The European Commission’s flagship transport gathering, Connecting Europe Days, opened in Brussels on 28 September with a keynote video message from Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Running until 1 October, the event convenes ministers, regional authorities, financiers and industry leaders to accelerate completion of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) and strengthen military as well as civilian mobility. Over four days, delegates will debate high-speed rail corridors, smart ticketing, green maritime corridors and the looming roll-out of the Safe & Secure Truck Parking Network. A dedicated session on ‘Connecting Europe by Air’ will examine how the updated Slot Regulation and the pending Passenger Package can keep Europe’s hub airports globally competitive. Belgium is using its host status to highlight projects such as the Brussels-Luxembourg fast rail upgrade and the North Sea Port multimodal hub. For multinational companies managing mobile workforces, the outcomes matter. Faster cross-border rail could create viable alternatives to short-haul flights and reduce Scope 3 emissions. Harmonised digital ticketing would simplify expat commutes, while the military-mobility action plan promises sturdier infrastructure that benefits civilian freight. Funding announcements under the €25 billion Connecting Europe Facility (CEF-2) are expected later this week; corporate real-estate and logistics teams should watch which corridors secure grants. Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism Apostolos Tzitzikostas told reporters that completing TEN-T by 2030 would inject “an extra €600 billion into EU GDP through productivity gains.” In parallel side-events, Europe’s Rail is unveiling a public-private ‘ERTMS Deal’ to accelerate digital signalling deployment, a prerequisite for more frequent passenger services on Belgium’s busy north-south axis.
Source: European Commission – DG MOVE
