ECA presents report on ‘sustainable commuting around urban areas’

On Wednesday, 4 February, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) will publish a special report on whether urban commuting is moving forward to become sustainable, accessible and inclusive.

With three in four EU citizens already living in cities and urbanisation expected to rise to 85% by 2050, the daily commute is becoming a central challenge – not just for transport, but for climate, health and quality of life. Congestion, air pollution and car dependency continue to plague large metropolitan areas, particularly as population often depends on private vehicles to access jobs, schools, hospitals, and services in the city. To tackle these issues, the EU has committed significant funding and undertaken policy action to promote sustainable commuter mobility. The question is, however, are these investments delivering real change?

The auditors have checked the EU legal framework and funding options, and analysed in detail the mobility plans of six urban areas (Budapest, Katowice, Lisbon, Prague, Seville, and Lille).

ECA press office will hold an online briefing on Monday 4 February. Journalists who wish to participate should contact [email protected] for details. The report and press release will be published on the ECA website eca.europa.eu at 5:00 p.m. CET on Monday 4February.

The ECA member responsible for this report is Carlo Alberto Manfredi Selvaggi.

The ECA’s special reports set out the results of its audits of EU policies and programmes or management topics related to specific budgetary areas. The ECA selects and designs these audit tasks to be of maximum impact by considering the risks to performance or compliance, the level of income or spending involved, forthcoming developments and political and public interest.