COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE EVALUATION of the White Paper Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area – Towards a competitive and resource efficient transport system
Date: 2021-01-14
Institutions: Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, European Commission
Subjects: common transport policy, maritime transport, oil industry, rail transport, reduction of gas emissions, road safety, road transport, self-sufficiency in energy, trans-European network

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 10.12.2020  SWD(2020) 411 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE EVALUATION  of the White Paper Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area – Towards a competitive and resource efficient transport system   {SWD(2020) 410 final}  
 
 
The  2011  White  Paper  ‘Roadmap  to  a  Single  European  Transport  Area  –  Towards  a 
competitive  and  resource  efficient  transport  system’1  identified  the  need  to  tackle  the 
challenge  of  breaking  the  transport  system’s  dependence  on  oil  without  sacrificing  its 
efficiency  and  compromising  mobility.  As  the  paramount  objective  of  European  transport 
policy, it set  the establishment of a  transport system that underpins European economic 
progress, enhances competitiveness and offers high quality mobility services while using 
resources  more  efficiently.  The  specific  objectives  set  for  the  White  Paper  were  about 
reducing  greenhouse  gas  (GHG)  emissions  by  around  60%  by  2050  compared  to  1990, 
limiting  the  growth  of  congestion  and  reducing  oil  dependency  for  a  more  sustainable 
transport system. The White Paper put forward a comprehensive list of initiatives to achieve 
these objectives. It also set ten goals for a competitive and resource efficient transport system, 
to serve as benchmarks for achieving the 60% GHG emission reduction target. 

The  Commission  has  acted  on  almost  all  of  the  policy  initiatives  planned  in  the  White 
Paper.  The  impact  and  results  of  this  roadmap,  until  now  and  estimated  until  2050,  are 
assessed in view of their effectiveness, efficiency, internal and external coherence, EU added 
value and relevance. The assessment builds on an internal analysis of action implementation, 
external input, such as the stakeholder consultation, and an external support study, including 
model projections on the impact of the policies adopted following the White Paper. 

The results from the modelling exercise undertaken for this evaluation show that for the EU-
27, thanks to the White Paper initiatives, overall CO2 emissions from transport2 would be 
16% lower relative to the Baseline in 2030 and 39% lower in 2050. Policies adopted after 
2011 would contribute significantly towards the White Paper milestone for 2030 but fall short 
in delivering the 60% emissions reductions by 2050. As already assumed for the White Paper, 
additional policies or an intensification of the current policies beyond 2030 would be needed 
to close the emissions gap.3 

The oil dependency of the EU transport sector is now clearly decreasing, but is still high. 
The increase in the use of electricity and biofuels in transport has been a main determinant of 
the  decrease  in  fossil  fuel  dependency  in  recent  years.  The  evaluation  estimates  that  the 
initiatives adopted by the end of 2018 result in reductions in oil dependency, but the transport 
sector will still be  dependent  on oil and petroleum  products  for 77% of its  energy needs  by 
2050. 

Progress has been limited in addressing the problem of road congestion, which persists in 
Europe. Based on projections in the context of this evaluation, congestion will still increase 
over time although at slightly slower pace than without the White Paper initiatives. 

The evaluation also assessed progress towards the ten headline goals: while some goals have 
been or are projected to be achieved, others not or are too early to assess. This is also due 
to the long-term time horizon of the roadmap (until 2050).  

1 COM (2011) 144 final. 
2 Including international aviation, excluding international maritime shipping. 
3 The impact assessment accompanying the 2011 White Paper has assumed an intensification of the current policies beyond 
2030 to achieve the 60% emissions reductions by 2050. 

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The  Commission  has  evaluated  the  current  Energy  Taxation  Directive.  The  evaluation 
concludes  that  overlaps,  gaps  and  inconsistencies  significantly  hamper  EU  objectives  in  the 
field of energy, environment, climate change and transport. 

Several initiatives in the context of the White Paper have improved the social protection 
of  transport  workers,  in  particular  in  road  haulage.  Yet,  mainly  civil  society  and  research 
organisations fear that developments like automation and digitalisation could negatively affect 
future working conditions in transport. 

It has not been possible to reach conclusions on the overall costs and benefits resulting from 
the  White  Paper  for  the  stakeholder  groups  under  analysis.  It  has  also  not  been  possible  to 
identify  groups  of  stakeholders  that,  overall,  were  subject  to  any  undue  burdens,  or  that 
experienced significant benefits. Nonetheless, from the society perspective, only looking at a 
few  initiatives,  namely  those  related  to  decarbonisation  of  transport,  to  making  the  EU 
transport  sector  more  competitive  through  increased  market  opening  and  to  road  and  air 
safety,  the  benefits  to  society  already  outnumber  the  costs  incurred  with  specific 
initiatives. 

The needs of EU transport policy, as identified at the time of the adoption of the White 
Paper  in  2011,  are  largely  still  relevant  today.  This  is  particularly  the  case  for  the 
environmental  performance  and  need  to  modernise  the  EU  transport  sector.  Similarly,  the 
needs to increase competitiveness and deepen the single market for transport services are still 
valid. Despite some progress in terms of improved safety, for stakeholders the issue is rightly 
still high on the agenda. 

The  main  incoherence  between  the  White  Paper  and  the  initiatives  of  international 
organisations,  as  well  as  some  other  EU  policy  initiatives,  is  the  GHG  reduction  goal  of 
60% that underlie the 2011 White Paper compared to the 90% set out in the European 
Green Deal, needed to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.  

In  terms  of  internal  coherence,  the  initiatives  identified  in  the  White  Paper  generally 
provide a coherent framework to deliver the objectives set out therein, which themselves 
are considered to be an appropriate framework for developing sustainable transport. 

Action  at  EU  level  to  address  cross-border  problems,  such  as  climate  change  mitigation  is 
indispensable  and  coordinated  EU  policies  have  a  much  bigger  chance  of  leading  to  a  true 
transformation  towards  a  climate  neutral  economy  by  2050.  This  essentially  also  applies  to 
the  ongoing  quest  for  decarbonisation  and  reducing  the  environmental  footprint  of  the  EU 
transport  sector.  The  EU  single  market  acts  as  a  strong  driver  for  cost-efficient  change. 
This is particularly important to support widespread acceptance of technological change and 
to foster public and private investments therein.  

The majority of efforts taken towards implementing the action points of the White Paper 
would  either  not  have  been  possible  without  EU  level  intervention,  or  could  have  taken 
place but would have been less effective and efficient. Some progress towards them could be 
expected  in  some  Member  States,  but  in  most  cases,  this  would  have  been  fragmented  and 
uncoordinated. 

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