Less Oil, More Welfare

The EU’s energy policy in transport should be based on the following principles:

1. Energy efficiency policies in the transport sector could and should be much more ambitious than in other sectors (for example those in the European Emissions Trading System), because the ‘ability to pay’ for energy reduction in transport is higher than in more vulnerable sectors in the economy;
2. Binding targets should be set for energy use in transport: stabilisation by 2010 and halving by 2030, and a comprehensive plan to achieve this target should be developed and implemented;
3. All targets for energy efficiency and targets for renewable energy should be clearly separated – biomass is a scarce resource too;
4. The EU should become the most transport efficient economy in the world, just as it should strive to become the most energy efficient economy in the world;
5. Given the big differences in performance across the EU, ‘bad’ member states in terms of transport energy efficiency should learn from experiences of ‘good’ ones.

In the briefing, T&E highlights ten key actions that need to be taken.