The protest letter, which was also signed by numerous German and French MEPs, has been sent to EU Commission Vice-President Šefčovič, who is responsible for the European Green Deal, Competition Commissioner Didier Reynders, and Transport Commissioner Adina Vălean.
“The Commission is creating uncertainty for a sector that needs planning and long-term vision. In doing so, the Commission could jeopardize the goal of transporting goods by train instead of by truck,” says the signatories of the letter.
The signatories of the letter additionally argue that the fragmentation of the sector through “forced, further privatization” undermines the expansion of SGV [rail freight transport].”
They have thus urged the EU Commission to stop the investigation and declare rail freight transport “a service of general interest, allowing EU member states to support this key ecological sector”.
Germany’s Railway and Transport Union states that rail freight transport is crucial for a sustainable future. It has warned against what it sees as a hostile destruction of climate-friendly European rail freight.
“Instead of destructive EU procedures, railway companies must be given all the means to double the share of rail freight by 2050. Brussels and Berlin must ensure this,” says the German Railway and Transport Union.
Photo: EM311, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
