The European Union Road Federation (ERF) is a non-profit association which coordinates the views of Europe’s road infrastructure sector and acts as a platform for research and dialogue on mobility issues between stakeholders and institutional players
In order to facilitate the contribution of the road sector towards the EU Institutions and member states, the ERF was established in Brussels in 1998 with the following mission:
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Defend the interests of the European road infrastructure community towards the EU Institutions and other stakeholders
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Represent a cross-section of industry partners, road and users associations active in the construction, equipment, maintenance and operation of Europe’s road network
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Initiate and support studies, campaigns and publications aimed at increasing awareness on the importance of roads for all citizens
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Contribute to European research initiatives with a view to enhancing the overall efficiency, sustainability and safety of the road transport system
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Give the road infrastructure community a consistent and united voice in all road transport areas by promoting and coordinating Programmes & Working Groups
Road safety represents a keystone for the ERF activities. Our mission is to support the EU goal to cut the number of road deaths by 50% by 2020.
The EU streamlines the road safety strategy through the deployment of the Road Safety Programme every decade. Current guidelines 2011-2020 include a combination of measures to make user, vehicles and infrastructure safer.
In the EU, over 300 million vehicles circulate on a road network of approximately 5 million kilometres. The societal impact of road accidents, fatalities and injuries is estimated to be around 2% of the EU GDP, or in other words, around € 250 billion.
Sustainable roads are defined as “effectively and efficiently planned, designed, built, operated, upgraded and preserved roads by means of integrate policies respecting the environment and still providing the expected socio-economic services in terms of mobility and safety”.
While transport decarbonisation represents a main concern for the European Union, the road infrastructure sector has undertaken significant efforts to promote greener practices which could decrease energy consumption, reduce GHG emissions and natural resources consumption during the lifetime of the road.
Sustainability is not only limited to the environmental performance during road construction and maintenance operations but also broadens to the social and economic dimensions.
Road infrastructure is the backbone of the European economy and social equity, creating a source of unprecedented socio-economic wealth for Europe’s citizens.
According to European Road Transport Research Advisory Board, road transport related industries provide employment to more than 14 Million people in Europe and directly contribute by 11% to the European gross national product.