Dear Commissioner Vălean,
Dear Commissioner Gabriel,

With great attention, the members of our associations have followed the discussions on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and the steps to establish Horizon Europe.

The size and shape of the MFF has an important impact on the future of railways. We firmly believe that railways will be the backbone of an efficient and sustainable European mobility, deliver their respective part to the European Green Deal with the European Year of Rail 2021 offering the opportunity to broadly showcase this ambition.

In the light of the upcoming Competitiveness Council meeting (Research and Innovation) on 27 November 2020, we call upon the European Commission to ensure an ambitious
investment in future green transport. Specifically, we underline the importance of ensuring adequate funding of 1.5 billion Euros for the future generation of the EU Joint Undertaking Shift2Rail, to be established as “Transforming Europe’s Rail System” Joint Undertaking.

We strongly believe that only an adequate budget for railway research can lead to a sound implementation and deployment of tangible results. We are fully committed to deliver high technology readiness levels and we aim at ensuring a deployment in a timely and Europewide manner. We are happy to further discuss our commitment with you in a dedicated meeting.

Andreas Matthä
CER Chair

Henri Poupart-Lafarge
UNIFE Chair

Heiko Fischer
UIP President

Gorm Frimannslund
EIM President