{"id":425412,"date":"2025-05-02T11:17:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T09:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2025\/05\/02\/thomas-kattnig-cese-trasporti-pubblici\/"},"modified":"2025-05-02T13:04:47","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T11:04:47","slug":"interview-with-thomas-kattnig-eesc-sustainable-mobility-is-a-social-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2025\/05\/02\/interview-with-thomas-kattnig-eesc-sustainable-mobility-is-a-social-right\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW with Thomas Kattnig (EESC): “Sustainable mobility is a social right”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels – Affordable and sustainable public transport<\/strong> as a key to social cohesion:<\/strong> That’s the central idea behind the opinion<\/a> on the “role of quality public services<\/strong> in tackling\u00a0the high cost of living” adopted\u00a0Wednesday (April 30) by the Economic and<\/strong>\u00a0Social Committee (EESC)<\/strong> during the second day of its plenary session. The opinion’s rapporteur, Austrian trade unionist Thomas Kattnig<\/strong>, shared with Eunews<\/i> his thoughts.<\/p>\n

Kattnig speaks of the “milestones of social inclusion and ecological transformation<\/strong>” in describing the importance of affordable public transportation<\/strong> for all. It is about ensuring “access to education, employment, health care, and social participation, especially for low-income families<\/strong>,” he explains.<\/p>\n

\n

The #EESCplenary<\/a> has adopted @EESC_TEN<\/a>‘s opinion on the price hikes in transport, energy and housing by @ThomasKattnig<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read more: https:\/\/t.co\/mI9tZMgqgf<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/IjIaFiRtci<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Workers’ Group EESC (@WorkersEESC) April 30, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On the other hand, it also plays a key role in the climate transition<\/strong> by “replacing private use of cars” and cutting emissions<\/strong>. Public transportation networks must\u00a0ensure “multimodal solutions<\/strong>” for citizens (both locally and on long-distance routes, from bike paths to railways), offering flexibility and various services<\/strong> so that everyone can use them according to their needs. Moreover, the digital transition<\/strong> “offers new potential for intelligent and integrated mobility services<\/strong>,” enhancing the all-round user experience.<\/p>\n

“Transportation poverty”<\/h3>\n

\n

However, the unionist notes that the elephant in the room is “transportation poverty<\/strong>.” However, a lack of an operational definition <\/strong>of this\u00a0central concept at the European level<\/strong> hinders decisive action. He defines it as “a condition in which individuals lack access to adequate mobility<\/strong> due to financial, geographic, or infrastructural barriers<\/strong>.” A phenomenon that affects “people in rural areas<\/strong> who lack bus services, low-income individuals<\/strong> who cannot afford tickets, or people with disabilities<\/strong> who lack adequate transportation options.”<\/p>\n

Mobility<\/strong>\u00a0“needs to be recognized and treated as a social right<\/strong>” throughout the EU and protected accordingly to counter the perverse dynamics<\/strong> that lead to “social isolation, reduced job opportunities, limited access to education, and deepening social gaps,<\/strong>”\u00a0Kattnig said.<\/p>\n

\"Cese\"<\/a>
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in plenary session in Brussels, April 29, 2025 (photo: EESC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What if we ignore the socio-economic dimensions of this phenomenon? “Think of the Yellow Vest protests in France<\/strong>,” the ESC\u00a0member continues. “They erupted because\u00a0the rise in fuel prices<\/strong> caused an unsustainable impact on people’s livelihoods<\/strong>.” So we need to get our hands on the community armory: creating new instruments and equipping them with the necessary resources<\/strong> in addition to existing ones (such as the Social Climate Fund<\/strong>) that seem insufficient.<\/p>\n

Flexibility and investment<\/h3>\n

Inevitably, the mobility issue is linked to the other urgencies member states face in this convulsive historical phase. “The\u00a0current debate<\/strong> on security and defense<\/strong> is necessary,” concedes Kattnig, but “if we don’t invest <\/strong>as many resources in social cohesion,<\/strong> we end up leaving a free field for the growth of the extreme right<\/strong>,” with all the consequences that entail. The trade unionist argues that housing, mobility, energy security, and education<\/strong> are all sides of the same coin, namely precisely that of social inclusion.<\/p>\n

