Protecting EU Transport in time of crisis

21 Jun 2022

The European Commission adopted a Contingency Plan for Transport to strengthen the resilience of EU transport in times of crisis. The plan draws lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic as well as taking into account the challenges the EU transport sector has been facing since the beginning of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine. Both crises have severely affected the transport of goods and people, but the resilience of this sector and the improved coordination between member states were key to the EU’s response to these challenges.

The plan proposes a toolbox of 10 actions to guide the EU and its Member States when introducing such emergency crisis-response measures. It also stresses the relevance of the Green Lanes principles which ensure that land freight can cross borders in less than 15 minutes, and reinforces the role of the Network of Contact Points in national transport authorities. Both have proved crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as in the current crisis caused by Russian aggression against Ukraine.

The 10 areas of action are:

1. Making EU transport laws fit for crisis situations
2. Ensuring adequate support for the transport sector
3. Ensuring free movement of goods, services and people
4. Managing refugee flows and repatriating stranded passengers and transport workers
5. Ensuring minimum connectivity and passenger protection
6. Sharing transport information
7. Strengthening transport policy coordination
8. Strengthening cybersecurity
9. Testing transport contingency
10. Cooperation with international partners

More details can be found here: Protecting EU transport in times of crisis: Commission adopts Contingency Plan for Transport (europa.eu)