Updated EU rules to fight illegal practices in road transport and to help improve drivers' employment conditions were approved by the Transport Committee.

EU countries imposing time-based road use charges will need to switch to distance-based ones for trucks and buses from 2023 and cars from 2026, under draft rules adopted today.

Loopholes that airlines use to deny compensation to passengers delayed for over three hours should be closed by Transport Committee amendments, voted on Tuesday, to the European Commission’s proposal on revised air passenger rights. These amendments further restrict grounds for denying information, compensation and assistance, and make it easier for national authorities to penalise airlines that do not fulfil their obligations.

To help reduce traffic accidents, new cars, trucks and buses should be equipped with driver assistance systems, transport MEPs say in a draft resolution voted on Thursday.

Measures to improve domestic rail passenger services by opening up public service contracts to more competition, giving operators fairer access to infrastructure and harmonizing safety certification to improve interoperability and get innovative new rolling stock on the rails faster were approved in the Transport and Tourism Committee on Tuesday.

Transport Committee MEPs discussed with Commissioner Vălean the Single European Sky proposal that will allow the aviation sector to reduce CO2 emissions as well as costs.

Ministers are outlining the priorities of the German Presidency of the Council of the EU to parliamentary committees, in a series of meetings.

MEPs voted to renew the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for the 2021-2027 period to ensure continued development of trans-European transport, energy and telecom networks.

EU Commission and member states need to redouble efforts to achieve broad coverage and even distribution of alternative fuels infrastructure across the EU.

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Proposals to end biannual clock changes from 2021 were backed by the Transport and Tourism Committee on Monday.

All of the EP’s 20 standing committees and two subcommittees held their constitutive meetings on Wednesday to elect their chair and vice-chairs.

Members of Parliament’s Tourism Task Force request additional urgent measures to relaunch tourism in Europe and help businesses to survive the COVID-19 crisis.

The upcoming road initiatives from the Commission should provide a boost to the transport sector sustainability, safety and innovation and foster technological development of vehicles, alternative fuels and assure access of transport SMEs to the market, say MEPs in a draft resolution adopted by the Transport and Tourism Committee on Tuesday.

The Transport and Tourism Committee held a hearing on ways in which strengthened border checks have affected the transport sector, with presentations on the economic costs by experts from France Stratégie, Transport & Mobility Leuven, International Road Transport Union and the European Commission, on Tuesday.

Growing urbanisation and increasing traffic congestion create a significant burden on the economy and require that transport is increasingly integrated, digitalised and multi-modal, say MEPs in an own-initiative report adopted in the Transport and Tourism committee on Tuesday. Small transport companies with the ability to innovate have a crucial role to play in the transport system, and development of collaborative business models can optimise vehicle and infrastructure use, they add.

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Tourism is a major contributor to European economy and EU visa policy reform needs to continue, but new security concerns also need to be addressed, MEPs said in a debate in the Transport and Tourism Committee on Wednesday with tourism sector and Commission representatives.

Transport and Tourism Committee decided to start negotiations with the Council on the mobility package based on the position adopted by the Parliament during the 8th parliamentary term.

Improvements in maximising the use of EU funding are needed to reduce disparities in infrastructure developments between Central and Eastern Europe and the rest of the EU, MEPs say in an own-initiative report voted in the Transport and Tourism committee on Monday. EU member states and the European Commission should focus on completing the TEN-T corridors, bridging missing links, removing bottlenecks and improve connections between different modes of transport.