How can we achieve these goals? Kattnig reiterates that the EESC calls for\u00a0“recalibrating” EU rules<\/strong> to “strengthen the social mission of services of general interest<\/strong>,” especially economic ones. These include\u00a0legal certainty<\/strong> – by\u00a0protecting\u00a0public services<\/strong>\u00a0from\u00a0the “pure market logic<\/strong>” – to the revision of the budgetary constraints<\/strong> of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP)<\/strong>, as was already done on borrowing for military spending under the ReArm Europe plan of<\/strong> Ursula von der Leyen<\/strong>, expanding the use of the safeguard clause <\/strong>and providing governments with “the right degree of flexibility” to invest effectively in essential sectors such as transportation, energy, education, and health<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Ursula<\/a>
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen (photo: EP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We are talking about a change of mindset across\u00a0several areas. Subsidies and investments in public services <\/strong>should not be considered distortions of competition,<\/strong> for example. At the same time,\u00a0“social conditionality”\u00a0criteria<\/strong> should be introduced to be met through parameters of affordability, accessibility, and the public interest <\/strong>of interventions financed with taxpayers’ money. Finally, the\u00a0Green Deal <\/strong>should be incorporated into the\u00a0Social Pillar of the Union<\/strong> to redefine services of general interest as “strategic drivers of a sustainable and inclusive transition<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

\n

The impact of Trump’s tariffs<\/h3>\n

Finally, one cannot overlook the particularly tense international climate, which leaves national governments on edge. The trade\u00a0tariffs<\/strong> announced by Donald Trump<\/strong>, currently suspended, could “pose a huge problem for the whole world and specifically for Europe,” Kattnig explains. The Austrian trade unionists believe that if they go back into effect, they will cause “greater insecurity for workers, <\/strong>the risk of losing jobs, and increased consumer prices<\/strong>” in Europe and the United States.<\/p>\n

Tariffs “are like taxes<\/strong>,” the community executive president\u00a0recently said<\/a>, pointing out that “they harm both consumers and businesses<\/strong>.” Kattnig predicts that “by the midterm elections<\/strong> (scheduled for November 2026, ed.<\/i>),\u00a0some will advise Trump to withdraw them<\/strong>” because they are not sustainable in the long run. “We have trade agreements already in place.<\/strong>\u00a0We have the World Trade Organization<\/strong> and various tools to resolve conflicts<\/strong>,” the trade unionist continued, so “we have to go down this path.” Cooperation and dialogue<\/strong> instead of head-on confrontation.<\/p>\n

\"Donald<\/a><\/figure>\n

US president Donald Trump (photo: Brendan Smialowski\/Afp)<\/p>\n

What if that is not enough? In that case, “we will have to react decisively<\/strong>,” putting in place “a coordinated response” that holds together “fair trade rules, protection of strategic industries, and targeted support measures for the hardest hit households<\/strong>.” Not to mention a “digital tax” on the US giants\u00a0making a fortune\u00a0selling their services in Europe, fully\u00a0applying EU regulations (DSA, DMA, and, most importantly, the GDPR)\u00a0 without discount.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to the Austrian trade unionist, social cohesion also comes through accessible and climate-neutral public transportation for all. Green and digital transition and socioeconomic inclusion are two sides of the same coin, he explains to Eunews<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7876,"featured_media":441877,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0","show_comment_section":"1"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25705,29788,25706],"tags":[30242,25847,31131,25905,28982,28786,31132],"class_list":["post-425412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-diritti-en","category-green-economy-en","tag-customs-duties-en","tag-eesc-en","tag-pillar-european-social-rights-en","tag-green-deal-en","tag-pact-stability-and-growth-en","tag-sustainable-mobility-en","tag-thomas-kattnig-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7876"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425412"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":425427,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425412\/revisions\/425427"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/441877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}