On Tuesday 5 April, MEPs meeting in Strasbourg validated the interinstitutional agreement reached on 26 October 2021 on rules for vehicles hired without drivers in freight transport (see EUROPE 12833/32). The text was validated at second reading on 3 March by the members of the European Parliament’s Transport Committee (see EUROPE 12904/21).
“The new rules will make it easier for companies to rent additional trucks instead of buying them, to meet seasonal needs”, said Cláudia Monteiro de Aguiar (EPP, Portugal).
As a reminder, the revision of the current rules ensures that greater consideration is given to the temporary peak needs of companies for the rental of vehicles in a country other than the one in which they are established.
The new rules should make it possible to use vehicles hired in other EU countries for at least two months each year. Member States will nevertheless have the possibility to require, if national rules so require, the re-registration of a vehicle on their territory after a period of 30 days.
In addition, these vehicles hired without drivers may not represent more than 25% of a company’s total fleet. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)