How to better finance the decarbonisation of public transport through cohesion policy and other financial instruments, removing bottlenecks and giving cities direct access to EU funds. These are the main issues discussed during a two-days meeting which has gathered to Prague local and regional leaders from all over the Union, as the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU starts.
The development of a sustainable mobility is one of the key challenges for cities both to mitigate the climate impact of transport and to contribute to quality of life, while achieving the objectives of the European Green Deal, reducing fossil fuel consumption and increasing energy resilience. Through the EU cohesion policy, European countries already committed to spend more than 18 billion in the last decade to promote clean urban transport, financing hundreds of projects on the ground. This amount is expected to increase by 2030 and complemented by the resources of the recovery plan Next generation EU.
The recently published 8th Cohesion Report shows that "after a sharp drop between 2008 and 2014 as a consequence of the 2008 economic crisis, greenhouse emissions from transport in the EU increased between 2014 and 2019 at rates similar to those in the period 1990–2008, at just under 2% a year."
"Carbon-free mobility in our cities is absolutely paramount if we want to reach our objective to be a carbon-neutral continent by 2050. The 8th Cohesion Report shows that transports are responsible for almost a quarter of EU greenhouse emissions and they are the main cause of air pollution in cities. Therefore, all the political, juridical and technical obstacles preventing cohesion policy to finance green mobility in our cities and rural areas should be removed. Enhancing public transport and active mobility, while reducing the use of individual cars, is the only way to succeed in implementing a fair ecological transition for all," said Emil Boc, Mayor of Cluj-Napoca, who chaired the external meeting of the COTER Commission. Boc went on to share tangible initiatives taken in his city, including green public transport and installation of electric car charging stations that will contribute to a 55% reduction of carbon dioxide by 2030.
The Deputy Minister of Regional Development Radim Sršeň (CZ/EPP), welcomed the CoR members on behalf of the Czech Presidency at the beginning of the conference 'Investing into decarbonisation and modernisation of public transport'. Sršeň, who is Mayor of the Municipality of Dolní Studénky added "Cohesion and regional policy are among the priorities of the Czech presidency, especially, in connection to innovation. Sustainable urban mobility is one of the examples and key areas where smart approaches can significantly help to solve current problems of most cities."
Rastislav Trnka, Chairman of Košice Self – Governing Region said that the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism should promote cohesion in Europe. "This should be done using real and not just formal application of multi-level governance. The principle of partnership must be translated into public life and must be stable, independent of political will." Trnka also spoke on major investments in his city, in particular the arrival of the Volvo electric car plant from Sweden. "We believe that this major investment will boost cohesion in a noticeable way since private investments leave an enormous impact on the development of a region."
Just and Sustainable Transition
During today's meeting, members of the COTER Commission appointed Sari Rautio as the CoR rapporteur-général on the strategic opinion ‘Just and Sustainable Transition in the context of the coal and energy intensive regions’. The opinion follows a referral of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU, which comes in the context of Green Deal, Fit for 55 package. The first exchange of views in COTER commission will take place on 29 September whilst final adoption is expected at the Plenary session of 12-13 October 2022.