Von der Leyen calls for ‘true Transport Union’ as Commission seeks to double infrastructure funding

The European Commission has proposed more than €50 billion for transport under the next Connecting Europe Facility as President Ursula von der Leyen called for the creation of a “true Transport Union”.

In a speech at Connecting Europe Days, von der Leyen said the proposed allocation would be more than twice the funding available under the current long-term EU budget.

The Commission estimates that completing the Trans-European Transport Network could increase EU GDP by 2.4% by 2050, equivalent to around €467 billion.

Von der Leyen said the EU needed to remove remaining bottlenecks between member states and turn 27 national transport systems into a single European network.

She pointed to the planned Lisbon-Madrid high-speed rail connection, which is expected to provide a direct journey of around five hours by 2030 and approximately three hours by 2034. Nearly 40 flights currently operate between the two capitals each day, while no direct rail service exists.

Transport innovation was identified as a second priority. Von der Leyen said emerging technologies should not only be deployed in Europe, but also developed and manufactured there.

The Commission estimates that the number of zero-emission trucks operating in Europe could increase from around 26,000 today to 400,000 by 2030. It is working with member states on cross-border charging corridors, while EU-funded projects are deploying high-power charging infrastructure along major transport routes.

Eighteen member states have also agreed to cooperate on large-scale cross-border testbeds for autonomous vehicles, including common approval principles and coordinated permitting procedures.

Infrastructure resilience was identified as a third priority. Von der Leyen pointed to disruption from heat, flooding, drought, and changing water levels and said the Commission would present a new European framework for climate resilience in October.

She also linked future transport investment to EU enlargement, highlighting new and upgraded connections with Ukraine, Moldova, and the Western Balkans.

Atlantic Corridor set to miss 2030 TEN-T completion target

The Atlantic European Transport Corridor is not expected to reach full compliance with the EU’s core TEN-T requirements by 2030, according to its new 2026 Corridor Work Plan.

The corridor connects Portugal and Spain with France, Ireland, and Germany, linking major Atlantic ports, industrial regions, logistics platforms, airports, and urban centres. Rail forms its backbone, including high-speed projects between Lisbon and Madrid, Madrid and Paris, Lisbon and Porto, and Bordeaux and Toulouse.

Despite progress, the report concludes that the core network will not be fully compliant by the 2030 deadline. It attributes delays to the complexity of major infrastructure schemes, procurement and contractual problems, and projects that have yet to be incorporated into national or stakeholder investment plans. Some key sections are nevertheless expected to be completed by 2034.

Rail interoperability remains one of the main problems. Around 90% of the corridor’s freight railway is electrified, but significant gaps remain across signalling, train length, loading gauge, and track gauge.

The connection between Spain and France is particularly problematic. The final high-speed section between Dax and the Spanish border currently has no defined completion date, with national planning pointing to delivery beyond 2040. The work plan warns that delays could create additional pressure on the existing conventional route as passenger and freight traffic from Spain increases.

The report also sheds light on the long-running question of Iberian track gauge. Spain and Portugal submitted assessments to the Commission in July examining possible migration towards the European standard gauge of 1,435 mm.

Spain concluded that migrating only TEN-T routes, or installing a third rail, would create greater problems than it solved. Migration of the entire national network was considered technically possible, but highly unfavourable on socio-economic grounds because of the investment required and the disruption involved. Portugal reached a similar conclusion, arguing that other improvements to signalling, electrification, telecommunications, and network capacity would provide greater benefits.

Freight is another concern. Around 11,000 trucks cross the Spain-France border on the Atlantic axis each day, with the work plan arguing that an effective rail alternative will be needed to provide a more sustainable option.

The findings provide a useful reality check alongside the Commission’s calls this week for a more integrated Transport Union. Europe’s network ambitions are increasingly clear, but several of the most important cross-border links will remain unfinished well into the next decade.

EU vehicle manufacturing employment fell 9% between 2019 and 2023, study finds

Employment in EU vehicle manufacturing fell by close to 9% between 2019 and 2023, while suppliers lost around 110,000 jobs over the same period, according to a new European Commission and OECD study on the automotive workforce.

The report finds that automotive employment has remained comparatively stable over the longer term, but this masks substantial changes in where jobs are located. Central and Eastern European member states have taken a growing share of assembly and supplier employment, while several traditional automotive economies in Western Europe have experienced declines.

Germany, which in 2019 employed more vehicle-manufacturing workers than all other EU countries combined, recorded a marked decline after that year. France has experienced a longer-term structural reduction, while Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary have maintained or increased their importance within European automotive production.

The industry nevertheless remains one of Europe’s largest industrial employers. More than six million people work directly in the sector, which accounts for more than 7% of EU GDP and around one-third of private research and development spending.

Supply chains are also changing. The share of intermediate automotive inputs sourced within the EU increased from 17% in 1995 to 25% in 2022. China’s share rose from almost zero to 3%, concentrated particularly in batteries and advanced electronics used in electric vehicles.

Workers are experiencing significant changes inside factories as well. Nearly 80% of employees in vehicle manufacturing report substantial changes to their working environment, while around one-third of those experiencing change do so without formal training. Among suppliers, the proportion without training rises to around 40%.

The cost of losing an automotive job can also be substantial. Workers displaced during mass layoffs saw earnings fall by 57% in the first year, compared with 43% among displaced service-sector workers. Six years later, their earnings remained between 20% and 25% below comparable workers who had not been displaced.

The study consequently argues for more proactive retraining, portable qualifications, and stronger support for smaller suppliers as electrification, digitalisation, and international competition reshape the industry.