On Tuesday 7 November, the European Commission adopted a proposal to revise the Directive on the combined transport of goods between Member States in order to ‘green’ freight transport.
“In 2022, 13.6 billion tonnes of goods were carried on EU roads”, pointed out Adina Vălean, the Commissioner for Transport, in a press release. “This freight is central to the EU economy, and as demand increases, we need to keep the costs and the emissions under control”, she added.
“With our proposal, lorries will continue to play a role in the freight sector, but combining them with other more sustainable transport modes, such as barges, short sea shipping or trains, will reduce the external costs of transport and optimise the use of our transport network for the benefit of citizens and our economy”, she continued.
This proposal completes the package on greening freight, most of which was presented in July (see EUROPE 13220/21, 13279/25). Its aim is to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of intermodal freight compared with road-only transport, and to encourage a shift away from road-only transport. It should reduce negative externalities by at least 40% compared with road-only operations between the same starting and end points.
The proposal comprises three main provisions: - reaffirm that all intermodal transport is exempt from authorisations and quotas; - obligation for Member States to adopt a national policy framework to facilitate the adoption of intermodal transport; - transparency requirements for intermodal transhipment terminals to ensure that potential customers can easily find out about the services and facilities available.
The proposal also includes an EU-wide exemption from driving bans at weekends, public holidays and at night for short road journeys in combined transport to ensure better use of terminal capacity and non-road infrastructure. It also sets Member States a target of reducing the average door-to-door cost of combined transport operations by at least 10% within 7 years.
The revision also contains a ban on quotas and authorisations, and on the equivalent treatment of international combined transport and international road transport with regard to the use of non-resident hauliers.
The digital platforms set up under the eFTI regulation will provide a calculation tool enabling transport organisers to prove whether their operation is eligible for support. They will communicate the necessary information in an accessible way, and the accredited digital systems will do the rest.
Terminal operators will also be required to provide minimum information on their websites about the services and facilities of their transhipment terminals in the EU.
Read the proposal: https://aeur.eu/f/9et (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)