Connecting the dots: Our role in eFTI4ALL
If you have been following our work at eFTI Experts, you have probably noticed that eFTI4ALL Project is a major part of what we do.
But what exactly is our role in the project?
What is eFTI4ALL?
eFTI4ALL is a CEF-funded project supporting the implementation of the electronic Freight Transport Information (eFTI) Regulation and the development of an interoperable digital environment for exchanging freight transport information across Europe.
Running until 2028 with a budget of around €30 million, the project brings together 33 partners from six EU Member States.
The consortium represents a broad range of perspectives: public authorities and Member State organisations, technology providers, economic operators and other organisations with expertise in digital transport and logistics.
This mix is particularly important. eFTI cannot be implemented by governments or technology providers alone. For the system to work in practice, regulatory requirements need to connect with technical solutions, and both need to work for the companies that actually produce, exchange and use freight transport information.
This is also one of the aspects that distinguishes eFTI4ALL. Compared with the earlier sister project eFTI4EU Project, this project has a particularly strong focus on economic operators and future eFTI Platform providers.
Where does eFTI Experts fit in?
eFTI Experts OÜ is one of the organisations supporting the eFTI4ALL consortium.
Our role is cross-cutting: we contribute to project coordination, technical work, stakeholder engagement, communication and the connection between different parts of the project.
We are also in a somewhat unique position because eFTI4ALL is already the second major eFTI project in which our experts have been involved.
During eFTI4EU, several of the experts who are now working together through eFTI Experts contributed to the project as experts from separate organisations. For eFTI4ALL, this expertise has come together more closely under eFTI Experts OÜ, allowing us to combine experience from different perspectives while working as one team.
So, how does this translate into our work across the project?
Our role across the four work packages
WP1 – Common eFTI Analysis and Specifications
Work Package 1 provides the foundation for the technical work that follows. Partners carry out the joint analyses and develop the specifications needed to implement a complete eFTI Exchange Environment within the WP2 pilots.
A key part of this work is the interpretation and application of the eFTI Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2020/1056), together with the Delegated Acts (DA) and Implementing Acts (IA) that have already been adopted or will be adopted as the project progresses.
This regulatory foundation needs to be clear and consistently understood across the project.
From our side, Ulrika Hurt, drawing on her previous experience as a consultant to the European Commission working on the preparation of the Delegated and Implementing Acts, Christian Lüpges from AlbrechtConsult GmbH, with his extensive eFTI expertise, and Matti Lankinen, bringing strong governance experience, contribute to making sure that the regulatory and governance aspects are properly reflected in the project.
WP2 – Technical Development and the eFTI Environment
WP2 focuses on the technical side of eFTI4ALL and the development of the interoperable eFTI Exchange Environment.
Our role is to provide technical expertise and consultation and to help ensure that the different technical developments remain aligned with the eFTI Regulation, relevant DTLF work and the wider eFTI ecosystem.
The involvement of economic operators and future eFTI Platform providers is particularly valuable here. Technology needs to meet regulatory requirements - but it also needs to work in real business environments.
By working with both public-sector and private-sector stakeholders, we can help bring these perspectives together and support solutions that are technically sound while remaining relevant to the people who will ultimately use them.
From our side, Lasse Nykänen and Mering Heiti bring years of logistics expertise to the table, helping to ensure that eFTI will not remain just a regulation on paper, but can become something that works well in real-life transport and logistics.
WP3 – Communication, Stakeholder Engagement and Capacity Building
Technology alone does not implement eFTI. People do.
WP3 focuses on communication, stakeholder engagement, dissemination, training and capacity building — making sure that the knowledge developed within the project reaches the wider eFTI community.
This is an area where eFTI Experts OÜ has a particularly active role.
In close collaboration with the WP lead, Magellan Circle from Italy, we contribute to stakeholder activities and communication and dissemination efforts, bringing together both the public and private beneficiaries involved in the project.
We also help connect the technical developments of the project with the organisations and people who need to understand them.
For communication we have experts Helena Urbla and Johanna Ruljand, who make sure all eFTI events are on track, newsletter and LinkedIn posts online and all questions answered.
WP4 – Project Management and Coordination
A project involving 33 partners and multiple technical and operational activities requires strong coordination.
Within WP4, our work, in close collaboration with the project coordinator Trafikverket and the leads of the other work packages, supports the overall project structure and helps ensure that activities across the consortium remain connected and aligned.
We work across organisational and work-package boundaries, helping to identify dependencies, follow developments and ensure that relevant information and decisions reach the people who need them.
For us, project coordination is not simply about tracking activities and deadlines. It is about keeping the different pieces of a complex project moving towards the same objective.
Managing a project of this scale also needs a strong team. We are all involved in WP4 in different ways, but every team needs a good leader - and for us, that is Peter Bresseleers.
More than one work package
Looking at our role work package by work package gives a useful overview, but it also misses something important.
Our role is about connecting the dots.
The eFTI Regulation provides the framework. Technology providers develop the solutions. Member States prepare for implementation. Economic operators will ultimately use these systems in their everyday activities.
Our role at eFTI Experts OÜ is to help make sure these different pieces understand each other and move forward together.
From eFTI4ALL towards implementation
With 9 July 2027 approaching — the date from which Member States must be able to receive eFTI information electronically — the focus is increasingly shifting from what eFTI should become to how we make it work in practice.
That is where we believe our role is most valuable:
connecting the regulation with technology, the public sector with industry, and project developments with real-world implementation.
And there is still plenty of work ahead. So follow along to see how eFTI4ALL will progress over second half of the project.