The Commission‘s proposal aims to reduce the negative impact of freight transport by promoting a shift from road to inland waterway, rail, short sea shipping and maritime transport within the EU. To this end, binding eligibility criteria are defined that such a service must fulfil. A key innovation is the assessment of transport on the basis of external costs. Another funding criterion will be the mandatory use of electronic transport information platforms (eFTI).

AK supports the goal of making freight transport more climate-friendly and increasingly shifting it to environmentally friendly modes of transport. However, it remains to be seen whether the specific provisions of the proposal actually fulfil this objective. The funding criterion of the nearest freight terminal should not be abandoned prematurely. Funding should only be linked to external costs and electronic traffic information once these are known and practicable.