In an international context marked by a global race for resources needed for the green transition, this session will focus on the competitiveness of European clean technologies. In a global context, it will explore the challenges that the EU faces to maintain its leadership in the development, manufacturing and deployment of these technologies. The session will look at the EU’s competitive strengths in comparison to other international players and highlight where European efforts should focus to maintain global competitive leadership in transport technologies, taking also into account the specific challenges faced by SMEs and start/scale-ups. The session will also look at best practices from other international players on clean tech competitiveness and whether they can be reproduced at EU level.
This session aims to find answers to the following questions: how can Europe regain or maintain leadership by focusing more on competitiveness? What is the added value of involving third countries into European research programs? How to maintain the European strategic autonomy, technology sovereignty and reduce dependencies from third countries?
Keynote speaker:
Glenn Schmidt, Vice President Global Sustainability, BMW Group
Panelists:
Alberto Maestrini, Chairman, SEA Europe and the VARD group
Magda Kopczyńska, Director-General for Mobility and Transport European Commission
Axel Krein, Executive Director, Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking
Doris Martetschläger, Supply Chain Operations Manager, IKEA supply AG
10:30-12:00 Strategic sessions
The session will explore the current state of charging infrastructure in Europe, (including the deployment of public, semi-public and private charging points, in particular for Heavy Duty and commercial vehicles at logistics hubs and depots), also highlighting the areas of relevance for smart and bi-directional charging.
It aims to bridge R&I and policy to co-develop strategic priorities for the future, and discuss how to further support the rollout of charging infrastructure, in line with the Automotive Action Plan: accelerating the roll-out of charging, grid access, V2X, the ‘European Clean Transport Corridor initiative’, and where relevant the ‘European Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Alliance’, as well as financial instruments like the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility (AFIF).
The session would provide a strategic context for challenges and opportunities related to the deployment of charging infrastructure for EV and their integration to the grid and would contribute to the development of a comprehensive and sustainable transport system in Europe.
Moderator:
Eric von Breska (DG MOVE)
Rapporteur:
Beatriz Ildefonso (DG RTD)
Speakers:
Michael Bültmann (ABB)
Alessandro Bernardini (Iveco Group)
Mitra Qurban (DHL Group)
Ádám Tóth (E.ON)
Omar Hegazy (VUB)
Ports and airports are no longer just transit points—they are critical R&I platforms for the clean energy transition, serving as producers, importers, distributors, and users of sustainable fuels such as hydrogen, methanol, ammonia, synthetic fuels, and electricity.
This session explores how these strategic nodes are being transformed into integrated, multimodal energy and data hubs that support decarbonised logistics and mobility chains. Smart energy management, digitalisation, and automation R&D will be addressed as key tools to enhance operational efficiency, reduce emissions, and enable real-time optimisation tested through collaborative pilots. Case studies from Europe and beyond will highlight successful, replicable and scalable approaches.
The session will also identify R&I challenges and outline the research, regulatory and investment frameworks needed to accelerate scale-up, emphasising modular innovation, cross-sector collaboration and EU partnerships contributions to climate-neutral and resilient transport infrastructure.
Moderator:
Krzysztof Kuik (DG RTD)
Rapporteur:
Jaap Gebraad (WTP)
Speakers:
Annefleur Klaus (Schiphol airport)
Erwin Verstraelen (Port of Antwerp)
Helena Athoussaki (Motor Oil Group)
Klara Wittkowski (Airbus)
Jorrit Harmsen (TNO)
The need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and related air pollution places zero-emission mobility at the center of urban mobility policies. This session explores strategies to decarbonise urban mobility through technology, integrated planning and behavioral change. It highlights that the transition goes beyond new tech, it requires transforming the mobility ecosystem to improve air quality, reduce noise and congestion, and ensure equitable access. Key themes include the role of electrified public transport (on rail, waterborne and road), integration of new and shared mobility services, and promoting multimodality to shift behavior and boost efficiency. The session also examines urban freight solutions, mobility hubs, and EV infrastructure challenges, emphasizing grid integration and spatial planning. Drawing on research and case studies, it presents pathways and trade-offs for achieving zero-emission transport.
