Industry organizations support the Combined Transport Directive amendment 10/11/23
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Industry organizations support the amendment of the Combined Transport Directive
Author: Łukasz Kuś
Industry organizations representing railway companies and intermodal operators positively assess the draft amendment to the Combined Transport Directive presented by the European Commission and express hope that the EU and member states will allocate appropriate funds to achieve the objectives contained in the legislative proposal.
photo: PixabayOn November 7, the EC presented a draft of a new Directive, which is the third legislative proposal prepared as part of the "Greening Freight Transport" package, which is intended to accelerate the decarbonization of freight transport. Earlier, the EC presented draft directives on the weights and sizes of vehicles and on the single European railway area.
Read also:The European Commission presented a draft of the new Directive on combined transport
On November 8, a meeting was held in the European Parliament, attended by representatives of the EC, MEPs and entrepreneurs (including Dariusz Stefański, president of PCC Intermodal, and Jürgen Albersmann, president of Contargo), during which the assumptions of the legislative proposal were discussed. The International Union of Combined Transport by Road and Rail (UIRR) is currently analyzing the draft of the new Directive on the basis of which it will present its position during legislative work. The UIRR announcement stated that the amendment contains several beneficial changes. Firstly, the advantage of combined transport over long-distance road transport in terms of external transport costs was clearly established. Secondly, Member States were obliged to develop transport development strategies taking into account the needs of combined transport. Thirdly, state authorities were obliged to reduce the costs of intermodal transport. Fourthly, the definition of combined transport has been changed so that it will also include domestic transport.
The European Community of Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) also assessed the EC's proposals positively. However, both organizations repeated their concerns about the previously presented changes to the Vehicle Weights and Dimensions Directive, which allow gigaliners on European roads. It was called for work on these directives to take place simultaneously so that they constitute a coherent package.
— We welcome the publication of the project, and in particular of some of its elements, such as reducing external costs thanks to combined transport. Nevertheless, it is necessary to effectively implement public funds aimed at reducing costs by at least 10% and to significantly simplify and improve the process of supporting combined transport. For the new directive to deliver on its promises, it is also important to gradually increase rail and road interoperability. More than ever, CER calls on the co-legislators to consider both the combined transport directives and the weights and dimensions directives in a synchronized, coherent and coordinated way, said Alberto Mazzola, Executive Director of CER.