On September 30, during the opening of the Connecting Europe Days in Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen outlined the new course for EU travel policy, proposing the creation of a true Transport Union. The initiative aims to overcome infrastructural bottlenecks between member states, accelerating the ecological transition and the integration of Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T). Speaking before industry representatives and European ministers, the head of the EU Executive highlighted the urgency of combining strategic investments, systems digitalization, and zero-emission mobility to guarantee sustainable industrial competitiveness and unprecedented territorial cohesion.

The announcement comes at a crucial moment for continental mobility, which is already confronting the challenges of decarbonization and the REPowerEU plan. As emission standards push the automotive sector toward increasingly intensive electrification, the EU bloc intends to coordinate funding from the Connecting Europe Facility to modernize the high-speed rail network and incentivize freight transport by rail and inland waterways. The vision emerging from Brussels seeks to overcome the fragmentation of individual national markets, ensuring logistical continuity and technical interoperability across member state infrastructures.

At the same time, recent EU directives on optimizing urban flows require major European metropolises to make a drastic shift in approach. Integrating different modes of travel, developing alternative fuels for aviation and maritime transport, and speeding up international corridors are becoming fundamental pillars to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. The proposal for a "Transport Union" thus defines a centralized governance framework capable of harmonizing traffic regulations, protecting global supply chains, and offering European citizens a fast, connected, accessible, and fully environmentally sustainable travel system.