28 June 2024

DG MOVE REPORT ON TRANSPORT IN THE EU

In June, the Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE) published a comprehensive report highlighting key trends and challenges in the EU transport sector.

The transport sector plays a crucial part of the EU economy, contributing over 5% to total employment. However, it faces significant challenges, notably a shortage of heavy truck and lorry drivers, with 233,000 positions unfilled in 2023. The reports indicates that factors such as urbanisation, an ageing population, and difficult working conditions are contributing to these shortages. At the same time, the shift towards a more sustainable and digital transport system, demands new skills in areas like big data analysis and artificial intelligence. To address these gaps, the report emphasises the need for workforce development strategies. Aligned with the EU’s Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy, it outlines the current situation on our path to reduce transport greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2050.

The report also highlights the importance to modernise EU transport infrastructure, noting that the historically low investment levels have hindered progress, affecting the sector’s modernisation and sustainability.   The report emphasises the need for recovery investments to modernise and green the sector, strengthen the Single Market and complete the trans-European transport network (TEN-T), while ensuring safe and secure mobility.

Finally, the report provides an overview of key transport indicators for each EU country.

Source: Publication Office of the EU