The White Paper on Transport (2011) brings to the attention of every EU member state the necessity of transforming the transport system that has to be directed towards a sustainable and competitive system that will continuously improve the mobility of freight and passengers. The objectives established focused on reducing oil dependency, accidents and emissions, but also the increase of the quality of environment and services are constant challenges in the development of a transport system.
The growth changes will not be enough in the confrontation with the challenges met in Europe and its transport sector and, to that end, the attention of European authorities is focused towards developing research and innovation capacities. The European market will permit testing the different services and technologies and creating a strong market, not only in the European transport sector but also all around the world.
In order to approach these problems, the EC Communication on research and innovation for Europe’s future mobility – Developing a European transport-technology strategy (September) summarizes a first balance of this segment , analyses the deficiencies of the transport innovation system and presents the initial proposals to be approached. Also, the Communication will be the base in the elaboration of a European “transport-technology” strategic plan that will be the pillar of the White Paper on research and innovation. The objective is to ensure a coherent approach between different financing sources for transport research and innovation for the next programming period. The Plan will define the priority areas and will propose specific actions to overcome implementation barriers.
According to the report “Mapping innovation in the European transport sector”, EC Joint Research Centre-2011 on the transport innovation capacity, transport R&D investments made by European companies were estimated at over EUR 39 Billion in 2008, being the largest industrial sector in Europe in terms of R&D investments; also, member states invested EUR 4.2 Billion.
Strategic actions in four activity sectors
The vision on changing the entire transport system can be resumed in a few words: the new generations of clean, safe and silent vehicles will replace the vehicles currently in use, maritime and railway transport will take over the medium-distance segment and, at the same time, mobility will be maintained by gradually tightening the regulations on emissions (especially for automotive vehicles) favouring the use of alternative propulsion, especially in urban centres where public transport services will be intensely developed and focused on electricity. These objectives (creating a fully interoperable, integrated, sustainable and competitive system with all the elements which compose each characteristic) could not be met unless exploiting the research and innovation segment that will determine the delivery of solutions. According to the EU communication, the vision requires the implementation of strategic actions into four activity sectors.
Firstly, the research and innovation anchorage in transport policy should be strengthened. The Innovation Union flagship initiative and Digital Agenda for Europe underline the need for a strategic approach to innovation. The Commission’s proposal for Horizon 2020, on developing an intelligent, eco-friendly and integrated transport, highlights smart, green and integrated transport as one of the six major societal challenges where European research and innovation can make a real difference.
Secondly, the efforts of individual sectors and actors should be better aligned. “In general, multiple research efforts enhance the probability of breakthroughs and increase the range of solutions, the particularities of innovation in the transport sector suggest that joint or coordinated efforts across sectors and actors may be more effective in specific fields. For example, whereas the producers of transport solutions often wait for clear market signals before developing new solutions and do not always fully understand the user’s needs”, the Communication states.
Thirdly, it is important to overcome technology lock-in and institutional ‘silo’ thinking.
Existing structures and stakeholder alliances hamper full realisation of the potential offered by transport innovation that draws on other modes and sectors. For example, transport innovation could be more strongly influenced by developments in other sectors such as telecommunication and energy. Transport operators that could benefit from such innovative solutions often operate at low profit margins and have limited incentives to invest in new solutions.
Finally, “the extensive asset requirements, major investment needs, and high barriers faced by new market entrants prevent the transport sector from bringing the necessary transformative solutions to the market.
These strategic actions will contribute to creating a transformative vision of the transport system and the “transport-technology” plan will highlight the priority of the research & innovation-relevant areas and will approach the efficiency of the whole innovation chain and of the actions proposed for the elimination of implementation barriers.
The “transport-technology” strategic plan will support the implementation of financing the programmes proposed by the Commission for the multi-annual financial framework, including Horizon 2020, the “Connecting Europe Facility”, the European Fund for Regional Development (ERDF), the Cohesion Fund and the Programme of the competitiveness of undertakings and SMEs. Moreover, EIB will be invited to extend its loans for the transport sector (through its new crediting policy) and to increase the technical assistance for interested parties, both public and private.
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