Why the EU supports research and innovation in road transport
Road transport contributes nearly a quarter of the EU's total CO2 emissions, but it is vital for the economy. It carries more freight and more passengers than all other modes combined and provides jobs for more than 10 million people.
Research in road transport is essential and has great potential for helping us live more sustainably, especially in cities where car transport is the main source of pollution.
Road vehicle automation is a major trend that could help make road transport safer and cleaner, while reducing congestion.
Other research priority areas are
- reducing the number of road deaths
- new vehicle concepts and production technology
- improving air quality by making car engines cleaner and more efficient
The vision on the competitiveness of the EU automotive sector
This report, developed by a broad representation of European automotive stakeholders, in close coordination with the European Commission, presents a joint EU vision for Research and Innovation (R&I) to enhance the technological competitiveness of the EU automotive sector. It guides the R&I dimension in the EU Action Plan for the Automotive Industry, published in 2025.
This plan’s objective is to have a thriving automotive industry in Europe that creates jobs, drives growth, and protects the environment. Research and Innovation (R&I) has a central role in this plan, fully aligned with other immediate actions to support the EU automotive industry in this accelerated transformation.
This document presents a preliminary high‑level overview on the state of play in the European Union (EU), China, the United States (US) and Japan for two topical areas: zero‑emission mobility and digitalisation in the automotive sector.
Funding opportunities
On this page you can find more information, the work programme and a link to the environment-related calls
COST (European cooperation in science and technology) is a funding organisation for research and innovation networks
CEF Transport supports European transport infrastructure policy by helping realise key projects across Europe.
Projects and results
Specialised collection of projects at European, national and international levels.
The Commission's primary portal for results of EU-funded road transport research projects .
Stories of particularly successful EU-funded road research projects.
Latest news, interviews and features about thought-provoking science and innovative research projects funded by the EU.
Platform where framework programme participants present their results for you to search, contact their owners, and form partnerships.
Batteries policy recommendations based on evidence provided by EU research and innovation projects.
Success stories
To achieve better and longer lasting batteries for electric vehicles, EU-funded researchers are developing technology that enables batteries to quickly detect damage and repair themselves.
- Project locations
- Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, Türkiye
Collaboration and jobs
Find partners for open EU calls for proposal
Researcher jobs in related fields
The European Green Vehicles Initiative Association for the 2Zero partnership (EGVIAfor2Zero) is an international non-profit association engaged with the European Commission into the 2Zero partnership in order to represent the Partners other than the Union.
ERTRAC ETP brings together industries and services in the road transport sector to improve coordination between road transport research activities. It also creates synergies by clustering research and innovation capacities.
Network for local and regional authorities to work together to promote sustainable mobility by deploying innovative transport solutions.
Scientific publications, tools and databases
TRIMIS provides open-access information on transport research and innovation
Scientific publications produced by the European Commission (JRC)
The Commission's Joint Research Centre compiles databases and develops software and modelling tools. You can access transport related ones here.
Online library of EU road transport research publications
Single point of access to open data produced by the EU institutions - all data free to use for commercial and non-commercial purposes
You can access all scientific publications from Horizon 2020 via OpenAIRE
Automation in road transport is at the forefront of the European Commission’s agenda, aligning with key policy objectives such as the greening and digitalisation of the transport sector.
