countries for connectivity and freight transport, energy vulnerability, and infrastructure deficits.
Without structural reform, each crisis will deepen these weaknesses.
Energy dependence: a known and unaddressed vulnerability
From the war in Ukraine to the current Iran conflict and Gulf escalation, Europe has repeatedly been reminded that fossil fuel dependence is a strategic weakness.
Yet progress toward energy independence remains inconsistent.
Energy transition is not optional; it is a matter of economic security and geopolitical autonomy. Recent slowdowns and policy hesitation risk reversing hard-won progress.
The challenge doesn’t lie in how ambitious the transition is, but the failure to make it socially and economically credible. Well-funded initiatives to support a just transition for workers and citizens, combined with targeted measures linking clean technologies and fuels to quality jobs, must be part of the solution. At the same time, action is needed to address business models that rely on cost-cutting rather than innovation.
The debate must resume on the basis of a fundamentally redefined narrative—one grounded in large-scale public investment, a direct link between decarbonisation and quality employment, and strong support for workers and affected communities.
Seafarers: exposed to risk, failed by coordination
Seafarers operating in affected regions are facing escalating dangers, including longer routes, extended time at sea, and heightened exposure to security threats. At the time of writing, more than 20000 seafarers, many of whom are either EU nationals or on board EU-owned ships, are stranded due to the ongoing conflict.
Yet the European response remains disjointed and insufficient. The absence of coordinated European safety corridors, reliable emergency repatriation mechanisms, and clear, enforceable protection standards represents a structural failure.
Ad hoc responses are not protection; they are signs of unpreparedness.
Aviation: unfair competition and regulatory gaps
European aviation operates in a distorted competitive environment.
EU carriers are subject to higher regulatory and labour standards while competing with operators benefiting from less stringent requirements. At the same time, loopholes within the EU framework allow internal market distortions to persist.
This dual imbalance weakens European operators, undermines labour standards, and increases external dependency. Addressing this is not protectionism—it is a matter of strategic sovereignty and fair competition.
Rail policy has weakened a strategic asset
For over two decades, EU policy choices—including liberalisation and restrictions on public investment—have weakened the rail sector.
This crisis makes the consequences visible. Rail should be a cornerstone of Europe’s resilience, offering electrified, lower-energy transport alternatives. Instead, it enters this crisis underfunded, understaffed, and operationally constrained.
We warn that if energy prices continue to soar, this will once again reduce its competitiveness versus other modes. Rail’s major advantage is electrification, and its ability to run on renewables if they are sufficiently available in the network. However, due to its current state caused by underinvestment in infrastructure, deterioration of working conditions and massive job cuts, it is doubtful that rail can sustain a new energy crisis.
Road sector: time to modernise
For the road, this is yet another fuel crisis, but road transport workers have actually been in a state of crisis for many years.
Appalling working conditions, excessive working hours, low wages, and prolonged periods away from home have led to massive driver shortages in both road freight and passenger transport. It happened before, it will happen again! That is why this fuel crisis should be a wake-up call for policymakers and industry!
Vehicle fleets have to be modernised, drivers must be adequately involved in this transition and properly trained, and if any EU financial support to operators is needed, this should be conditional on strong compliance with applicable social and market laws.
What is more, without structural changes to the business model—such as reducing complex subcontracting chains and addressing fixed-price contracts—there is no realistic pathway to ensure that subsidies or financial support effectively support the transition.
Public transport: still not treated as a priority
The crisis also exposes the inefficiency of a system overly reliant on private transport.
Without accessible and affordable public transport, workers in rural and peri-urban areas have no viable alternative to private mobility. Investment in public and collective transport remains insufficient and uneven across regions.
This is a strategic gap that continues to be ignored.
A call for immediate political responsibility
The ETF therefore calls on President von der Leyen and the European Commission to take immediate responsibility and convene a high-level roundtable bringing together the European Commission, Members of the European Parliament, Member States, and social partners in transport. This must not be a symbolic exercise.
This is not an isolated crisis, nor were the ones preceding it. This is facing a pattern of predictable shocks for which Europe remains insufficiently prepared.
And in this context, transport workers are consistently expected to absorb the consequences.
The European Commission must now act—decisively, structurally, and without delay. A resilient transport system requires political choices. So far, those choices have fallen short.
Source: European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF)
