Aviation, shipping and rails at the core of Tzitzikostas’ Sustainable Transport Investment Plan presentation

The European Commission’s new 2025 Work Program in Transport and Tourism has been presented during the Structured Dialogue with the Commissioner for Transport and Sustainable Tourism, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, during the TRAN Committee at the European Parliament.

The Work Programme will focus on competitiveness, innovation, security and resilience; among the most important news, the presentation of the Sustainable Transport Investment Plan, that will require increased investment, particularly in aviation and shipping. In this context, a new Strategy for Sustainable Tourism is expected to be presented by late 2025 or early 2026, with the goal of balancing economic development with local well-being and responsible tourism. 

“The tourism sector is economically important and offers great opportunities for those embracing greater sustainability. It is fundamental that it is explicitly included under a Commissioner’s portfolio –  explained Tzitzikostas – I very much look forward to presenting our Strategy for Sustainable Tourism. A stakeholders consultation will be launched this year in order to present it”. 

As for the rail sector, however, in the Commission’s view it is seen as strategic in terms of both competitiveness and environmental sustainability, with the European Commission aiming to make rail travel and multi-modal journeys cornerstones of sustainable transport, while also seizing the opportunities offered by digitalization, real-time data and artificial intelligence. 

“For too many of us, funding, combining and purchasing tickets for multi-modal journeys are not as easy as they should be – explained the vice-president of the european Commission – The emergence of online ticketing platforms is encouraging, but the overview of operators and fares is often incomplete. If a passenger today does manage to purchase a combined ticket, he can be left without protection against delays and missed connections. This discourages rail and multi-modal travel. And we want to change this”. 

To address these challenges, the Commission will introduce a ticketing initiative this year, comprising three proposals: a single digital booking and ticketing regulation to improve rail access and ticketing transparency, a multi-modal digital mobility services (MDMS) initiative to ensure fair platform practices and a revision of the Rail Passengers’ Rights Regulation. 

The 2025 Work Programme presentation has been generally appreciated by the S&D MEPs, like Johan Danielsson, who assured strong committee support for the Commission’s transport agenda, and by the Greens, with Kai Tegethoff who welcomed the ticketing and MDMS initiatives, emphasizing the need to simplify cross-border rail travel and protect passengers from disruptions. More skeptical, however, were EPP members such as Nina Carberry and Andrey Novakov, who asked for clarification on the key priorities of the tourism strategy and raised concerns about balancing passenger rights with airline competitiveness. 

Nevertheless, European competitiveness remains one of the key points of Tzitzikostas’ presentation, who outlined the tourism strategy’s pillars, including “climate resilience, balanced tourism development, technological innovation and promoting Europe as a premier destination – underlined the Commissioner -. Europe today is a superpower in tourism, and we have to keep this position”.