‘PROGRESS IN PROGRESS’: AN ARTICLE BY DG MOVE’S MARIA CRISTINA MAROLDA ON THE NEW STRATEGIC RESEARCH AND INNOVATION AGENDA FOR THE EUROPEAN UNION

The Energy Union Package defines a framework strategy for a resilient Energy Union with a forward-looking climate change policy, whose main targets for 2030 are: i) at least 40% of reduction in greenhouse gas emissions; ii) at least 27% of share in renewable energy; and iii) at least 27% of improvement in energy efficiency. Reaching and exceeding these intermediary objectives will allow the EU to pursue the goal of an 80-95% decrease in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050.

Transport today accounts for 23% of all EU GHG emissions and for 33% of its energy consumption and, therefore, is one of the sectors that by 2050 will need to undergo one of the most profound transformations in order to allow the EU to reach its climate and energy goals.

In this article, included in the STA section of the latest Thinking Highways issue and named ‘Progress in progress’, European Commission’s Policy Officer at DG MOVE Ms. Maria Cristina Marolda, reviews the EU strategy to achieve the goals set by the Energy Union in the context of the New Strategic Transport Research and Innovation Agenda (STRIA).