Promotion of Electric Mobility in the European Union—Overview of Project PROMETEUS from the Perspective of Cohesion through Synergistic Cooperation on the Example of the Catching-Up Region

Abstract

This project report presents the rationale and the first results as regards the ongoing learning process of the PROMETEUS (PROMotion of EmobiliTy in EU regionS) project, co-financed by the Interreg Europe program, in the context of EU policies and programs dedicated to the promotion of sustainable mobility, and electric mobility in particular. Electric mobility, and in general low-carbon mobility, is one of the main targets of the European Union’s policies dedicated to a green transition. Despite continuous efforts, the number of electric cars in circulation remains low and the objectives of expanding the market for such vehicles by 2030 are still far from being fulfilled. Up until 2018, the share of electric vehicles was in fact only 1.5% of total car sales in the EU. Specifically, it has been noted that an increase in the uptake of electric vehicles in Europe is hampered by the presence of three main barriers: affordability, infrastructure availability, and lack of investments. In this context, project PROMETEUS has aimed at tackling the lacunae in the availability of infrastructures for a transition towards electric mobility in the partnership’s regions, namely, Carinthia in Austria, Castilla y León in Spain, Lazio in Italy, Malta, and Prešov in Slovakia, and at countering low awareness in the public through the improvement of policy instruments linked to structural funds. In order to approach and clarify the process of improvement of those policy instruments, we have summarized and presented the reference results and outputs from the Action Plans across the partners. Moreover, the report discusses in detail the output of the regional Action Plan of the one of project partners—the Prešov region, as the form of a model example—as the initial situation in terms of infrastructure development in the region posing as the biggest challenge for the project. Managerial as well as research summaries can be helpful in the implementation of similar projects; in the continuous improvement of policy instruments; and, last but not least, in the formulation of new challenges to improve awareness of sustainable forms of transport.