Cities worldwide are characterised by population growth, urbanisation and high levels of dependence on private cars. All of these contribute to traffic congestion and pollution, which raise considerable environmental and health concerns. In the EU, inefficient travel networks in urban areas cost Member State economies an estimated €110 billion each year. The Commission has also calculated the health costs of air pollution, much of which comes from road traffic, at several hundred billion euro per year.
The EU has put in place a range of policies and the Commission has adopted specific action plans to help Member States address the challenges facing urban mobility. More than €60 billion from the EU budget has been made available to implement these and other initiatives during the 2014-2020 period.
The European Court of Auditors has recently launched an audit of the effectiveness of the EU’s action and funding on urban mobility.
If you wish to contact the audit team, you may do so at the following e-mail address: ECA-urban-mobility-audit@eca.europa.eu.