9th July 2020, the European Commission welcomes the social improvements of the Mobility Package I voted by the European Parliament. However, they regret that the new set of rules includes elements that are possibly not in line with the European Green Deal’s ambitions and the European Council endorsement of the objective of achieving a climate-neutral EU by 2050.
These are the compulsory return of the vehicle to the Member State of establishment every eight weeks and the restrictions imposed on combined transport operations. These measures were not part of the Commission’s proposals adopted on 31 May 2017 and have not been the subject of an impact assessment. The obligation of return of the truck may lead to inefficiencies in the transport system and an increase in unnecessary emissions, pollution, and congestion, while the restrictions on combined transport could diminish its effectiveness to support multimodal freight operations.
As the Commission is currently assessing the expected impact of these two aspects on the environment and the market, they encourage the road transport sector and the national authorities to provide relevant data for the assessment.
The conclusions of the studies should be ready before the end of this year. The Commission, if necessary, will exercise its right to come forward with a targeted legislative proposal before the two provisions enter into force.