The European Union launched a new transport strategy in December 2020, the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy. The strategy aims to transform the EU’s transport system through a green and digital change, making it smarter and more efficient, while making it more resilient to future crises. The EU has decided that emissions from the transport sector needs to be reduced by 90% within 2050. To get there, the Commission has listed concrete milestones to ensure that the EU transport system stays on track in its development towards a smart and sustainable future:
By 2030:
- at least 30 million zero-emission cars will be in operation on European roads
- 100 European cities will be climate neutral.
- high-speed rail traffic will double across Europe
- scheduled collective travel for journeys under 500 km should be carbon neutral
- automated mobility will be deployed at large scale
- zero-emission marine vessels will be market-ready
By 2035:
- zero-emission large aircraft will be market-ready
By 2050:
- nearly all cars, vans, buses as well as new heavy-duty vehicles will be zero-emission.
- rail freight traffic will double.
- a fully operational, multimodal Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) for sustainable and smart transport with high speed connectivity.
To help guide the strategy’s work the next four years, the Commission has presented an Action Plan of 82 initiatives.
How do we work for North Norway?
Transport is an important area for Northern Norway, and the office actively conducts advocacy and information work in several ways.
The EU's funding scheme for infrastructure projects is called the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). Norway has chosen not to be part of the scheme, but rather to support projects through the National Transport Plan (NTP) and the annual state budgets. Our gateway to the EU to get support for Norwegian projects goes through Horizon Europe and Interreg, among others. Our office often contribute with partner search, information sharing, project development and network building, to help northern Norwegian actors get into the programs. The same applies to European partnerships.
In addition, the office follows up the work with regard to the EU's TEN-T corridors and the EU's work within intelligent transport systems (ITS). Together with the two counties of Nordland, and Troms og Finnmark, the office has prepared and delivered position papers to the European Commission on the EU's transport network, TEN-T (Trans-European Transport Network).
The North Norway EU Office has supported and contributed to the work of Sweden and Finland to heighten the status of the Bothnian Corridor. Working strategically towards both the European Parliament and the European Commission gave results, as the corridor is now a part of EU’s TEN-T core corridor. This means that Ofotbanen and Narvik, which are strategically important for the region, will act as the end station for the ScandMed corridor, going all the way from Narvik and down to the Mediterranean Sea.
We work closely together with North Sweden and North Finland through the NSPA network (Northern Sparsely Populated Area) about common transport interest in Scandinavia.