Sector & service specialists

Transport connects people, cultures, cities, countries and continents. It is one of the main pillars of modern societies and economies, allowing producers to sell their products across the world and travellers to discover new places. There is, however, a downside to our current transport model. The transport sector causes substantial negative impacts on the environment and human health. Transport is responsible for about a quarter of the EU’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and causes air pollution, noise pollution and habitat fragmentation.

The mobility sector has been occupied with a range of big issues from figuring out the details of phasing out combustion engine cars to continuing battles over trucking reforms and the never-ending effort to streamline air traffic services.  All this means that the transport sector has been beefing up its representation in Brussels massively in recent years.

EU policy aims to help our transport systems meet the major challenges facing them including congestion, oil dependency, greenhouse gas emissions, infrastructure and competition.

There are numerous Brussels transport associations from the global International Association of Public Transport (UITP) to those representing individual sectors from airlines to railways, and from bicycles to electric vehicles. Many of Brussels top corporate affairs spenders like Volkswagen, BMW and Daimler have a stake in the transport debate, as do many tech companies including Google.

According to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) in 2025, Travel & Tourism across the EU is forecast to contribute nearly €1.9TN to the bloc’s GDP, accounting for 10.5% of the EU economy. Employment is expected to reach almost 26MN, representing 12% of all EU jobs – a clear sign of the sector’s growing impact. International visitor spending is expected to reach €573BN this year, growing more than 11% year-on-year. Domestic spending is also projected to increase, to reach €1.1TN, growing 1.6% year-on-year.