A Bold Step Forward: Commissioner-Designate Tzitzikostas Commits to Simplifying European Travel

Following yesterday’s confirmation hearing of Commissioner-designate Apostolos Tzitzikostas, we reiterate the need for urgent action on a key priority for European transport policy: the development of a new regulatory framework on single ticketing.

During yesterday’s hearing, Commissioner-designate Tzitzikostas committed to addressing this issue:

“My intention is to bring a Single Digital Booking and Ticketing Regulation as soon as possible. This is about the difficulty passengers have that they cannot book one single ticket for one [rail] connection if it is cross-regional or cross-border. I will also have the multimodal initiative […], meaning you will be able to have single ticketing for different modes, for example using an airplane on one leg of your trip and a train for the second leg.”

Despite growing demand from European citizens and policymakers, comparing, combining and booking tickets for trips that involve more than one operator or mode remains unnecessarily opaque and complex. Consumers lack easy access to comprehensive travel and climate impact information. This persistent problem stems partly from an imbalance between large transport operators and independent intermediaries as well as passengers (the weaker party to transport contracts), limiting innovation and reducing consumer choice. Travellers should be able to buy one single ticket on any platform and benefit from passengers rights protection for their whole trip.

The European Commission previously committed to addressing this problem through a Regulation on Multimodal Digital Mobility Services (MDMS), designed to enable European citizens to seamlessly search, combine, and book tickets across various transport modes and operators, especially for cross-border rail journeys. Unfortunately, the MDMS Regulation has yet to be introduced but President von der Leyen has committed herself to pushing a Regulation on ‘Single Digital Booking and Ticketing’. We call on the European Commission to present its legislative proposal in the first semester of 2025.

We represent a broad coalition of consumers, leisure and business passengers, environmental organisations, and independent ticket intermediaries. We have long advocated for an ambitious proposal to streamline digital ticketing and empower consumers with greater choice in transportation, including by regulating the sharing of data, transport content and (CO₂ and non-CO₂) climate information. Such a framework will not only simplify travel but also promote especially climate-friendly transport and energy-efficient ground-based transport options and foster healthy competition within and between transport modes.

We are encouraged by Commissioner-designate Tzitzikostas‘ commitment and look forward to swift and concrete action from the European Commission. An ambitious and effective Regulation on ticketing is essential to making Europe’s transport sector more sustainable, competitive, and consumer-friendly.

Signatories: