Europe’s strategic autonomy starts on the road – POLITICO

Geopolitical tensions, energy price volatility and growing concerns about economic security have brought competitiveness, resilience and strategic autonomy to the center of the European Union’s policymaking. Across energy, industry and defense, the focus is increasingly on reducing dependencies, strengthening domestic capacity and making the EU more resilient to external shocks.

Yet one essential enabler of these objectives is still too often overlooked: commercial road transport.

This becomes particularly clear when disruption hits. Energy price volatility is felt almost immediately across the sector. Higher fuel costs quickly feed into transport operations, supply chains and, ultimately, the wider economy. Costs rise, connectivity suffers and pressure builds across value chains.