Moderator:
Patrick Mercier-Handisyde (DG RTD)
Rapporteur:
Carmela Canonico (UITP)
Speakers:
Ádám Bodor (BKK)
Marc Rozendal (EIT Urban Mobility)
Katie Black (Transdev)
Johan Leveque (La Poste)
Manfred Seitz (Danube Commission)
14:00-15:30 Technical session 3
Numerical investigation of freight train aerodynamics: towards greener freight transport in Europe – Luca Corniani, Paolo Schito, James Bell, Ariane Wettig, Joao Pombo and Stefano Bruni (submission number 980)
Spatial analysis of online shopping returns: application to the Madrid Region – Daniela Castaño-Herrera, Álvaro Aguilera-García, Juan Gomez and José Manuel Vassallo (submission number 1026)
ASTROIT: An agent-based and multimodal simulation predicting the effects of disruptions on transport networks and identifying effective and eco-friendly mitigation measures – Tobias Rinnert, Corinna Koepke, Kris Schroven and Alexander Stolz (submission number 1344)
Modelling Freight-Induced Congestion Dynamics: A Regional Macroscopic Approach with FC-MFD Applications – Muhammad Tabish Bilal and Davide Giglio (submission number 1512)
Strategic planning of classification yards in rail freight – Daniel Haalboom and Nikola Bešinović (submission number 1535)
Smart urban freight transport: assessing the opportunity offered by automated vehicles – Antonio Comi, Davide Shingo Usami, Sevket Oguz Kagan Capkin, Hamid Aghel and David Gruhonjić (submission number 1597)
VRP meets Inland Waterway Transport: Predictive Routing for Zero-emission Vessels – Pauline Bernat and Charilaos Latinopoulos (submission number 301)
A Hierarchical Routing Strategy for Seamless Electric Vehicle Charging Service Using Autonomous Mobile Charging Robots – Jeong Seomun, Seunghyeon Lee and Jihye Byun (submission number 502)
Seamless Urban Mobility: A Multi-Modal Reservation Framework – Christos Makridis, Charalambos Menelaou, Stelios Timotheou and Christos G. Panayiotou (submission number 788)
From the Stations to the Surroundings: How Transfer Environment Shapes Public Transport Route Choices – Marianthi Kallidoni, Jesper Bláfoss Ingvardson and Otto Anker Nielsen (submission number 903)
The Price of Silence: Exploring Time and Distance Trade-Offs in Traffic Noise Exposure Aware Routing – Peter Nezval and Gyözö Gidofalvi (submission number 1427)
A Three-Phase Communication Strategy for Seamless Integration of Mobility-on-Demand and Public Transport – Chenhao Ding, Florian Dandl and Klaus Bogenberger (submission number 1452)
Optimizing logistics for a sustainable hydrogen economy: The HELO project – Stefan Walter (submission number 9)
The role of EU funding instruments and IPCEIs in enabling maritime decarbonisation – Paolo Guglia, Caterina Cobino and Andrea Borzacchiello (submission number 173)
Analysis of strategies for LH2 management onboard aircraft during overnight parking – Enrico De Betta, Francesco Mastropierro, Damiano Tormen, Gianvito Apuleo and Michele De Gennaro (submission number 299)
Novel Metal Hydride Cooling System in a Hydrogen Demonstrator Train: Design, Implementation and Technology Assessment – Alexander Wimmer, Markus Kordel, Isabell Moser, Eduardo de la Guerra Ochoa and Manuel Caballero Ocaña (submission number 373)
Evaluating the Potential of Hybrid Ship Retrofitting – Combining Tubercle-Assisted Propellers, Fuel Cells, and Liquid Inorganic H2 Carrier Storage – Rachmat Gunawan, Adrien Aubert, Daria Matignon, Thierry Pacini, Angeliki Deligianni, Leonidas Drikos, Nicholas Lekkas, Tapas Kumar Das, Weichao Shi, James Moore, Joseph Hodgson and Angélique Rouhan (submission number 649)
Advanced photovoltaic technologies for sustainable on board railways services – Anna Lina Ruscelli, Gabriele Cecchetti, Domenico Uomo and Piero Castoldi (submission number 1543)
Special sessions
The 2Zero and CCAM Partnerships have been key tools to plan and coordinate European collaborative R&D in the field of electrification and automation of road transport: this session will discuss their main achievements in Horizon Europe and their potential evolution in the next EU framework programme for 2028-2034. A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between these two Partnerships, the Partnership on Batteries, and the European Commission, to further coordinate the European R&D efforts. The objective is to accelerate the transition of road mobility into electrification and automation by exploiting research results further into implementation. One option for the future is the setup of a new Joint Undertaking, which would support the competitiveness of the European automotive industry.
While essential to reach ambitious EU transport decarbonization targets, the market uptake of ZE-HDVs is still relatively low, with less than 1700 new ZEV-HDV registered in the EU in 2023/24. In cooperation with DG CLIMA, the JRC has carried out a technology state-of-art review of ongoing EU-funded R&I activities, revealing that further efforts in research, technological development and standardisation are needed. Building on this, and on a previous session held at TRA 2024 in Dublin, we will connect technology progress with lessons learned from demonstrations in the AEVETO Cluster projects. Aligned with 2ZERO, ERTRAC and ALICE roadmaps, this session provides a consolidated view of where Europe stands today, what has been achieved through R&I, and what needs to happen next to address systemic, technological and regulatory challenges. The session will consist of short presentations and a panel discussion with representatives of the European Commission, OEMs, Logistics, Battery industry and automation.
16:00-17:30 Special session
Europe’s freight transport system is facing a “perfect storm”: the need for deep decarbonization combined with a growing exposure to disruptions. This session examines how resilience strategies and decarbonization pathways interact in practice, sometimes reinforcing each other and sometimes creating difficult tradeoffs. A particular focus is placed on multimodal freight networks. Rail, inland waterways and short sea shipping are essential for sustainable transport, yet the operational complexity of multimodal systems makes them more vulnerable to disruptions, often driving operators and shippers back to road transport and undermining climate ambitions. By addressing affordability, service reliability, modal shift and climate resilient operations together, the session aims to highlight practical ways to balance decarbonization goals with resilient, competitive and disruption ready European freight networks.