Artur PERCHEL
EU Budget Negotiations: Invest in Transport, Invest in Europe
With Member States pursuing different ambitions and defending priorities ranging from competitiveness and cohesion to resilience, there is one sector that delivers across all of them: Europe’s transport sector.
Europe’s competitiveness, cohesion and resilience depend on people being able to move. Together with other 48 organisations, UITP is calling for transport funding to be restored and strengthened in the next EU budget.
For UITP, three priorities should guide the negotiations:
- Protect civilian transport investment, with explicit CEF support for urban nodes, multimodal passenger hubs and public transport connections.
- Ensure predictable funding for local and regional public transport through National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs).
- Ensure cities, regions and public transport authorities have an effective role in the planning and implementation of investments.
What the latest Irish Presidency’s negotiating box means for transport
Transport risks being disproportionately affected by the latest EU budget negotiations. The Irish Presidency’s negotiating box reduces the overall budget by 8% compared with the European Commission’s proposal, while the CEF Transport envelope faces a larger cut of 11%, falling from €45.8 billion to €40.6 billion (2025 prices).
This envelope also includes military mobility, leaving less than €4 billion per year for civilian transport across the EU. Political compromises must not come at the expense of the investment needed to strengthen Europe’s transport networks.
UITP is therefore calling for transport investment to be protected across the next EU budget.
This means safeguarding civilian funding under CEF, including explicit support for urban nodes, multimodal passenger hubs and public transport connections.
It also means giving local and regional public transport a clear place in the NRPPs, through a dedicated urban and local mobility envelope and minimum spending targets. Cities, regions and public transport authorities should be involved from the outset so that investment reflects real mobility needs and can be delivered effectively.
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