European Union

Council agrees on Baltic Sea fisheries catch limits for 2026 for key fish stocks, including herring, sprat, cod, salmon and plaice.

The Council extended restrictive measures individuals and groups associated with ISIL/Da'esh and Al-Qaeda for a further year, until 31 October 2026.

Citizens are calling on the European Union to boost the European railway sector. Many citizens have written to the European Parliament’s Transport Committee on this subject since October 2025, asking for more subsidies for railways, the development of high-speed rail networks and tax reductions for rail.

We replied to citizens who took the time to write to the Transport Committee.

EU support for rail travel

One goal of the European Union’s (EU) Green Deal is to reduce emissions in the transport sector by 90 % by 2050.

To achieve this, the EU has adopted a sustainable and smart mobility strategy and an action plan for rail to boost long-distance and cross-border travel. The action plan aims to double high-speed rail traffic by 2030 and treble it by 2050, using targeted investments, standardisation of European rail systems and better connectivity for rural and remote regions.

In 2023, the European Commission proposed new rules to better manage railway tracks, increase reliability and help reduce transport-related emissions. The European Parliament adopted its position on the proposal in 2024.

In 2025, the EU invested €2.8 billion through its Connecting Europe Facility programme, mostly for rail, to modernise the railways and improve cross-border transport across the trans-European transport network (TEN‑T).

In 2025, the Commission announced it would develop a sustainable transport investment plan to support cleaner transport in Europe. One of the aims is to encourage more people to use the railways.

European Parliament position

In June 2025, the European Parliament addressed railway transport in the EU in two separate resolutions.

In the first resolution, Parliament said that road, rail and maritime (sea) transport links needed to be developed through EU co-funded programmes, to reduce the isolation of rural areas and facilitate the sustainable mobility of people and goods. In the second resolution, Parliament regretted the shortage of viable cross-border measures, including high-speed railways, that are essential for completing the TEN‑T network.

In an earlier resolution adopted in 2022, Parliament recognised the crucial role of rail in decarbonising mobility. It supported the EU’s sustainable and smart mobility strategy and welcomed the Commission’s action plan.

Aviation fuel tax exemption

In 2021, as part of the Green Deal, the Commission tabled a proposal to review the Energy Taxation Directive. The proposal would remove the mandatory tax exemption for aviation (aeroplane) fuels.

The proposal is subject to the ‘special legislative procedure’, which means the European Parliament is only consulted, and national governments must reach unanimous agreement in the Council. So far, the national governments have not reached an agreement. Further information is available in this briefing from the European Parliament’s Research Service.

Background

Citizens often send messages to the European Parliament expressing their views and/or requesting action. The Citizens’ Enquiries Unit (AskEP) within the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) replies to these messages, which may sometimes be identical as part of wider public campaigns.

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