The European Commission has published the second edition of the EU Transport Scoreboard, which compares how member states perform in 29 transport categories.

The objective is to help member states identify areas requiring priority investments and actions, in order to create a Single European Transport Area. This is essential, according to the commission, to deepening the internal market and to shift towards a low-carbon economy, two priorities of the commission.

“The 2015 scoreboard shows how dynamic the European transport sector is,” said Violeta Bulc, EU Commissioner for Transport. “I am pleased to see that good progress has been made compared to last year, for example for infrastructure quality and the opening of rail freight markets. The scoreboard also shows what still needs to be done, in order to create jobs in the transport sector or to improve its sustainability.”

The Netherlands topped this year’s scorecard with high scores in 16 categories, followed by Sweden, Finland, the United Kingdom, and Denmark.

Among the report’s highlights, Austria has the third-highest share of renewable energy in transportation fuel in the EU. Its road safety score has improved and now corresponds to the EU average.

The quality of Belgium’s port infrastructure is rated very positively, putting Belgium in third place EU-wide. The infrastructure for the other modes of transport is also rated highly. It has room for improvement as regards its road safety score.

Bulgaria has a high share of electrified railways, over 71 percent, and its total share of renewable energy in fuel consumption for transport corresponds to the EU average.

Croatia scores 100 percent in the number of transportation related directives transposed into national law, bringing it to the top of the ranking. The average time it takes to import and export goods by sea can be expected to improve.

Cyprus has the highest percentage of women working in transportation, at 32 percent.

The Czech Republic scores highly in the share of women employed in transport, taking second place. Competition in the freight and passengers’ rail market has grown considerably in recent years.

The average time it takes to import and export goods into and out of Denmark by sea is amongst the shortest EU-wide, at five and a half days.

Estonia and Denmark share the title of the EU’s top performer as regards the average time to import and export goods by sea. Estonia receives relatively low ratings for its transport infrastructure apart from its port infrastructure, which is rated positively.

Finland’s quality of rail, port and air infrastructure is rated second best in the entire EU. Ratings for its road infrastructure have deteriorated slightly. The share of employment in quickly growing transport enterprises in Finland has increased significantly in recent years.

France is rated highly for its road and railroad infrastructure, and the share of renewable energy in transport fuel consumption is high. Private expenditure in research and development is the second highest in the EU.

Germany gets high ratings for its infrastructure in all means of transportation, although the ratings are slightly less positive than in the previous reporting period. Germany is also among the top five performers in the share of renewable energy in fuel consumption for transport.

Ireland records a perfect 100 percent score for the transposition of EU transportation directives into national law. However, it has the lowest share of electrified railway lines in the EU as well as very few new cars that use alternative fuels.

Poland has a high share of electrified railways (over 62%), as well as a high share of renewable energies in fuel consumption. Ratings of the quality of transport infrastructure in Poland are more positive than in the previous reporting period.

The quality of the Portuguese road infrastructure is rated as the highest in the EU. Competition in both the freight and passengers rail market is lower than in other countries.

Romania‘s market share of rail freight companies competing with the main operator is the highest in Europe, at 56.8 percent.