On November 19, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organized a luncheon-debate hosting Violeta Bulc, European Commissioner for Mobility and Transport, the theme was “Challenges of transport: decarbonization and digitalization”. The event, sponsored by the technology consultancy firm Indra, had the participation of executives of companies in the sector, members of the Chamber and representatives of public bodies, both Spanish and European.

The presentation was given by Juan Rodríguez Villa-Matons, President of the Chamber, who reviewed the professional career of Violeta Bulc and showed the satisfaction that it is for the Chamber to organize this type of luncheon with guests of the category of the Commissioner in collaboration of Spanish well-known companies, through which the Chamber is able to keep on growing.

David Luengo, director of the Indra office in Brussels, talked about the importance of sustainability and competitiveness in the field of transport, referring to the importance of achieving a solid position as a country in the high technology sector, (in a context of European programs where Spain has obtained excellent results). In the same way, he highlighted the importance of the Spanish contribution to Horizon 2020 as well as the importance of betting and encouraging technological innovation and consolidating European industry.

For her part, Commissioner Violeta Bulc conveyed a motivating and changing message with her speech. Bulc started by explaining the current evolution in the transport sector and the need to exchange not only good practices but opinions and ideas to promote awareness and collaboration to direct actions towards a common goal.

The Commissioner of Transport emphasized the three main goals through which transformation in the sector will be achieved. The first of these, efficiency, highlighted the responsibility involved and the intention to ensure the continuity of innovation. The second, connectivity, the Commissioner stressed the importance of this to achieve the goal successfully, accompanied with a high degree of commitment, not only internally but outside the EU, maintaining global connectivity. Lastly, externalities, where it was claimed the importance of the socially responsible contribution against negative externalities.

The rest of the exposition revolved around two axes; on the one hand, decarbonisation and on the other the digitalization of transport. With regard to decarbonisation, it was mentioned low emission vehicles to achieve clean mobility, highlighting in turn the relevance of alternatives to current fuels and infrastructures.

Regarding the digitalization of transport, Bulc stressed the need to be open to an innovative ecosystem where we all cooperate to carry out digitalisation. He stressed that the two concepts go hand in hand and invited attendees to think digital and clean.

After the presentation, a round of questions took place in which the participants could raise their different concerns in the transport sector. Questions of various types were carried out, including mentions to the Mediterranean corridor, concerns related to Brexit or new communication technologies.

On the other hand, from the Chamber we want to show our gratitude to Bodegas Solar de Urbezo, whose wines could be tasted by all attendees and their distributor in Belgium and partner of the Chamber, La Buena Vida.

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