The College of Commissioners recently adopted its work programme for 2026, indicating the intention to withdraw the proposed amendment of the Combined Transport Directive (CTD), which was tabled as part of the Greening Freight Transport package in November 2023.
The IWT sector in general welcomed the new approach in the Commission proposal which aims at refocusing support on operations that reduce the negative externalities compared to road-only operations and thus contributing to the modal shift goals of the EU policy. Currently, a number of barriers hamper the increase of multimodal transport and the shift towards inland navigation. These are both related to hardcore obstacles such as infrastructure deficiencies, lack of sufficient support for multimodal transport, port congestion with a negative effect on the hinterland connections, as well as soft aspects, such as lack of awareness of the potential of the sector on the user side.
Although we expressed our doubts whether the objectives of this proposal and the overall goals of the EU Green Deal and its underlying modal shift objectives would be reached with the proposed revision – given its restricted scope and the complexity in terms of emission reduction calculations – the withdrawal is to be regretted. The revision was expected to shape the framework for an updated modal shift policy towards IWT where the current CTD is mainly focusing on and supporting the road/rail leg.
Only recently the European Parliament released a study which came up with a list of recommendations from the European Parliament’s position on the Directive by providing a clear reasoning for the revision of this outdated directive and and proposing priority actions that could help enhance the role of Combined Transport.
From the IWT sector’s point of view the withdrawal is considered a step back as the proposal was revision of the CTD was understood as one of the necessary steps to move volumes from the congested roads towards inland waterways and rail.
Author: Theresia Hacksteiner
