Abstract
This Article develops a European perspective on sustainable mobility, a concept still underexamined in legal scholarship, and argues that meeting today’s mobility needs while preserving ecological foundations for future generations will not occur without deliberate regulatory intervention. After clarifying the evolution of the core concepts of sustainability, mobility, and sustainable mobility, the Article shows how international, European, and Austrian law have progressively incorporated sustainability goals in the transport sector. It then proposes a taxonomy of financial incentives–from subsidies and tax breaks to behavioral nudges—and evaluates their effectiveness, emphasizing the need for flexible, context-specific regulatory instruments. Applying these insights to self-driving cars, the Article demonstrates that technological innovation alone cannot deliver sustainable mobility and that proactive, sustainability-oriented regulation remains essential. The Article concludes with several proposals for reform aimed at steering technological and behavioral change toward a genuinely sustainable mobility system.
Recommended Citation
Lando Kirchmair,
Sustainable Mobility in International, European and National Law: A Perspective from Europe,
2026
J. L. & MOB.
1
Available at:
https://repository.law.umich.edu/jlm/vol2026/iss1/1