This is the message, based on the newest assessment of impact on the environment and sustainability, that the representatives of the Lithuanian transport and logistics business are bringing to the decision-makers in Brussels. At the same time, they ask the responsible EU institutions to evaluate conformity of certain contradictory proposals of the Mobility Package to the energy and climate programmes objectives financed under the Community programmes seeking greater sustainability and security of the transport system.
According to the newest estimations of the International Transport and Logistics Alliance (TTLA) uniting Lithuania’s largest hauliers, due to the obligation to return the trucks, 7 peripheral EU Member States – Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria – alone will emit additional 3,2 million tons of CO2 per year.
This quantity is comparable to the carbon dioxide amount that could be emitted by burning of a 16 thousand sq km forest, an equivalent of nearly a half of the territory of Belgium.
Furthermore, 570 thousand unloaded trucks will be returning home every 8 weeks navigating 780 million empty kilometres and wasting 188 million litres of fuel annually.
According to Tomas Jurgelevičius, Secretary General of the TTLA, as a result of this scenario, the European transport system and businesses will face higher fuel consumption and lack of transport capacity, while EU citizens will encounter more pollution and congestion.
“All this will seriously undermine the joined efforts of the Europeans to move towards a sustainable and smart mobility,” stated Jurgelevičius. “The idea of retuning the trucks runs not only against the European Green Deal’s ambitions but also the Paris Agreement goals. This rule will significantly limit the freedom to provide services, as well as distort fair competition and smooth functioning of the Single Market within the EU,” he added.
There are also concerns among manufacturers based in Western European countries that the Mobility package will decreased European haulage capabilities resulting in shortage of transport services supply. That will cause an increase in the cost of operations for the hauliers, resulting in higher prices for transport services and goods and thus affecting the overall European economy. Certainly, there will be less competition in Europe as road transport operators will have to turn to their national markets with less possibilities to carry goods between different EU Member States.
The data made available by the European Commission, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Baltic Institute for Research and Development and MAN Bus and Trucks, as well as other data, were used in the evaluation of the Mobility Package’s obligation to return the trucks.
The representatives of the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists, TTLA and LINAVA will visit Brussels on 3-5 March to meet with the representatives of the European Commission responsible for the transport and environmental protection policy issues. During these meetings, the Lithuanian business representatives will present the new data and their position on the Mobility Package being contradictory to the European Green Deal and EU Single Market, and its disproportionate negative impact on the hauliers based in Lithuania and other peripheral EU Member States.
The Mobility Package rule was criticised within the EC, which at the end of last year expressed its concern regarding compatibility of this obligation with the EU’s major strategy – the European Green Deal. According to the EC estimations, returning of trucks could have a disproportionate negative impact on the environment and internal market, and therefore, expects to conduct impact assessment in the following 18 months, and, if required, take respective actions.
According to TTLA, the Mobility Package contradicts the fundamental freedom to provide services in the Single Market and the principle of free movement of workers. The provisions on returning vehicles to a Member State of establishment alongside the limitations on cabotage in the form of an excessive cooling off period are extremely restrictive and discriminatory towards the peripheral EU Member States.
“Having considered the facts, it becomes evident that the Member States are differentiated – operators established closer to the EU Member States with high industrial output will find themselves in a significantly more advantageous position in terms of the Mobility Package requirements, while the hauliers and drivers from peripheral EU Member States will end up in a discriminatory position. The vast majority of businesses will go bankrupt or relocate to more central EU Member States. These processes have already started,” said Jurgelevičius.
According to TTLA assessment, the unresolved third country issue of the Mobility Package will complicate the efficient implementation of the Package even further. There is no enforcement mechanism provided to ensure application of the Mobility Package in the third countries, therefore, the EU hauliers in direct competition with the third country undertakings could suffer the most, as they will be forced to comply with the requirements of the host county, while the non-EU hauliers will continue operations under the permit system.
Based on official Russian sources, over the period of 2016-2018 Russia received 12.4% more bilateral permits and at the same time its road transport turnover increased by 17.6%.
“As a result, transport operators from the EU’s periphery are likely to be forced to move outside of the EU to benefit from the same competitive advantage. This would lead to a loss of employment in the EU Member States, a decrease of tax income, and eventually worse social conditions for those drivers that choose to follow their employer across the border,” added Jurgelevičius.
The increasing EU market share of the third countries’ hauliers is already being manifested by dramatically rising numbers of bilateral haulage permits awarded, for example, to Russia. Based on official Russian sources, over the period of 2016-2018 Russia received 12.4% more bilateral permits and at the same time its road transport turnover increased by 17.6%. On 20 February, commissioner for Transport A. Valean told the European Parliament’s TRAN committee that the EU Member States should consider the negative consequences of increasing bilateral permits for the competitiveness of the EU hauliers.
The European Commission, the European Council and the European Parliament reached the preliminary decision on the Mobility Package on 12 December 2019, however the position adopted still must be approved by the European Council and the Parliament. The adoption procedure is expected to be completed in the summer of this year, however, the possibility that the decision-making process will be extended cannot be excluded.
Even after the final approval of the Mobility Package, a transition period will be provided, which, depending on the legal act, can be as long as a year and a half.
