Organiser: Ministry of Transport of the Federal Republic of Germany
We cannot strengthen the economy of the European Union without efficient transport systems. Rapid and reliable transport operations boost productivity and mobility, and attract skilled labour. Highly functional transport systems and infrastructure are also essential for our defence capabilities.
Against this background, two general conditions have top priority:
• Speeding up the implementation of transport infrastructure projects to prevent barriers to mobility of persons and goods.
• Eliminating and avoiding bureaucratic burdens for businesses, as well as for the administration and the people who depend on transport infrastructure.
We therefore believe that the time is right for initiatives to streamline the transport sector that aim to fast-track upgrades to transport infrastructure.
This requires proposals for expedited, legally certain procedures – with clear timeframes and deadlines, uniform assessment standards, preclusion of subsequent objections and better dovetailing of European environmental requirements. The acceleration of procedures should not come at the cost of environmental standards. Military mobility and climate resilience requirements are to be incorporated at an early stage to avoid redundant assessments and ensure the efficiency of European transport systems in the long term. Red tape must be systematically and rapidly reduced, among other things by consistently reducing reporting, assessment and approval requirements, for example for replacement structures, and by proposing simplified procedures.
Possible questions for the discussion:
In October 2025 and in March 2026, the EU heads of state and government agreed on strengthening Europe’s competitiveness by cutting more red tape. To this end, proposals should be made on how to simplify regulations and reduce reporting requirements and other information obligations in the transport sector, and steps should be taken to accelerate and streamline planning and approval procedures.
During the discussion, we want to focus on the administrative issues that slow down the planning and approval of transport infrastructure projects and address bureaucratic barriers. On this basis, we will determine the need for action at the national and European levels.
The panellists will discuss the following questions:
1. Why do we urgently need to speed up planning and approval procedures?
2. Which rules have to be adapted to achieve this?
3. Which initiatives are useful for reducing barriers in the transport sector?
4. What success stories from EU Member States could be implemented at European level?
SPEAKERS
Jana Kugoth, Chief Editor, Tagesspiegel Background Transport and Smart Mobility
Patrick Schnieder, Minister of Transport of the Federal Republic of Germany
Ivan Bednárik, Minister of Transport of the Czech Republic
Seán Canney, Minister of State at the Department of Transport of the Republic of Ireland, with responsibility for international and road transport, logistics, rail and ports
Felix Pakleppa, CEO, Association of the German Building Trade
