On Monday 4 December, at the request of Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, the European transport ministers discussed the agreement between the EU and Ukraine on the transport of freight by road, which was established last year.
With this agreement, the EU agreed to exempt Ukrainian road transport operators from the obligation to hold the permits normally required for non-European transport operators (see EUROPE 13274/28). For several weeks now, Polish transport operators have been on strike, protesting against the electronic queuing system at borders.
Rafał Weber, Poland’s Secretary of State, has called for a return to the permit system, except for military or humanitarian aid. “Removing these permits for transport operators has had a negative impact on European transport companies”, he said.
According to him, 37% of trade with Ukraine was carried out by Polish transporters before the agreement, a figure that has fallen to 10% today. He described this system as “discriminatory” against European operators.
The Hungarian Minister Delegate, Nándor Csepreghy, would like to return to this system in order “to not distort the internal market”. Slovakia’s Jozef Ráž said it was “ essential to strike a balance between supporting Ukraine and protecting the EU road transport industry”.
While some ministers called for a “balanced agreement”, others reaffirmed the importance of supporting Ukraine. “It is a moral duty to oppose those who do not respect international law”, said Ģirts Dubkēvičs, the Latvian Parliamentary Secretary. He announced that his country would support the extension of the agreement.
The European Commissioner for Transport, Adina Vălean, said she was “very disappointed that even the idea of reintroducing permits in this context is on the table and proposed by some Member States”. “I urge you to come to reason”, she said to the Member States. She added that European agreements had to be defended by national authorities. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)