EU Transport Chief Warns: No Funding Means No Infrastructure — and Europe Pays the Price

European Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas used his Connecting Europe Days 2026 address to make a forceful case for more investment in Europe’s transport infrastructure. He said transport is fundamental to Europe’s economy, industry and society. “Transport connects.” It connects people, businesses, regions and Europe to the rest of the world. Tzitzikostas highlighted the scale of the sector, with around 11 million transport workers and transport contributing roughly 5% of EU GDP each year. But he warned that Europe must now do more. The continent needs to compete internationally, strengthen the resilience of transport infrastructure and protect networks against hostile actors, extreme weather, software failures, pandemics and other threats. At the centre of this effort is the Trans-European Transport Network, the TEN-T. Since 2014, the Connecting Europe Facility has funded around 1,850 transport infrastructure projects with more than €46 billion. Tzitzikostas highlighted major projects including the Brenner Base Tunnel, Lyon-Turin and Rail Baltica. He also stressed that smaller projects can have an equally important impact on citizens’ daily lives. High-speed rail is another major priority. Tzitzikostas said the EU wants to cut travel times dramatically across Europe, with Berlin-Copenhagen targeted at around four hours instead of seven and Sofia-Athens at around six hours instead of fourteen. He also called for easier cross-border ticketing. The goal is to allow passengers to compare and combine different operators and transport modes and, where possible, buy a single ticket even when several companies are involved. Military mobility was another central part of the speech. “The world has changed.” Tzitzikostas said Europe can no longer neglect security and defence and must be able to move quickly across the continent. That means adapting existing infrastructure for dual civilian and military use. “We need wider tunnels, stronger bridges, deeper ports, bigger airports.” The Commission has proposed €51.5 billion for the Connecting Europe Facility in the next EU budget, including €17.6 billion for military mobility. Tzitzikostas warned that without sufficient funding, infrastructure plans cannot become reality. “Without funding, we cannot…