MLSZKSZ: If this continues, there won’t be fewer trucks on the roads – the EU program for greening freight transport has failed

By: Trademagazin Date: 2023. 11. 02. 11:36

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At the moment, the EU goal of diverting 30 percent of long-distance road transport to rail and water by 2030 seems unachievable. In the last four years, the performance of European water and rail freight transport not only came close to the target, but also decreased by more than 10 percent. The situation is not rosy in Hungary either, but the degree of deterioration is more moderate than the EU average – it was said at the Eastern European Intermodal Conference in Budapest. The Association of Hungarian Logistics Service Centers (MLSZKSZ) urges new, accountable EU measures and the introduction of an incentive system that will encourage road carriers to use rail and water transport.

The greening of freight transport is a key issue for achieving the EU’s climate goals, as the transport sector is responsible for around 20 percent of carbon dioxide emissions. One of the most important elements of this is the change in mode of transport, i.e. the large-scale transfer of goods from road to rail or water. However, the recently published report of the European Court of Auditors on intermodal transport revealed that the relevant goals of the European Commission, according to which by 2030 almost one third of long-distance road transport – over 300 km – should be transported by rail or water, already when they were set (2011, 2020 ) were not realistic either, and the situation is even worse than it was a decade ago.

Rail freight increased by only 8 percent between 2010 and 2019, while it decreased by almost ten percent between 2019 and 2022 in Europe. Inland waterways transport also decreased significantly during this period, but road transport, both in terms of freight tonnes and tonne-kilometres, picked up considerably.