On Wednesday 25 September, the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the European Union and representatives of the European Parliament held a first meeting of interinstitutional negotiations ('trilogue') concerning the proposal for a Regulation on the electronic exchange of information in the freight transport sector.
It appears that both the Council and Parliament agree on the importance of the legislative proposal and its objective, namely to regulate the electronic exchange of information in freight to meet the needs of the sector, even though today almost 99% of cross-border transport operations still involve the use of paper documents in the EU.
After having expressed their negotiating position on the issue (see EUROPE 12270/8, 12212/32), this meeting enabled both parties to plan the work which must be undertaken at the next meetings. Thus, it appears that the main points to be negotiated concern: (1) the scope of the Regulation; (2) the voluntary or mandatory nature of the provisions: (3) the delegated and implementing acts; (4) the date of application of the Regulation.
The next trilogue, scheduled for 7 November, should include an assessment of how many meetings will be required to complete the file. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot – intern)