State aid: Commission approves €650 million Austrian public funding to promote shift of freight from road to combined transport

The European Commission has found the prolongation of two Austrian schemes to be in line with EU State aid rules: (i) the first promotes a shift of freight transport from road to other types of transport, such as rail and inland waterways; (ii) the second, supports better connections between railways and transfer terminals. Both measures will support environmentally friendlier transport modes, and thus further EU environmental and transport objectives, while maintaining competition in the Single Market. According to the evaluation of the two initial schemes, the measures have effectively contributed to transferring freight transport from road to rail during the past five years. The two prolonged schemes will cover the period 2018 to 2022 and have a total budget of €650 million. The Commission concluded that the schemes are compatible with EU State aid rules, in particular the Commission Guidelines on State aid for railway undertakings. More information will be available on the Commission’s competition website, in the public case register under the case numbers SA.48390 and SA.48485.