EEA Technical report No 3/2007

Size, Structure and Distribution of Transport Subsidies in Europe

Publication: Report
Citation: European Environment Agency 2007: Size, structure and distribution of transport subsidies in Europe. EEA Technical report No 3/2007. ISSN 1725-2237, ISBN 978-92-9167-918-8. Copenhagen: EEA. This publication is available in English an German.

The transport sector has significant environmental impacts and subsidies are a significant piece of the policy framework that influences public and private decisions about transport. This report, which was published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) and co-authored by Ecologic, provides a comprehensive picture of transport subsidies, classifying them by subsidy type and transport mode.

In this first-ever report quantifying European transport subsidies, subsidies are estimated worth at EUR 270 to 290 billion per year. The majority of these annual subsidies go to road transport (EUR 125 billion), with rail receiving EUR 73 billion, aviation receiving EUR 27-35 billion and water-borne transport receiving 14-30 billion per year.

The report [pdf, 729 KB, English] is available for download.

The report is a result of the project Transport Subsidies in Europe. In this project, Ecologic was responsible for the study design, data presentation and final report. Project partners included CE Delft and TU Dresden.

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Project

Transport subsidies are a significant piece of the policy framework that influences public and private decisions about transport. This study gathered financial data about all types of European transport subsidies and provided estimates of these subsidies' annual values. As project lead, Ecologic was responsible for the study design, data presentation and final report.

Transport Subsidies in Europe

Jun - Nov 2006

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Languages: German

English
Authorship: Aaron Best

Benjamin Görlach

Huib van Essen

Arno Schroten

Udo Becker

Regine Gerike
Funding: European Environment Agency (EEA), International
Published in: EEA Technical reports
Published by: European Environment Agency (EEA), International

German Environment Agency (UBA), Germany
Year: 2007
Dimension: 36 pp.
ISBN: 978-92-9167-918-8
ISSN: 1725-2237
Project: Transport Subsidies in Europe
Project ID: 1735
Table of contents: Click to show full table of contents

Acknowledgement
Preface
Summary

1 Introduction
1.1 Background
1.2 Study approach and methodology
1.3 Structure of this report

2 Definition, classification and environmental relevance of transport subsidies
2.1 Definition of transport subsidies
2.2 Classification for transport subsidies
2.3 Environmental impacts of transport subsidies
2.4 Subsidy impact on sustainable transport

3 Empirical findings for European transport subsidies
3.1 Total transport subsidies
3.2 On-budget subsidies
3.3 Differences in fuel excise axes
3.4 Exemptions and debates from VAT on passenger services
3.5 Summary by mode

4 Transport subsidies in context
4.1 Subsidies related aspects
4.2 Further determinants for the competition between transport modes

5 Assessment for the data quality
5.1 The data gathering process
5.2 Cleaning the data

6 Conclusions

7 References

Annex 1 List of sources consulted
Annex 2 Brief guide to the data sources for European transport subsidies
Keywords: Mobility

transport, subsidy, environment, impact, quantification

Further Links

News release: EEA takes first step in measuring European transport subsidies

Source URL: https://www.ecologic.eu/2011