Representatives of the European Parliament and the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union failed to reach an agreement on Thursday 21 February, during a second meeting of interinstitutional negotiations ('trilogues'), on the measures that could be taken on road transport at European Union level, in order to counter the consequences of the United Kingdom’s potential exit from the European Union (Brexit) without a deal.
This is what was hoped for on both sides, after the first trilogue held on the evening of Monday 18 February (see EUROPE 12197).
This discussion responds to the European Commission's proposal of 19 December 2018, which at the time envisaged measures for implementation in several areas in the absence of agreement between the United Kingdom and the EU on Brexit (see EUROPE 12163). The aim here is to allow hauliers holding a British licence to operate between the United Kingdom and the European Union, subject to reciprocal measures from London.
The European Parliament and the Committee of Permanent Representatives in the European Union (Coreper) set out their negotiating positions on this matter on 13 and 15 February respectively (see EUROPE 12193, 12195).
The differences between the positions of the two institutions had been highlighted during the first trilogue.
Thus, the mandate given by Coreper to the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union envisages, inter alia, extending the scope of the future text to passenger transport, whereas the European Commission's proposal only deals with freight transport. In addition, Member States want operators to be able to carry out – for a limited period of time – more cabotage operations under the framework of freight transport than that which is authorised by the current Regulation 1072/2009 (three out of seven days).
While the European Parliament is open to extending the scope of the text to passenger transport and cabotage operations for this strict passenger transport framework, it does not want to compromise on freight cabotage. This was the case during the first trilogue and was reiterated on Thursday 21 February, in the absence of any change in the position of the Member States. The Coreper meeting on Wednesday 20 February did not give the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union a mandate to accept the European Parliament's position on freight cabotage.
The two institutions, in the absence of an agreement, have therefore planned to meet for a third trilogue, which they hope will be concluded on Tuesday 26 February. In the meantime, the matter will have been the subject of further discussions at Coreper on Friday 22 February. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)