The Greening Freight Transport Package, presented by the European Commission in November 2023, was designed as a set of interlinked legislative initiatives intended to update the European Union’s regulatory framework for freight transport. The package addresses how rail capacity is managed, how intermodal freight is supported, how vehicle standards evolve, and how transport emissions are calculated, with the aim of aligning transport regulation with broader policy objectives. Since its launch, the individual files within the package have progressed at different speeds, leading to an increasingly uneven state of play.
The most advanced element is the Regulation on Railway Infrastructure Capacity, on which the European Parliament and the Council reached a political agreement in December 2025. This agreement introduces a revised framework for rail capacity planning and allocation across the Union. At its meeting on 27 January 2026, the Transport Committee of the European Parliament confirmed this agreement in the context of the second-reading procedure, allowing the legislative process to move towards final adoption. The Regulation is expected to apply gradually, with the first timetable fully developed under the new rules foreseen for December 2030.
At the same time, progress on other elements of the package has raised concerns among sector stakeholders. On 4 December 2025, EU Transport Ministers adopted a Council position on the revision of the Weights and Dimensions Directive, which would facilitate the cross-border circulation of longer and heavier road vehicles under certain conditions. Following this decision, the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) publicly warned that such changes could affect the competitiveness of rail freight and alter modal balance, particularly in the absence of parallel measures supporting intermodal transport.
These concerns are closely linked to the situation of the Combined Transport Directive. The revision of this Directive, proposed in November 2023 to update a framework dating back to 1992, was identified in the Commission’s 2026 Work Programme, published in October 2025, as an initiative the Commission intended to withdraw. While the proposal has not been formally withdrawn through a legislative act, no comparable progress towards adoption has taken place. Sector organisations, including CER and the European Shippers’ Council, have noted that the Combined Transport Directive was intended to complement the Weights and Dimensions rules by strengthening combined transport, and that uncertainty surrounding its future affects the internal coherence of the package.
As of January 2026, the Greening Freight Transport Package is therefore advancing with a strengthened framework for rail capacity management, while other elements central to intermodal freight remain unresolved, highlighting the importance of continued coordination across legislative files.
Sources: