Brussels, 20/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - European Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas makes no secret of his desire to fully open up the road freight market in Europe. The group of eight “wise men” he set up to advise him handed over a full report on the situation of the EU road transport market as it currently stands. They suggest a step-by-step approach to opening the market and propose two options. Cabotage, which consists of authorising the domestic transport of goods in a country by a haulier registered in another country, is the lynchpin. The report by the “wise men”, a group independent of, though mandated by, the Commission, will feed into a legislative package on the matter due to be brought forward at the start of next year. Their advice will provide the starting point for the Commission, which may, however, look to other scenarios.
At this stage, the high-level group, made up of eight European academics, highlights that, in future, Europe will find itself with a shortage of lorry drivers. It is, then, essential to make the profession more attractive. The group takes the view that implementation of road transport rules varies too widely across the EU, ultimately creating permanent problems of unfair competition. Opening up cabotage is seen as a way of achieving a single internal market in road transport and of addressing the problem of the one journey in four made without a load. The high-level group advises against the current authorised form of cabotage (three transport operations in the seven days following an unloaded international carriage). To bring about gradual, flexible opening of the market, the “wise men” recommend that two different type of cabotage be introduced: either cabotage is simplified, that is, authorised for four days with an unlimited number of operations, or it is authorised for up to 50 days per year, for example, but, in order to end social dumping, it is the directive on posted workers that would apply These are avenues the Commission will explore in reviewing the common rules for access to the international road freight market (Regulation 1072/2009) next year. (MD/transl.rt)