Skane Lans Landsting
Region Skåne
Region Skåne is the regional authority of the southernmost county of Sweden.
ID: 134913628840-43
Lobbying Activity
Response to Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy
9 Jul 2020
Region Skåne welcomes the roadmap for the EU Strategy for a Sustainable and Smart Mobility. A green and digital transformation of the transport system is of outmost importance for Europe and we hope that the new Strategy will be a powerful tool in countering and mitigating the risks posed by climate change. The Strategy should focus on all transport modes with the aim of establishing a system where it’s possible to bring out the most of each transport mode and creating seamless intermodality. However, we would like to stress the following;
Cross-border perspective
• We see a clear need for the Strategy to include a strong cross-border perspective. We welcome that the roadmap mentions the necessity of a well-functioning cross-border flow of both persons and goods in Europe, but we would like to see the cross-border perspective as an integral part of the entire Strategy.
• We also see a need to improve the information and ticketing systems across Europe to ensure a system where it’s easy to get information and purchase tickets for cross-border travels with trains, buses and other local transport modes. The lack of such systems heavily affects the possibility to conduct seamless and barrier-free travels and we believe that the Strategy should be integral in ensuring a well-functioning cross-border system.
Alternative fuels (AF)
We welcome the measures listed to reduce the transport sector’s GHG emissions, but we would like to stress the following regarding AF:
• Despite EU guidelines and monitoring of infrastructure for AF, climate adaptation and investments in new technology and innovation solution, there has not been a transition as successful as wished for. Hence, it's important that these aspects are further developed in the Strategy in order to support a faster transition.
• In order to promote an efficient conversion to AF in the transport system, the Strategy must be directed towards a higher degree of harmonization of the AF infrastructure. Planning for the establishment of new technology must be done in dialogue between the MS so that a reliable, accessible and robust system is guaranteed. It’s also necessary to encourage AF for all transport modes.
• The roadmap mentions the need for boosting the uptake of lower and zero-emission vehicles as well as incentivising large scale market deployment of new technologies, including production capabilities and use of sustainable AF and associated charging and refuelling infrastructure. There has, during the last years, been substantial investments in AF infrastructure, but we haven’t seen a sufficient upscale of the demand side, which is needed to provide a positive business case for private actors. We would therefore like to welcome that the new Strategy aims to tackle these challenges alongside establishing the needed infrastructure.
• A main concern for the development is the interoperability of AF in an international context; i.e. functioning payment systems, where we see a need for transnational platforms. With regards to transnational markets for AF vehicles, it’s also important to make sure that AF are available across all of Europe, otherwise it will be difficult to establish in international transport. We see that the Strategy could be part of ensuring that the standards are the same in all of Europe.
Flexible approach: It’s important that the Strategy provides a flexible approach to ensure that it can be adapted to new needs, technological developments and external changes in order to avoid the risk of making inefficient investments locking us into old technology.
Energy supply: We argue that the Strategy should pay attention to the increasingly high degree of electrification within the transport system as part of the transition to a climate-neutral transport system. The increasing degree of electrification will put pressure on energy supply systems and we would like to encourage that the Strategy help prepare MS and stakeholders to meet these needs.
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