“I welcome the reopening of the Dorohusk-Yahodyn border crossing point for freight transport, the most significant border crossing point between Poland and Ukraine”, declared the European Commissioner for Transport, Adina Vălean, on Monday 11 December.
Since 6 November, Polish hauliers have been demonstrating at the border with Ukraine to protest against the candidate country’s agreement with the EU, which exempts Ukrainian hauliers from the obligation to hold the permits normally required for non-European hauliers (see EUROPE 13274/28).
This blockage was the subject of a debate by the EU Council on Monday 4 December. Some Member State ministers would like this agreement to be reviewed (see EUROPE 13307/22).
Ms Vălean explained that the Commission had spoken directly with the demonstrators and the national authorities on numerous occasions over the past month and had proposed concrete measures to facilitate the border crossing between Ukraine and Poland. She expressed the view that these demonstrations were damaging the European economy, the supply chain and the environment. She called for the other border crossing points to be unblocked “without delay”.
The European Parliament will debate this issue at its plenary session in Strasbourg on Thursday. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)