Which tasks do we need the European Union for? The short answer is: We need the European Union to produce those public goods that extend beyond the nation state Infrastructure can be such a good. If one country builds a cross-border railway line, its residents benefit from it. But not only theirs: the people in whose country the train route leads, benefit too. Though, since only the benefits of the building country’s population (voters) are regularly included in political decisions, too few cross-border train routes are built.
Read more
A better plan: How to spend the money from the EU’s recovery plan
Cheaper and faster: How the EU Commission wants to make cross-border train travel more attractive
There are two options to get more Europeans on the train and to fly less. Option number one: make flying less attractive. Option number two: make rail travel more attractive.
The history of railroads in Europe is the history of national railways and national railroad companies. Every country built up its own routes. Naturally, if the country was bigger, the distances were longer; if the country was small, the distances were short. There were few cross-border rails.
Read moreSeparated or integrated: How to improve rail travel in Europe?
JOHANNES EBER This article was originally written for the “Good morning Europe” blog (www.goodmorningeurope.substack.com) by Johannes Eber. We were given permission to publish this article on the European Liberals for Reform blog. The night train from Vienna to Brussels regularly
Read more