ACI EUROPE joins Europe’s transport sector coalition for greater EU budget
At the Connecting Europe Days event in Brussels (2 – 5 April), close to 50 European transport organisations, including ACI EUROPE, combined forces to launch a call for more EU budget to be allocated to transport. The coalition will advocate for an increased EU budget for transport within the upcoming review of the multi-annual financial framework (MFF).
Decarbonisation is a priority for the transport sector, but in order to ensure resilience in the coming years and achieve climate goals, increased funding is necessary. As the MFF sets the annual budget of the EU and the expenditure ceilings that the EU must comply with, it has the potential to galvanize – or hinder – the transport sector’s transformation in the near future.
The coalition calls for the EU to reverse the trend of continued underfunding of the transport sector, and to ensure that decarbonisation requirements are partnered with adequate investments to ensure they are possible. With 1 in 10 Europeans working in transport, the targeted investments under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) – the funding instrument to realise European transport infrastructure policy – are vital.
As part of the coalition, ACI EUROPE calls for the investment needs of airports to be seen as a matter of priority. The significant debt undertaken by airports during the COVID-19 crisis is a direct result of airports not having received similar levels of financial support to other aviation stakeholders. This has had a direct impact on their capital expenditure levels which have plummeted by €27 billion compared to plans during 2022-2024. With pressing investment needs not met – notably in decarbonisation, digitalisation, resilience, service quality and capacity – Europe now faces an imminent airport investment crunch to the tune of €360 billion by 2040.
There is no silver bullet for aviation’s decarbonisation challenge. As a harder-to-abate sector, it will need to rely on a number of measures, each delivering a significant chunk of emissions reductions. The four main levers include Sustainable Aviation Fuels, new aircraft technology, Air Traffic Management optimisation and carbon compensation. According to an independent study commissioned by the DESTINATION 2050 alliance, the entire endeavour to reach net zero emissions by 2050 will require funding in excess of €820 billion. ACI EUROPE calls on the European Commission to ensure a fairer distribution of the EU budget, taking into account the need to financially support aviation as it accelerates its transition.
At the Connecting Europe Days closing debate, the CEF coalition presented their official leaflet ‘More budget for EU transport’ to Magda Kopczyńska, Director General of DG MOVE in the European Commission, marking the beginning of their campaign.
Europe’s airports join call for more EU budget for transport
