By Dariusz Dybka, Managing Partner at Von Kietz Strategies in Brussels, former SVP and Head of Sustainability at Edelman, Climate Attaché at the Polish Permanent Representation to the EU, and recently principal advisor at Business and Science Poland in Brussels.
Two events in two weeks frame the same question. At the New Mobility Congress in Katowice, an exhibition floor sat alongside policy panels. At Connecting Europe Days in Brussels, held from 28 September to 1 October, the European Commission placed transport infrastructure, competitiveness, and military mobility on the same agenda.
The common thread is that, as vehicles electrify, including in aviation, the competitive frontier is moving from hardware towards data, connectivity, and AI. That layer runs on physical infrastructure which is increasingly dual-use.
What Katowice showed
Several market signals were concrete. Last-mile autonomous solutions are already deployable, as demonstrated by the Łukasiewicz Research Network. Electric coastal boats are on the market, regardless of EU legislation. Renault held the Polish premiere of the Twingo, its entry into the affordable EU car segment.
ElectroMobility Poland presented its plans for Jaworzno: a PLN 4.5 billion investment under the National Recovery Plan, finalised in May 2026 and now built around a Foxconn joint venture. Production is expected to begin in 2029, with a target of 100,000 cars a year.
The PGL, or LOT Group, strategy was also presented, while the new EU Aviation Strategy is still to come.
The New Mobility Congress took place in the city which hosted the UNFCCC’s COP24. Not much time has passed since 2018, but technologically, we already live in a different era. The issues surrounding the just transition remain to be addressed, and rather urgently, as new forms of transport may lead to new types of exclusion.
Hardware is commoditising, and affordability lags
Battery costs have fallen and electric vehicles have entered the mainstream, while price competition from Asian manufacturers is compressing margins. Fuel prices add further pressure, with premium petrol at some German motorway service stations approaching €3 a litre.
E-fuels are not yet an answer. Production remains at pilot scale, and costs are several times higher than those of fossil fuels before tax. They therefore remain a niche complement for aviation, shipping, and legacy vehicle fleets.
Meanwhile, what counts as affordable in Brussels does not necessarily correspond to purchasing power in Central Europe.
What Brussels adds
Following the State of the Union address on 16 September, three signals matter for transport: a transport simplification package, a climate resilience initiative due later this year, and the inclusion of transport among five priority sectors for industrial AI.
On aviation, the Commission consulted in April and May 2026 on a new Aviation and Aeronautics Strategy. An extension of the EU Emissions Trading System to all flights departing from EU airports is also under consideration.
The Connecting Europe Days agenda was heavily focused on infrastructure. Plenary 1 covered transport networks responding to military needs and emerging threats, while Plenary 4 addressed investment for competitiveness and military mobility.
Where the value migrates
Once a vehicle is electric, the differentiators are data, including fleet telemetry and predictive maintenance; connectivity, including vehicle-to-everything technologies and integration with smart-city and airspace systems; and AI, including perception, real-time decision-making, and fleet optimisation.
Aviation follows the same pattern. Sustainable fuels are its equivalent of electrification: necessary, but not a lasting differentiator. Competitiveness increasingly turns on air traffic management, cross-border data sharing, and AI-based airspace optimisation. Drones provide a live test of that thesis.
Why dual-use matters in Central and Eastern Europe
Sensors, AI, connectivity, and satellite positioning underpin autonomous vehicles and connected aviation, just as they underpin defence readiness.
Central and Eastern Europe sits close to Europe’s security pressure point. With purchasing power moving towards Western European benchmarks, an investment that can be justified through climate, cohesion, and defence budgets has a better chance of being built.
Ultre’s metal fortification provides one example, moving from design to field implementation. Where there is a need, there is a solution. We are likely to see more activity in this field of construction, possibly including a defence-led urban renovation wave.
Next step: Warsaw Security Forum
The mobility and defence communities plan many of the same corridors, stations, and runways, but rarely meet. The Warsaw Security Forum, taking place later in October, is the natural place to bring civilian and military planners together to discuss transport infrastructure.
Open questions
The real question concerns control. Autonomy and connectivity have turned transport from a commercial sector into a strategic one. Whoever controls the data, connectivity, and AI will control the value chain.
That control requires infrastructure built to serve climate and security at the same time.
