IRU, the world road transport organisation, and ETF, Europe’s Transport Workers’ Federation, have welcomed the European Commission´s launch of a call for proposals to access €100 million in CEF funding to improve the network of safe and secure truck parking areas (SSTPAs) across the European Union.

With only 300,000 truck parking spaces currently available in the EU, there is a significant shortfall of 100,000 spaces to meet total demand. Only 7,000, or less than 3%, of existing parking places in the EU are in certified safe and secure areas.

As EU road transport social partners, IRU and ETF have urged additional support to improve conditions in the sector, and appreciate that the EU has heard and acted upon their joint call. Investment priorities include the development of new SSTPAs approximately every 100km along the TEN-T core road network and upgrades to safety, security and services in existing rest areas, in line with the EU-funded study on EU Parking Standards that IRU participated in.  

Raluca Marian, IRU’s Director of EU Advocacy said: “This new dedicated EU funding for SSTPAs is excellent news for the commercial road transport industry. We are looking forward to a maximum deployment of new parking projects and call on Member States to work closely with interested parties to apply to the EU’s call for proposals. This opportunity can make a huge difference for drivers and operators in the coming years.”

Cristina Tilling, ETF’s Head of Land Transport said: “Sufficient safe and secure parking areas, provided with adequate facilities, will certainly be a step towards the improvement of driver conditions in the road sector, so we can only welcome this initiative.

IRU and ETF will continue to work closely together, in the framework of the European social dialogue, to support EU truck parking standards and promote the creation of new and upgraded SSTPAs across Europe. Both IRU and ETF trust that this call for proposals will be replicated by similar annual calls under the Connecting Europe Facility as well as under the EU Cohesion Fund to meet the EU commitment for over €600 million in funding over three years.

Secretary General Umberto de Pretto has outlined IRU’s Green Compact, the commercial road transport sector’s decarbonisation roadmap, to high-level Chinese government and business figures. 

Speaking virtually at the Carbon Neutral Development Forum organised by IRU member China Chamber of International Commerce (CCOIC) last week in Beijing, he called for collective and pragmatic action on CO₂ emissions with the government and trade community to support China’s dual carbon goals.

IRU highlighted the importance of road transport in underpinning global and domestic mobility networks and supply chains, stressing that the key challenge is to reduce and mitigate CO₂ emissions from commercial road transport, while safeguarding its fundamental role in driving economic and social prosperity.

“No single country or company has the solution to our decarbonisation challenge. We must all work together, and we must all learn from each other,” said Umberto de Pretto, encouraging collective action and best practices from and with China. 

The Green Compact and its five decarbonisation pillars incorporate a flexible regional and national approach based on different energy and transport landscapes in different parts of the world.

“Delivering the Green Compact’s five pillars will allow commercial road transport to cut annual CO₂ emissions globally by three billion tonnes over the coming decades, becoming a major driver for green jobs and sustainability,” Umberto de Pretto added

Accounting for nearly 30% of the world’s carbon emissions, China is taking steps to address its contribution to global climate change. It was one of the first countries to formally ratify the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2015. 

At the UN General Assembly last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced China’s dual targets: to reach a CO₂ emissions peak by 2030, and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. In July this year, China officially launched its national carbon market.