On Wednesday 20 March, members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN) held talks with the European Commission on the proposal on a support framework for intermodal freight transport. The calculation enabling a 40% reduction in external costs was questioned.
Presented in November (see EUROPE 13287/18) as part of the greening freight transport package, this text aims to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of intermodal freight compared with road-only transport, and to encourage a shift away from road-only transport.
The rapporteur, Massimiliano Salini (EPP, Italian), recalled the difficulties associated with this initiative: “This is the third attempt to amend this directive [...] these proposals follow several failed attempts”.
For him and for Thomas Rudner (S&D, German), the proposed calculation enabling a 40% reduction in external costs is unclear and gives rise to uncertainty. “We don’t know how this figure was chosen, we don’t understand the reference calculation and the deadlines are not defined”, stressed the rapporteur.
The Commission representative explained that the previous approach, whereby eligibility criteria were defined on the basis of distance, was “unsatisfactory in many respects”. With the proposed new method, a transport operation that is 25% sea transport and 75% road transport could be eligible.
In addition, the distance-based approach does not incentivise greening beyond the use of non-road modes, whereas greening within a mode is also very important, according to the representative. “It means that we have to incentivise the use of greener fuels and vehicles that we cannot capture on distance-based criteria”, she explained.
Finally, the old approach does not reflect the realities of the transport networks in different Member States, and there are still discussions about the eligibility of operations. “The 40% approach is the most level playing field-related criteria as it puts everyone on equal footing”, she said. She also mentioned that the 40% threshold is a minimum threshold that can be raised by Member States.
The rapporteur also pointed to the problems associated with the eFTI platform, which is intended to bring together aggregated data. “When we introduce a new platform, from a technological point of view, it must be made available to the reference sector when it is ready”, he said. He does not wish to see stakeholders forgo aid because of the complexity of the process.
Due to the elections, discussions on this revision will have to continue over the next six months. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)