The European Federation of Inland Ports (EFIP) urges the necessity of a European lead EU transport budget as a foundational requirement to for strengthening Europe’s connectivity, economic competitiveness and crisis resilience and military mobility. Inland ports are deeply concerned about the European Commission's plans to overhaul the EU budget, particularly the proposal to fragment transport funding into single national plans per Member State. This approach risks marginalizing critical investments in transport and logistics infrastructure, especially for the hinterland networks by limiting EU-managed funds to major cross-border projects. (....)