As the European Commission is expected to present its Automotive Package tomorrow, as announced, IRU and its partner associations, the European Association for Forwarding, Transport, Logistics and Customs Services (CLECAT), and the European Shippers’ Council (ESC), will bring together leading Members of the European Parliament and industry stakeholders in Strasbourg tomorrow to discuss solutions, showcase progress, and ensure that fleet decarbonisation ambitions are grounded in operational reality.
Tomorrow may mark an important moment for the EU’s road transport sector, should the European Commission’s announced timeline be maintained. With the European Commission having signalled its intention to present its legislative reform aimed at strengthening the future competitiveness of the automotive sector and the transition to zero-emission mobility, road transport operators, logistics providers and shippers will gather at the European Parliament to feed real-world experience directly into the policy debate.
The high-level lunch debate will be hosted by Members of the European Parliament with key coordinating roles on transport policy across the political spectrum. The parliamentary hosts include:
- Jan-Christoph Oetjen, TRAN Committee Coordinator, Renew Europe
- Dariusz Joński, Vice-Coordinator on Transport, EPP Group
- Merja Kyllönen, Member of the Committee on Transport and Tourism, The Left
- Kosma Złotowski, Member of the Committee on Transport and Tourism, ECR Group
The event reflects the strong cross-party interest in ensuring that fleet decarbonisation policies are effective, realistic and deliverable.
IRU EU Director Raluca Marian said, “The EU is at a decision point. Policies adopted in the period ahead will shape the future of the automotive sector but only if buyers also receive the right investment signals.
“Bringing policymakers and operators together allows real-world experience to inform the debate, because any workable EU policy framework must have the buyers on board. This will help ensure that the EU’s decarbonisation ambitions are matched by practical, workable solutions that fleets can implement on the ground.”
The debate will bring together transport companies operating across a wide range of uses and business models, including both national and international operations, with headquarters in several EU Member States. Participating fleets reflect the diversity of the road transport sector, covering different vehicle types, routes, operational patterns and customer needs.
A key objective of the discussion is to showcase positive, real-world examples of fleet electrification already delivering results, while highlighting the enabling conditions required to scale up deployment. Participants will underline that many operators represented at the event have accumulated valuable experience with electrification to date, but that progress has been driven by operational suitability and business logic – not by obligation.
Against this background, the debate will emphasise a clear message: while fleet electrification is advancing where conditions allow, mandatory purchase quotas or compulsion risk undermining investment decisions and do not reflect the operational realities faced by fleets.
Instead, participants will stress the need for enabling policies – including charging and grid infrastructure, regulatory flexibility, technology neutrality and investment certainty – to allow electrification to expand organically and effectively across different transport segments.
The road transport industry is looking to the Automotive Action Plan to provide a clear, predictable and enabling framework for fleet electrification once adopted. IRU hopes the Plan will recognise the diversity of road transport operations and focus on removing barriers and providing incentives rather than imposing one-size-fits-all requirements.
By convening policymakers and industry at a critical moment in the EU policy calendar, the Strasbourg debate aims to foster an informed, forward-looking exchange on how to accelerate fleet electrification while safeguarding competitiveness and supply chain resilience.
“As the EU prepares to define its next steps for the automotive and transport sectors, the message from our sector at the debate will be clear: ambition must be matched by enabling conditions if zero-emission mobility is to deliver real results on the road,” concluded Raluca Marian.