Strasbourg, 06/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - Pressure is mounting when it comes to mega trucks. In a second letter, the president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, calls on his counterpart from the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, to ensure that the question of authorising cross-border traffic of mega trucks be included in the coming review of the directive on weights and dimensions of heavy goods vehicles (EC 96/35). The Commission appears to be unwilling to do so. Let us take a look at what has happened so far: in spring 2012, European Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas “reinterpreted” the European legislation in order to authorise the cross-border traffic of mega trucks between consenting countries, thus drawing the wrath of the European Parliament, which had not been consulted on the matter, upon him. This spat had already given rise to an exchange of letters between Barroso and Schulz, with the Parliament pointing out that its role of joint decision-maker should be respected. Having recognised the “legal uncertainty”, both Kallas (June) and Barroso (July) had promised that the problem would be on the agenda when it came to reviewing the directive in question. During the plenary session in January, the European commissioner argued that it was up to the MEPs to amend the review of the directive in consequence as the Commission would not shoulder that responsibility - which was enough to anger MEPs once again, to such an extent that Schulz sent a second letter to Barroso on 30 January, in which he underlines the “contradiction” and recalls the Commission's right of own initiative. He adds that he firmly believes the Commission is responsible for clarifying European legislation on the issue of mega trucks and calls, as a matter of urgency, for that aspect to be included in the proposal for the next review before submitting it to the co-legislators. The initiative is hailed by Michael Cramer (Greens/EFA, Germany), who considers that the Parliament should not tolerate the Commission bowing to the pressure of the lobby and changing European legislation to make it perfectly contrary to what it was. President Martin Schulz, he said, was crystal clear in his letter. (MD/transl.jl)