Our impact on transport
How we help to move goods and people across central Europe in a better way
Central Europe is a crucial transport hub in the EU, intersected by eight of the nine Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) corridors. Despite continuous growth in transport, barriers to cross-border accessibility persist, with limited investments in infrastructure at the national level. Challenges include fragmented multimodal passenger transport, and obstacles to integration such as legal and commercial barriers. There is also the need for improved accessibility to quality transport services, especially in rural and remote areas.
In the programming period 2014-20, Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE improved regional passenger transport systems for better connections to national and European transport networks. Our projects also strengthened coordination among freight transport stakeholders, and promoted multimodal environmentally-friendly freight solutions.
KEY FINDINGS
The external impact evaluation concluded that the programme had a positive impact on transport in the region. Funded projects improved mobility, connectivity, and sustainability, and promoted cross-border transport cooperation and harmonisation.
The transport projects addressed key issues in central Europe, related to rapid urbanisation, demographic shifts, changing transport demand patterns, changing mobility needs, persistent economic disparities, and differences in regulatory frameworks and technical standards.
The programme supported projects that developed smart mobility solutions and services to connect regions to transport nodes through improved standards and interoperability.
The programme helped increase knowledge and planning capacities of the public sector and related entities for linking regional passenger transport systems to national and TEN-T networks.
The transnational exchange in central Europe was vital also for increasing the knowledge and implementation capacities of freight transport stakeholders for multimodal environmentally friendly freight transport systems and logistics.
“The Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE Programme produced positive effects for the transport sector in the central European regions. It contributed to increasing the capacity of the stakeholders, building trust beyond national borders, and delivering new and high-quality services to improve transport and mobility in the central Europe area, while also helping to make it environmentally more sustainable.”
Funded projects
Project partners
Million EUR from ERDF
43
Tools to better coordinate transport activities
146
Strategies and action plans to improve transport connections
142
Pilot actions to demonstrate the benefits of connecting central Europe
86
Trainings to enhance skills for improving transport management
116
Million EUR of follow-up investment leveraged in the transport sector
BACKGROUND
In 2020, we launched an independent impact evaluation of the Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE 2014-20 funding programme. The evaluation was conducted in two phases over a period of three years, between 2020 and 2023. It involved a thorough analysis of the programme, which employed a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods.
Innovation
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Environment
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Culture
Learn more about our impact on culture.