased public transport frequency and better connection times at all scales, especially in less populated regions;

   15. Asks for improved “feeder” systems (buses, trams, metros), coordinating tariffication for user clarity;

   16. Calls for implementation of an EU-wide digital ticketing regulation in 2025 to allow single-ticket purchases for cross-border journeys;

   17. Calls for narrow definitions of “force majeure” in passenger rights policies and harmonisation across modes of transport;

   18. Supports completing the EuroVelo cycle network by 2030 with high-quality infrastructure and signage;

   19. Stresses synergies between people and freight transport to promote modal shift to rail;

   20. Urges universal Eurovignette participation to harmonise truck-related costs and promote rail/boat alternatives;

   21. Calls for decarbonised freight transport infrastructure and mobility hubs to enable modal shifts;

   22. Calls for greater investment in river and canal freight infrastructure;

   23. Calls for sustainable marine transport policies, fuel innovation, and zero-emissions targets aligned with Fit for 55;

   24. Calls for new Mediterranean cargo ports, supported by EU funding, to rebalance shipping routes toward Southern/Central Europe;

   25. Recommends integrating clean transport incentives into Erasmus+;

   26. Commits to promoting clean transport for JEF-related travel.