{"id":465858,"date":"2026-09-23T16:20:34","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T14:20:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/09\/23\/ue-il-comitato-economico-sociale-la-futura-mobilita-sia-sostenibile-resiliente-e-competitiva\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T17:01:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T15:01:23","slug":"eu-economic-and-social-committee-future-mobility-must-be-sustainable-resilient-and-competitive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/09\/23\/eu-economic-and-social-committee-future-mobility-must-be-sustainable-resilient-and-competitive\/","title":{"rendered":"EU, Economic and Social Committee: future mobility must be sustainable, resilient, and competitive"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels \u2013 The European Union must step up its efforts towards climate-neutral, resilient, and competitive mobility systems, as well as towards military mobility capabilities. This was the message that emerged from the forum \u201cMobility in Europe 2030: supporting sustainability and military objectives<\/a><\/strong>\u201d, which took place in Riga on 17 September 2026. Organised by the \u201cTransport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society\u201d Section (TEN) of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)<\/strong> in collaboration with the Latvian association “Sustainability Cluster”, this high-level event brought together representatives from European institutions, national authorities, the business and academic communities, and civil society. It provided a forum for strategic dialogue to assess progress, share best practices and set out concrete pathways both for achieving sustainable mobility and for enhancing military mobility capabilities across Europe. In this context, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), in collaboration with the Latvian association “Sustainability Cluster\u201d, stressed the need to make \u201csubstantial progress on delivering the EU\u2019s vision<\/p>\n

for an improved mobility system.\u201d<\/a> <\/p>\n

“By 2030, Europe must be able to move around in a sustainable, competitive, equitable and safe manner<\/strong>“, commented Marcin Nowacki<\/strong>, Chair of the Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and Information Society Section of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). \u201cOur task is to design a European mobility system in which these objectives do not compete but reinforce one another,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

The starting point for the discussion is that, now more than ever, European mobility is required to meet a wide range of needs: for Europe\u2019s economy, its citizens, and its climate, and, increasingly, for its security as well. The aim is that, by 2030, it will better connect Europe and make it truly sustainable and more resilient, while ensuring that no one is left behind. Against this backdrop, the EESC has identified a number of specific points. The first concerns mobility, which is becoming a “strategic issue”. Therefore, \u201cit must be cleaner and more sustainable; infrastructure must strengthen the EU\u2019s competitiveness and the single market; transport must remain accessible and affordable for citizens.\u201d Furthermore, \u201cin the current geopolitical context, networks must be resilient and capable of supporting Europe\u2019s security.\u201d The second element encompasses sustainability and resilience, which \u201cmust reinforce one another\u201d because \u201creducing dependence on imported fossil fuels can strengthen both the EU\u2019s climate objectives and its strategic autonomy\u201d. <\/p>\n

As for security, it is recognised that the system can serve multiple purposes<\/strong>. For this reason, \u201cEurope\u2019s future mobility system must invest in dual-use infrastructure (civil and military) \u2013 such as railways, roads and technologies \u2013 and, at the same time, in people and skills\u201d. According to Baiba Miltovi\u010da<\/strong>, Chair of the EESC\u2019s Standing Group on Transport, \u201cmobility is no longer simply a matter of transport, but a strategic issue\u201d and \u201cEurope needs infrastructure that serves its citizens and the economy<\/strong>, while strengthening resilience, security and military readiness across borders.\u201d On the strictly military front, the Vice-President of the European Parliament, Roberts Z\u012ble<\/strong>, emphasised that \u201cmilitary mobility is an easily achievable objective<\/strong>: it requires neither substantial financial resources nor a long time to implement. I am certain that we will be able to find solutions together with our colleagues in the Council and the Commission. We must learn from the experience of Ukraine and strengthen our mobility and security,\u201d he observed. <\/p>\n

In the section on connectivity, the EESC states that \u201cthe EU must invest in order to eliminate infrastructure bottlenecks, complete cross-border links and modernise transport networks.\u201d In this regard, the Committee has called for at least \u20ac100 billion to be allocated to the transport sector under the<\/strong> Connecting Europe mechanism for the period 2028\u20132034<\/strong>, emphasising that investments must generate European added value and comply with social and environmental criteria. Finally, the last points concern sustainability, which \u201cmust address people\u2019s everyday mobility\u201d \u2013 and it is therefore emphasised that \u201cthe transition to green mobility will only succeed if citizens perceive it as an improvement in mobility\u201d and must not create \u201cnew inequalities\u201d \u2013 and that of competitiveness, sustainability and social responsibility. Here it is recognised that \u201cthe EU needs an economically sound, environmentally sustainable and socially responsible transport system<\/strong>\u201d, where digitalisation and interoperability reduce unnecessary administrative burdens and simplification promotes the enforcement of rules, safety, workers\u2019 rights, and the single market. <\/p>\n

“A sustainable future cannot be built on vision alone: it requires decisive action today,” said Armands G\u016btmanis<\/strong>, president of the Latvian association “Sustainability Cluster”. \u201cSustainability has become a strategic imperative<\/strong> that shapes our economy, security, mobility and quality of life.
\nThe challenge before us is to move beyond isolated projects and short-term solutions and build resilient, interconnected systems capable of meeting the needs of future generations,\u201d he explained. The host, the Latvian Minister for Transport, Rihards Kozlovskis<\/strong>, also recognised mobility as \u201ca fundamental pillar of European security and competitiveness.\u201d \u201cIt requires infrastructure to facilitate economic movement while enabling rapid military deployments.<\/p>\n

<\/strong> Addressing these challenges requires strong EU funding support and cross\u2011sector cooperation to integrate regional projects, expand energy resilience and build a connected, dual-use transport network,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During a high-level event held in Riga, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), in collaboration with the Latvian association “Sustainability Cluster”, emphasised the need to make substantial progress towards realising the EU\u2019s vision for an improved mobility system<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":465839,"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","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"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":[25712,30806],"tags":[25847,28478,30974,26719,25886,26099,33394],"class_list":["post-465858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-news","category-mobility-logistics","tag-eesc-en","tag-infrastructure-en","tag-mobilita-militare-en","tag-mobilita-en","tag-sustainability-en","tag-transport-en","tag-ue"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465858","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465858"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465858\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":465859,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465858\/revisions\/465859"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}