The European Commission has adopted its 2025 Work Programme, outlining its ambition to boost competitiveness, enhance security, and strengthen economic resilience in the EU. It builds on the commitments set out in the Political Guidelines and includes several initiatives relevant to travel and tourism.

Key Policy Priorities

Competitiveness and Innovation

Clean Industrial Deal – Strategy to maintain competitiveness while advancing decarbonization.
New State Aid Framework – Supporting the roll-out of renewable energy, clean energy investments, and industrial transformation.
Start-up and Scale-up Strategy – Measures to support SMEs and innovation.
AI and Data Union Strategies – Strengthening the EU’s digital economy and data-driven services.

Simplification and Regulatory Efficiency

Omnibus Packages – A series of proposals to simplify legislation, covering areas such as sustainability reporting, due diligence, and investment frameworks.
Reducing Administrative Burdens – Targeted 25% reduction in regulatory costs for businesses, with a 35% reduction goal for SMEs.

Green Transition and Climate Goals

European Climate Law – Establishing a 90% emissions reduction target for 2040.
Sustainable Transport Investment Plan – Supporting low-carbon transport infrastructure.

Relevant Legislative & Non-Legislative Initiatives

The annex of the 2025 Work Programme includes a list of planned legislative and non-legislative initiatives, pending proposals, and upcoming fitness checks. The following are of particular interest:

Planned New Initiatives

Single Market Strategy (non-legislative, Q2 2025)
First Omnibus Package on Sustainability (legislative, Q1 2025)
Sustainable Transport Investment Plan (non-legislative, Q3 2025)
2030 Consumer Agenda, including an Action Plan for Consumers in the Single Market (non-legislative, Q4 2025)

Fitness Checks

Evaluation of the Geo-Blocking Regulation

Pending Proposals

Proposal to revise the Package Travel Directive
Proposal on enforcement of passenger rights
Proposal on multimodal passenger rights
Proposal on accounting of GHG emissions of transport services (CountEmissionEU)
Proposal to revise air passenger rights Regulation 261/2004 (proposal from 2013)
Proposal on the progressive start of the Entry-Exit System

Next Steps

The 2025 Work Programme sets the direction for legislative action in the coming year. Additionally, the Commission aims in the coming years to:

Advance Single Digital Ticketing to facilitate seamless multimodal travel across Europe.
Complete Trans-European Transport corridors by 2030 with Connecting Europe Facility support.
Strengthen the Single Market for transport services and enhance sector competitiveness.
Promote a resilient tourism sector in line with the EU Agenda for Tourism 2030.
Propose a European high-speed rail network, including night trains, and accelerate rail freight.

You can find more information about the coming years‘ legislative work in the mission letter of Commissioner for Tourism and Transport, Tzitzikostas.