🚆 Transport Chronicles – 18th Edition Shaping the Next Phase of the UK–EU Transport & Trade Relationship

Image © European Commission

Driving a more connected, competitive, and sustainable transport future for the UK and Europe.

1️⃣ From Reset to Delivery: UK–EU Roundtable in Leeds on 26 February. Join us! Register below.

Following the UK–EU Reset Summit in 2025, transport has emerged as a strategic pillar of the UK–EU relationship – not just as infrastructure, but as an enabler of trade, resilience, and – above all – economic growth.

The next step is delivery.

To help turn reset momentum into practical action, UK Transport in Europe (UKTiE) – in partnership with the Department for Transport and hosted by The Railway Industry Association (RIA) – will convene a UK–EU Transport, Technology & Trade Reset Roundtable in Leeds on Thursday 26 February 2026.

The roundtable will bring together industry, local and central government, and delivery partners to focus on translating shared ambitions into concrete progress – across the transport modes, digital borders, clean mobility and trade facilitation.

The event builds on last year’s events – of which many of you participated in – and on our agreed UK–EU Transport & Trade Reset Asks, with a view to updating them in light of recent developments and priorities.

📍 Where: RIA Leeds
🕐 When: 14:00–17:30 (with informal networking lunch from 13:00)
🎯 Focus: moving from intent to implementation

👉 Please register via the RSVP link by 12 February: Registration form

The reset created momentum. Leeds is about making it real.

Image © European Commission

2️⃣ What Comes Next for UKTiE

In 2026, UKTiE’s priorities are firmly on implementation, coordination and influence, including:

• Supporting delivery of reset commitments that directly affect transport, logistics and mobility.
• Acting as a bridge between UK industry and EU institutions, ensuring practical concerns are reflected early in policy design.
• Maintaining a strong, coordinated UK transport voice across Brussels, Westminster, the nations and regions.
• Convening targeted forums – ranging from Leeds, where policy ambition meets operational reality, to Brussels, where our regular Chatham House lunches, convene key European and international stakeholders around shared priorities.

Alongside flagship events, UKTiE will continue focused engagement with UK Government, EU institutions and industry partners to help turn reset momentum into measurable outcomes.

3️⃣ UK Developments to Watch

Across Whitehall and the UK Parliament, the reset agenda is now moving from agreement to implementation.

• Nick Thomas-Symonds, Minister for EU Relations, has confirmed that the Strategic Partnership agreed with the EU is being actively progressed, including workstreams on energy cooperation, carbon markets and trade facilitation – all with direct implications for transport and logistics.
• The Government continues to frame reset delivery around pragmatic cooperation, while maintaining core red lines on Single Market and Customs Union membership.
• Alongside this, wider border and mobility changes – including existing UK entry requirements, the phased rollout of the EU Entry/Exit System (EES), forthcoming digital border processes, and the operation of juxtaposed controls on key UK–EU routes – remain live operational issues for passengers and operators.
• Regulatory and market alignment questions also remain central. These include ongoing negotiations on SPS arrangements affecting agri-food supply chains, and the future relationship between the UK and EU Emissions Trading Systems. In both cases, the issues are less about technical feasibility than political sequencing and governance – and both carry material cost, competitiveness and operational implications for transport and logistics.
• There has been progress on some elements of mobility, such as the UK’s planned return to the Erasmus+ programme from 2027, while other important issues — including the lack of mutual recognition of professional qualifications for UK and EU professionals – remain unresolved.

Taken together, these developments reinforce why transport and trade must remain central to reset delivery, not peripheral – and why UKTiE has a clear and constructive role to play in supporting progress and implementation.

Image © European Commission

4️⃣ Brussels Watch: EU Transport Priorities for 2026

Since the last Transport Chronicles in October, Brussels has set out a clearer roadmap for the year ahead – making this a natural moment to take a review of relevant EU policy priorities.

The European Commission’s 2026 Work Programme places strong emphasis on implementation, simplification and competitiveness, with transport policy now sitting at the intersection of climate, digitalisation and the Single Market.

Key files and themes to watch include:

• Ongoing implementation of the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy, which continues to frame EU transport policy.
• Progress on digital mobility frameworks, including work related to the Single Digital Booking and Ticketing Regulation (SDBTR) and Multimodal Digital Mobility Services (MDMS), shaping how passengers plan and book cross-border journeys and exercise their passenger rights.
• Continued rollout of Fit-for-55 transport measures, affecting aviation, maritime and surface transport.
• EU Parliamentary and Commission focus on rail connectivity, high speed and cross-border services and infrastructure resilience.

Analysis of the 2026 European Commission Work Programme by the European Parliament Think Tank highlights a strong institutional emphasis on improving implementation, simplification and enforcement of existing frameworks, rather than pursuing a broad set of new headline legislation – a direction that aligns with the reset’s emphasis on delivery and will help make UK-EU cooperation work in practice.

Image © European Commission

📌 Looking Ahead

As UK–EU relations enter a more practical phase, transport is no longer just part of the backdrop – it is a test case for whether the reset delivers real, operational benefits.

Leeds marks the start of that next chapter.
We look forward to continuing the conversations.

As we plan for 2026, UKTiE will continue to champion:
🔹 Connectivity 🔹 Competitiveness 🔹 Sustainability

🌟 Be part of the change.
UKTiE’s strength is its network – a coalition of partners driving a more connected, competitive, and sustainable transport future for the UK and Europe.

Be part of this change! Join us and make your voice heard.

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🌐 uktie.eu 📧 markwatts@lpbrussels.com Mark Watts, UKTiE CEO