Decarbonising road freight transport
Gemeinsame Stellungnahme des Conseil d'analyse economique (CAE) und des Deutsch-Franzosischen Rates der Wirtschaftsexperten[1][2] Autoren sind:
Sylvain Chassang, Antoine Lopes, Ulrike Malmendier, Aurelien Saussay, Monika Schnitzer, Katheline Schubert, Milena Schwarz, Achim Truger, Martin Werding Summary
Decarbonising road freight transport is essential for achieving the EU's climate targets, as the sector remains a major emitter of greenhouse gases. Despite ambitious policies like the European Green Deal and Fit-for-55, emission reductions in transport have lagged behind other sectors. Without decisive action, transport emissions are projected to continue increasing, making it one of the less efficient sectors.
Road freight plays a particularly dominant role, due to its heavy reliance on diesel-powered trucks. As the EU's largest economies, France and Germany have a special responsibility to lead the way in freight transport decarbonisation. Their strong economic ties create significant cross-border transport flows, leading to shared externalities and common policy challenges.
Aligning their strategies would strengthen domestic policies, improve infrastructure interoperability, and accelerate EU-wide regulatory alignment. Modal shift, demand reduction and efficiency improvements can contribute to reducing emissions, but structural and operational constraints make them insufficient to achieve large-scale decarbonisation in the short and medium term. The most effective and scalable approach is to focus on reducing emissions from road transport itself.
Battery-electric trucks are emerging as the leading technology, with rapidly improving battery performance, falling costs, and expanding charging infrastructure. However, challenges remain, including the need for widespread charging infrastructure, adjustments to logistics operations, and ensuring grid capacity to support high-power charging. Public funding should accelerate the roll-out of fast-charging networks along major corridors and in private depots.
We recommend targeted support during the ramp-up phase to rapidly establish a dense, reliable and interoperable recharging network that gives fleet operators the confidence to invest. Reinforcing European R&D in battery performance, fast-charging technologies and substitution of critical raw materials will also be essential. At the same time, the European regulation (AFIR) should be regularly reassessed to ensure that infrastructure deployment is in line with technological developments and realistic market demand.
Rail freight can and must play a part in efforts to decarbonise the sector. Given the current fragmentation of European rail networks and logistical constraints, efforts must focus primarily on flows where rail is relevant, such as high-traffic corridors and cross-border flows. Investments in interoperability on a European scale is essential to improve the reliability and attractiveness of rail.
For the transition to be successful, the EU must ensure that its carbon pricing mechanisms, such as the Emissions Trading System and carbon-based truck tolls, create sufficient economic incentives for operators to transition away from diesel. Current pricing structures do not fully reflect the environmental and societal costs of freight movements, contributing to high and inefficient transport volumes. Also there is a high degree of uncertainty about future prices of carbon emissions in the transport sector.
The EU should therefore adopt a harmonised framework to internalise these external costs through clear carbon pricing in freight transport. Recommendations:
- Internalise the external effects of freight transport through a europewide standardised policy framework, as otherwise the volume of freight transport will remain inefficiently high. Secure planning certainty about the future price of carbon emissions in the transport sector.
- Prioritise battery-electric trucks (BET) as the central technology for decarbonising road freight transport in the short run.
- Provide public funding to accelerate the deployment of Megawatt Charging System (MCS) infrastructure along highways, and charging stations at private depots.
Limit this funding to the market rampup phase.
- Take into account the environmental, economic, and social implications of truck industrial policy in Europe, with a view to support the vitality of the European BET manufacturing sector. Bring public support for BET research, for example in addressing early-stage challenges associated with MCS during the initial market introduction.
- Reassess and allow flexibility on the requirements placed on the infrastructure for alternative fuels regulated by the AFIR.
- A general modal shift towards rail freight is unrealistic in the near future. Focus rail investments on areas such as high-volume corridors and cross-border flows.
Support the coordinated deployment of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) on designated corridors and strengthen interoperability with a common operation language.
Joint Statement (PDF, Englisch)[3]
References
- ^ Conseil d'analyse economique (CAE) (www.cae-eco.fr)
- ^ Deutsch-Franzosischen Rates der Wirtschaftsexperten (www.sachverstaendigenrat-wirtschaft.de)
- ^ Joint Statement (PDF, Englisch) (www.sachverstaendigenrat-wirtschaft.de)
- ^ Pressemitteilung (PDF) (www.sachverstaendigenrat-wirtschaft.de)