Community funds for financing and strengthening the Transport Equivalent measure

Question for written answer E-001977/2025 to the Commission Rule 144 Emmanouil Kefalogiannis (PPE) Subject: Community funds for financing and strengthening the Transport Equivalent measure Supporting island life - with particular emphasis on small islands - should be a priority. Using every means and financial tool, regional development should be promoted, local microeconomies stimulated, services and opportunities provided to the island world upgraded and inequalities between island and mainland Greece eliminated. A valuable measure to this end (especially nowadays, when the cost of living on the islands is very high) is the Transport Equivalent (TE). This measure, which has to date been financed exclusively from national resources, aims to contribute substantially to reducing the high transport costs borne by islanders. However, it has become clear that meeting needs exceeds national budgetary capabilities, with significant delays in the payment of aid. The Transport Equivalent measure remains outside the European framework for supporting island life, although it is fully aligned with European cohesion policies. In this context, manufacturing bodies have proposed its inclusion in European programmes, such as the Just Transition Programme 2021-2027, the Cohesion Fund and the European Regional Development Fund, etc. In view of this: 1. What measures does the Commission intend to put in place to support island life? 2. Which Community funds can finance the Transport...