Brussels, 16/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is reported to have started an examination of the European legislation on access to the international road transport market (regulation 1072/2009). If a revision of the current rules follows, this will not be before 2016.
An independent, so-called “ex-post” study is reported to have been commissioned on access to the road transport market, and more specifically the aspects related to cabotage and professional qualifications. The aim is to determine the costs of the current legislation as applied, and the costs of alternative scenarios. A second study could be considered in the course of the year. The work of the European Commission itself on road transport could begin this year, starting with a public consultation in 2015. However, if a legislative proposal is to be made, as with the revision of the current legislation, this would be more likely to happen in 2016, according to our sources.
At a hearing before the MEPs, the European Commissioner for Transport, Violeta Bulc, said that she was keen to find a solution to the problem of social dumping in road transport, but without going too far. She did not, however, rule out liberalising road cabotage, a highly delicate issue. Before the end of the term in office of her predecessor, the - French - idea of setting up a “European roads agency' emerged, but no longer appears to be a prominent one. (MD)