Brussels, 16/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - A Franco-Swedish alliance could jeopardise the proposal for the new design of lorries, by postponing until 2025 the application of the revised European rules. A new political issue has been added to the controversial dossier of the revision of the weights and sizes of lorries, already a highly sensitive issue as regards border crossings by mega-trucks.
This proposal, championed by France and Sweden, but which could soon also attract the support of other lorry-building countries, will be put on the table of the Coreper meeting of 23 May. The proposal will aim to make the new rules on lorry design, which will make them safer and less polluting, applicable only in 2025. However, the proposed revision, which was adopted at first reading by the European Parliament, would see these rules applied as soon as they are approved (to become obligatory seven years later, or in around 2022). With their manoeuvre, France and Sweden seem to be aiming to protect the commercial interests of their manufacturers, Volvo and Renault, according to a European Commission source. This source indicated that this has to do with the fact that new models are ready to enter the market, whilst the new rules would then give a competitive advantage to rival manufacturers bringing new models out after the approval of the directive revision. The Commission is naturally not in support of a delayed entry into force. “Why should we wait to put safer and greener trucks on our roads just to protect industrial interests?”, the same source added. The question will be discussed initially at Coreper and will then most likely be brought to ministerial level at the Transport Council of 5 June, along with the question of the cross-border authorisation of mega-trucks. (MD)