According to a report by the European Court of Auditors,road transport still accounts for 77% of European freightDespite the EU's efforts to promote intermodality and reduce CO2 emissions. The Combined Transport Directive dates back to 1992 and Member States' delays in bringing infrastructure into line with EU requirements are an obstacle to intermodality.

Although Brussels has set an ambitious target of reducing CO2 emissions by 90% for heavy goods vehicles by 2040, current initiatives are obsolete and counterproductive in the face of a European infrastructure network that is still not suitable for intermodal transport. Trains and barges cannot compete with trucks and trucks in terms of cost, speed and flexibility. Efforts to restrict road freight were not enough to remove regulatory and infrastructure barriers that penalize other modes of transport.

The European Court of Auditors proposes that Brussels set « Target values » for « modal part » by the end of 2024 and calls for new rules to improve the competitiveness of intermodal transport. The next revision of the European regulation on the trans-European transport network could be an opportunity to include measures to stimulate intermodality. Its adoption is scheduled for mid-2023. Although the European Union has allocated more than EUR 1.1 billion to projects to support intermodality between 2014 and 2020, regulatory and infrastructure barriers continue to penalise other modes of transport.

France, for its part, is particularly lagging behind in the operation of longer trains and the alignment of infrastructure with EU requirements.

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• Sales Administration (SDA) Subcontracting Export
• Import/export flow management (air & maritime)
• Diagnosis of international logistics flows

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Source(s): The Echoes

Editor(s): F. SUNDAC