Von der Leyen pushes EU Transport Union at Connecting Europe Days
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen placed the EU Transport Union at the heart of the Connecting Europe Days agenda, urging stronger cross-border links.
At the launch of Connecting Europe Days 2026 in Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen highlighted the EU Transport Union as a cornerstone of Europe’s future infrastructure strategy. She argued that a seamless transport network is essential for citizens, businesses and the bloc’s strategic goals, and announced a focus on completing the Trans-European Transport Network and eliminating remaining cross-border obstacles.
The programme includes discussions on standardising railway gauges across Portugal, Spain, Finland, the Baltic states and candidate nations Ukraine and Moldova, as well as a review of the rail capacity framework introduced in June 2026. Security considerations feature prominently, with a plenary on adapting civilian transport routes for military mobility, attended by Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas and Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius.
Funding mechanisms such as the Connecting Europe Facility, Cohesion Policy and upcoming partnership plans will also be examined, alongside topics like autonomous vehicles and sustainable aviation. The Transport Union remains a policy ambition rather than a new law, its evolution dependent on future EU measures and member-state investments.
Why it matters
The plan could reshape Europe's transport links, affecting trade, security and climate goals across the continent.
How this story developed
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- Sep 15 EU Coreper authorized a week‑long postponement of the sanctions expiry.
- Sep 15 EU leaders asked the European Defence Agency to evaluate progress toward a 2030 defence-readiness objective, and the agency’s summary concludes that current national plans fail to address critical shortfalls in air and missile defence, ground combat, naval power, ammunition stocks and unmanned systems. While spending and industrial readiness have improved, the report stresses that these gains have not yet produced deployable, sustainable and interoperable forces, leaving “critical capability gaps” unfilled. The findings will be discussed by EU defence ministers in Brussels before reaching the bloc’s leaders. Concurrently, Russia’s Defence Ministry reported strikes on Kyiv’s “Kyivstar” and “Parkovyi” telecom sites, and Ukrainian officials say attacks on providers such as Pavutyna, Etherlink, Crazy Network, Utels, Cityhost and MiroHost have caused temporary outages for roughly 100,000 households and hampered mobile alert messages. The dual pressure highlights the challenges Europe faces in both conventional and cyber-warfare domains.
- Sep 17 The European Commission will disburse €3.3 billion to Ukraine for missile and drone purchases, announced by Ursula von der Leyen following a call with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
- Sep 22 EU announced a €3.3 billion release for Ukrainian missile and drone purchases.
- Sep 22 Latvia announced it will not back the proposal to delist Usmanov and Fridman, prompting an emergency cabinet meeting.
- Sep 23 Latvia ultimately abstained in the EU vote, enabling renewal of the wider sanctions package while accepting the delisting of Usmanov and Fridman.
- Sep 28 EU defence ministers will meet in Brussels to discuss the agency’s yearly review.
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