The European Commission announced to the delegations of the Member States on Tuesday 5 January that the College of Commissioners has not yet taken a decision on the extension of Regulation 2020/698 and that this decision may not be taken before the end of the month, a European source told EUROPE.
This temporary regulation - adopted as a matter of urgency last May (see EUROPE 12491/16) - aimed to extend the validity of certificates, licences and authorisations required in the road, rail and air sectors and to postpone certain periodic checks and training.
The health measures put in place in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic are, in some Member States, hampering the procedures for renewing expired documents and preventing such checks and training from taking place.
On 8 December last, during a meeting of the competent European ministers (see EUROPE 12618/12), the European Commissioner for Transport, Adina Vălean, assured that her services are “analysing” the requests for an extension of this regulation made by the Member States. She added that she hoped to be able to present a proposal “in the coming weeks”.
Some States have had to urgently take derogatory measures at the national level or to reopen offices. A few have the means to renew documents digitally and therefore were not too concerned. However, even so, a lack of clarity persists in cross-border and international situations, and the legal cover for drivers remains fragile.
“Imminent need” to extend the regulation
Thomas Eneroth, the Swedish Minister for Infrastructure, who had put the subject on the table on 8 December, had therefore spoken of an “imminent need” to extend the regulation.
“In December 2020, 1.5% of drivers in Sweden must undergo their periodic training, which cannot take place in the current circumstances”, he insisted, calling on the Commission to look into this matter “as a priority”.
Once the extension proposal has been presented, it will still take a few more weeks before it becomes effective - as required by negotiations with the European Parliament and administrative formalities.
Several delegations therefore expressed their disappointment and incomprehension on Tuesday, during a videoconference of the ‘Transport - Intermodal Issues and Networks’ working group.
“It is a question of taking up the text again and modifying a few dates; a priori, this is work that could be done quickly”, commented the same European source, specifying that last spring, the Commission had nevertheless “reacted rather quickly” to the States’ requests.
Asked why this delay had occurred, the European institution had not yet responded to our requests at press time.
Link to Regulation 2020/698: https://bit.ly/3pZwvyT (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)