The future of EU transport must be sustainable, social and smart: this is the challenge facing a sector which has undergone profound changes in recent years, as well as having been hit hard by the COVID‑19 pandemic. At the plenary debate on the Commission's new transport strategy, held on 28 April 2021, EESC president Christa Schweng pointed out that Europe needed a vision for a post-COVID-19 Europe; in transport, that vision would comprise sustainable, smart and resilient mobility.

On the same wavelength was Adina Vălean, European Commissioner for Transport, who stressed that the pandemic had not changed the Commission's overall vision for transport: that vision was firmly anchored in the EU Green Deal and based on the pillars of decarbonisation and digitalisation.

Overall, the EESC supports the general approach of aligning the Commission's Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy with the European Green Deal objectives. However, in the opinion drafted by Stefan Back and Tanja Buzek and adopted on 27 April 2021, it questions whether the approach strikes the right balance between technical and transport policy measures.

Many of the measures proposed with respect to sustainability and digitalisation have wide-ranging effects on the single market and transport workers. Unfortunately, the strategy does not pay enough attention to those aspects and this could undermine its successful implementation. In addition, a sustainable and digital transformation of EU transport will only be possible if the sector as a whole and the EU's related industrial base are made more competitive. (mp)