Transport: Efficiency

As part of my vision for the Transport Union #efficiency  was one of the key drivers. As the mandate of the Juncker Commission is ending I am providing some insight in things done during my time as Commissioner for Transport.

KEY RESULTS

• MARITIME SINGLE WINDOW ENVIRONMENT; savings of €725 million by 2030, 60% decrease in administrative burden.
• MOBILITY PACKAGES 1 & 3; 60% reduction in administrative burden for road transport (trilogue in progress).
• EETS; savings of €20-27 billion by 2040.
• C-ITS; first framework for trusted and harmonised C-ITS services.
• ERTMS; one EU-wide standard for rail interoperability.
• SINGLE RAIL AREA; replacing 14 000 national technical rules with 1 600 rules (1 200 national & 400 EU). This has been the biggest simplification of rail rules in history.
• SESAR SOLUTIONS; the joint undertaking is implementing technologies that increase efficiency in ATM many times over.
• MULTIMODALITY; new regulations on EU-wide multimodal travel information services and on access to certain data for intermodal terminals.

1.   WHY DRIVE GREATER EFFICIENCY?

Time is money. So whether it is road freight, shipping, aviation, rail or public transport, every minute gained is a direct boost to competitiveness and the EU’s economy, as well as quality of life. In transport, greater efficiency is also increases the competitiveness of logistics networks and services. With transport being a major contributor to global emissions, greater efficiency is also good news for the environment. Shorter journey times mean fewer emissions. 

2.   MARITIME SINGLE WINDOW

To guarantee competitiveness and efficiency within European maritime transport sector, we needed to reduce the administrative burden on ships and to facilitate the use of digital information. The European Maritime Single Window introduces a fully harmonised environment for ship reporting that will lead to savings of €725 million by 2030 and cut reporting time in half. This could be a blueprint for standardisation work at IMO level, and mark the start of single windows in other sectors.

3.   EUROPEAN ELECTRONIC TOLLING SERVICE (EETS)

The proposal for a directive on interoperability between electronic road toll systems will also facilitate cross-border exchange of information on the failure to pay road fees in the Union. The proposals on electronic freight documents (e-docs) will, in addition, enable companies to submit administrative documents electronically for all modes. This is expected to lead to savings of €20-27 billion by 2040.

4.   C-ITS

After the Council’s vote against the C-ITS Delegated Regulation, the Commission remains committed to the deployment of C-ITS , which will allow road users and traffic managers to share information and use it to coordinate their actions. The work on the Regulation, even though it was not voted into law, has fostered a common understanding of the standards and systems needed for safe implementation. We will therefore continue to work together with industry and Member States to support deployment this year. Remaining challenges include clear rules for access to in-vehicle data, and on liability as mobility becomes increasingly automated.

5.   4th RAILWAY PACKAGE / ERTMS

The 4th Railway package introduces much-needed simplification, creating a single EU standard that will facilitate interoperability and will encourage a modal shift towards rail. The package is also replacing more than 14 000 obsolete national, technical rules with around

1 600 common rules (1 200 national rules and 400 EU rules). Rules for vehicles have already reduced by 90%, significantly simplifying the approvals process.

6.   MOBILITY PACKAGE I

Mobility Package I was designed with efficiency in mind. A reduced administrative burden, notably due to simpler rules on posting and the use of electronic transport documents, will mean cost savings for businesses. Administrative requirements for posting will be harmonised and simplified compared to what individual Member States require today. For example, neither a representative in the host Member State nor a posting declaration for each operation will be required. It is estimated that administrative costs will drop by 58% due to these measures (from €1 352 to €567 million per year). The use of electronic transport documents will also lead to cost savings of between €3 and €5 billion for the EU-28 in the period 2020-2035. The increased use of digital tools for enforcement (smart tachograph) and more targeted controls based on the risk rating of operators will also lead to cost savings for public authorities.

7.   AVIATION: SINGLE EUROPEAN SKY AND SESAR

As demand to fly increases, so Europe’s skies and airports are increasingly congested. The objective of the Single European Sky (SES) is to reform the architecture of air traffic control in the EU. This should be achieved through improving overall performance of air traffic management (ATM) and air navigation services, and will increase airspace capacity threefold. The SESAR Joint Undertaking is already producing exciting innovations to make ATM more efficient, such as the sharing of trajectory data to improve predictability and therefore efficiency.

8.   MULTIMODALITY

If the transport sector functions as a fully integrated system, it is able to make better use of existing capacities in all transport modes, and improve efficiency within logistics chains. For these reasons, we have prioritised multimodality, making 2018 the Year of Multimodality. One of our key achievements has been the adoption of the Delegated Regulation on EU-wide multimodal travel information services, which sets out what is needed to ensure accessibility, exchange and update of standardised travel and traffic data, as well as distributed journey planning.

We also adopted an Implementing Regulation that requires railway undertakings to give multimodal terminals and other service providers access to certain dynamic data, such as service information and expected time of arrival. The Regulation will apply as of June this year.

9.   NEXT STEPS

• Full implementation of ERTMS for corridors by 2030, the single maritime window, and ATM/SES.
• Creation of a single logistics window for the EU.
• Implementation of C-ITS.
• Further development of connected, cooperative, automated and autonomous mobility.
• Improved governance model to better measure efficiency.