Headlines
- United States suspends tariffs on Chinese maritime and shipbuilding goods
- Airlines agree to curb misleading green claims after EU consumer probe
- IRU and FuelsEurope urge Commission to make STIP multimodal
- New analysis challenges link between air transport expansion and economic growth
- European Sleeper to relaunch Paris–Berlin night train in March 2026
- European Commission study backs 99.5 mol percent hydrogen purity for EU grid
- Commission review calls for stronger resources and streamlined procedures at ERA
- Battery coalition calls for EU local content requirements in new industrial act
United States suspends tariffs on Chinese maritime and shipbuilding goods
The United States Trade Representative has suspended for one year all Section 301 tariffs and fees targeting China’s maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors. The measure follows a trade and economic deal reached between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping on 1 November.
The suspension, effective from 10 November 2025 to 9 November 2026, halts duties on ship-to-shore cranes, cargo-handling equipment and maritime transport services introduced earlier this year. Washington cited Beijing’s commitment to negotiate under Section 301 as the basis for the decision, while pledging to continue efforts to revitalise domestic shipbuilding.
The action temporarily pauses one of the most significant trade measures imposed against China’s maritime ambitions. The USTR received more than 70 comments, most in favour of suspension to ease shipping costs and avoid supply chain disruption. A minority argued that relaxing the measures would strengthen China’s dominance in global shipbuilding.
Parallel to the truce, the United States concluded new cooperation frameworks with Japan and South Korea. Tokyo pledged USD 500 billion in shipyard and workforce investments, while Seoul committed USD 150 billion through industrial partnerships aimed at modernising US shipyards and supporting new US-flagged vessel construction.
Airlines agree to curb misleading green claims after EU consumer probe
Twenty-one European airlines have agreed to amend or withdraw environmental claims following scrutiny by the European Commission and national consumer authorities under the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network. The coordinated dialogue, led by Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain, focused on marketing practices that suggested passengers could offset or neutralise flight emissions through voluntary payments or alternative fuel contributions.
Airlines, including Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, Ryanair, EasyJet, SAS, TAP, Vueling and Wizz Air, will now cease making claims that CO₂ from specific flights can be fully neutralised. They have also pledged to clarify how and when they use terms such as “sustainable aviation fuel” to avoid vague or unsubstantiated green language and to substantiate environmental statements with verifiable scientific evidence.
Commitments include greater transparency on CO₂ calculations and clearer information on long-term net-zero targets, timelines and underlying assumptions.
National consumer protection authorities will monitor implementation and may initiate enforcement proceedings against any airline failing to comply. The Commission and the CPC Network will also extend the assessment to other airlines active in the Single Market to ensure fair competition and consistent consumer protection standards.
The initiative follows a 2023 complaint from the European Consumer Organisation alleging misleading environmental marketing across the sector. Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen said the outcome “acknowledges the shared responsibility to provide consumers with truthful information and to work toward genuine emissions reductions.” Commissioner Michael McGrath added that “consumers deserve clear and accurate information about the true impact of air travel and the real efforts being made to increase sustainability.”
IRU and FuelsEurope urge Commission to make STIP multimodal
IRU and FuelsEurope argue that the Commission’s Sustainable Transport Investment Plan, unveiled last week, risks weakening the very clean-fuels markets it seeks to scale by excluding road transport. The plan earmarks almost EUR 3 billion for sustainable aviation and maritime fuels by 2027 and provides strong policy signalling. The two organisations welcome this signal, but contend that omitting road undermines predictability of offtake, economies of scale and investor confidence across a single, integrated fuels ecosystem.
Their case rests on two operational and industrial points. First, heavy-duty road decarbonisation will require a portfolio approach for at least a decade, given uneven grid capacity, power availability and refuelling infrastructure across the Union. Second, clean-fuel production does not occur by mode. Refinery and synthesis pathways generate multiple streams. If policy blocks road offtake, part of the output lacks a viable buyer, which dilutes business cases and raises unit costs for aviation and maritime.
IRU’s Raluca Marian stresses that zero-emission vehicles and clean fuels will coexist, noting that renewable and low-carbon fuels deliver abatement today and can scale with support. FuelsEurope’s Liana Gouta warns that excluding road weakens demand fundamentals for new plants, putting high-capex decisions at risk. Both call for STIP access for road transport to align investment incentives with the Union’s decarbonisation goals.
An explicitly multimodal STIP would secure broader offtake commitments, unlock scale efficiencies and lower costs while preserving scarce public funds. The policy trade-off is therefore not between protecting aviation and maritime or opening the door to road. It is between a cohesive fuels market with credible demand across segments and a fragmented one that raises costs for all.
New analysis challenges link between air transport expansion and economic growth
A new study commissioned by Transport & Environment from the New Economics Foundation questions long-held assumptions that air transport expansion directly stimulates economic growth. The analysis, covering 274 European regions between 2000 and 2023, finds that in most regions rising incomes drive air traffic rather than the reverse, undermining claims used to justify new airport capacity projects across Europe.
According to the findings, only 37 per cent of regions show evidence that greater air connectivity contributes to GDP growth. In contrast, 53 per cent display the opposite pattern: increasing GDP per capita fuels higher outbound air travel, particularly for leisure, often resulting in a net spending outflow from local economies. The study identifies a saturation point in many high-income and well-connected areas where additional flight capacity no longer translates into measurable productivity gains.
The divergence stems largely from two structural shifts. Business travel demand has plateaued across much of Western and Northern Europe, with digital alternatives replacing many trips once deemed essential. Meanwhile, the economic return from tourism has weakened as shorter air trips and rising transport costs reduce value captured by destinations. The report argues that higher-quality rail networks, longer stays and stronger local infrastructure could generate greater regional benefits than further growth in air arrivals.
T&E calls on policymakers to reassess airport expansion plans in regions where connectivity growth no longer drives GDP, citing projects in Frankfurt, Paris, Dublin, Brussels, Lisbon, Madrid and London. It recommends pausing aviation capacity growth, updating economic impact models with region-specific data, and prioritising investment in rail and sustainable tourism infrastructure. The authors conclude that the assumption of automatic economic benefit from air transport growth “is no longer valid” and that future policy must reflect the sector’s emissions trajectory and diminishing marginal returns.
European Sleeper to relaunch Paris–Berlin night train in March 2026
Dutch rail operator European Sleeper will restore the historic Paris–Berlin night train route from 26 March 2026, following confirmation that ÖBB and SNCF will withdraw all Nightjet services to and from Paris in mid-December. The new connection will run three times weekly, departing Paris on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings and returning from Berlin on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights.
The company aims to route the service via Brussels, creating a six-times-weekly Brussels–Berlin frequency when combined with its existing trains to Prague. The operator expects final timetable approval from national infrastructure managers in the coming weeks and will open ticket sales on 16 December 2025. Fares and comfort classes will mirror current Nightjet pricing.
Co-founder Chris Engelsman said the service would demonstrate how an entrepreneurial approach can complement state-owned networks and strengthen Europe’s sustainable mobility offer. European Sleeper has carried more than 230,000 passengers since its launch in 2023 and is now one of the few independent international passenger rail operators in Europe.
To finance the expansion, the cooperative is opening a new fundraising round, allowing individuals and organisations to purchase. The company seeks to raise €1.3 million immediately and a further €1 million from early December to cover pre-launch costs, rolling-stock acquisition and early operational expenses.
European Sleeper is also advancing two additional routes: a night service from Amsterdam and Brussels to Switzerland or Milan, and a connection to Barcelona, with one expected to be confirmed within weeks.
