During a public hearing the European Parliament’s transport committee on Wednesday 22 November, representatives from road and rail transport companies expressed their concerns about the impact of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union.
Major road transport concern involves customs charges. The road transport industry highlighted the importance of this economic sector in the territory of the European Union. They did not make any prognosis regarding the stipulations of a future agreement between the two parties but the representatives did express particular concerns about heavy administrative and financial costs related to customs controls created by United Kingdom leaving the European Union. James Hookham, the Deputy CEO of the Freight Transport Association, considers that in this regard, more than 300,000 additional forms would have to be filled in every year. Therefore, on the same lines as Daniel Kern, the head of trade policy at the International Road Transport Union (IRU), he is also calling on all EU institutions and governments to take action to ensure that road transport is not over penalised by the ramifications of Brexit.
Kern also outlined his organisation’s five priorities: road freight transparency; the necessity of transition and safeguard clauses; access to the British market without quotas; avoiding any additional administrative charges, as well as legal predictability and security.
Verona Murphy, the President of the Irish Road Haulage Association, said that she was very concerned by the consequences on the Irish economy because Ireland is the only state that has a land border with the United Kingdom and depends significantly on the latter for trade with the Union.
MEPs supported these arguments and particularly highlighted the importance of the provisions in the “mobility” package for more predictability, as well as the risks of the absence of a deal being struck with the British government.
Maintaining rail flows is crucial. These concerns are shared by the rail industry. Railway sector actors assessed the difficulties linked to customs and particularly emphasised the question of the overall functioning of the European railway network.
Laura Wright from the Rail Delivery Group explained that railway flows were continuing to increase every year and appealed for continuity of access to the markets. She said the ability to cross borders was essential, which made it imperative that there was mutual recognition of technical standards and train drivers’ qualifications. Ms Wright also argued that exchanges in skills between the two parties should also continue to be developed as a means of promoting both goods and passenger transport.
These arguments were also backed by Libor Lochman, the Executive Director of the Community of European Railways (CER), for whom Brexit was creating many uncertainties for railway companies. He argued that negotiators should maintain the European railway area and avoid any interruption to freight flows. Mr Lochman also advocated the introduction of transition clauses before completing a definitive bilateral agreement.
Jacques Gounon, the CEO of Eurotunnel, was keen to underline the importance of the Channel tunnel for trade flows between the United Kingdom and the Union. He argued that any impact of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union on this tunnel would have considerable consequences in economic, social and environmental terms. He mentioned the issue of collective responsibility and also expressed a wish for the negotiators to take these flows better into account. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)