All news & events

On 1 October, the Council's Permanent Representatives Committee (Coreper) agreed on a negotiating mandate on a proposal for a Data Governance Act (DGA), which is part of a wider policy, aimed to give the EU a competitive edge in the increasingly data-driven economy. The Act would seek to set up mechanisms to facilitate the reuse of certain categories of protected public-sector data, increase trust in data intermediation services and promote data altruism across the EU.

On 7 October, the European Secure Parking Organisation (ESPORG) is organising an online workshop from 10.00-13.00h CET to provide information about safe and secure parking, the EU Standard for Safe and Secure Truck Parking Areas (SSTPA), as well as detailed information and advice to interested applicants about the recently launched funding call for SSTPAs under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for Transport.

On 1 October, the ninth edition of the European Cybersecurity Month kicked off, which will run for the entire month of October under the motto ‘Think Before U Click'. The European Cybersecurity Month is an annual awareness campaign organised by the European Commission, the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) and over 300 partners in the EU Member States.

On 29 September, the EU extended the COVID-19 vaccines export transparency and authorisation mechanism until 31 December. The purpose of the vaccines export transparency and authorisation mechanism is to secure deliveries of vaccines to Europeans in line with companies’ contractual obligations.

On 30 September, CLECAT attended the 59th plenary meeting of the Trade Contact Group (TCG), organised by the European Commission’s DG TAXUD. The meeting was dedicated to hearing from TCG members about their key messages for consideration in the context of the ongoing evaluation of the implementation of the UCC and possible future revision.

On 27 September, the CLECAT Customs and Indirect Taxation Institute (CITI) met to discuss relevant ongoing developments in post-Brexit EU-UK trade and transport, ongoing review of the Union Customs Code (UCC) and EU customs policy, and international trade. The CITI meeting held a special Brexit session, with members of the CLECAT Road Institute and guest speakers from the UK HMRC, which focused on practicalities of post-Brexit UK border processes for customs controls.

On 17 September, the German Bundesrat (Federal Council) ratified the e-CMR protocol, thereby enabling its application in Germany. The e-CMR Protocol of 20 February 2008 supplements the 1956 Convention on the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR) and allows the consignment note to be created electronically with legal effect.

On 25 September, the UK government announced several initiatives to tackle the shortage of HGV drivers, which is currently dangerously disrupting supply chains in the United Kingdom, with empty shelves and a shortage of petrol in refuelling stations. The objectives of these measures are to increase the number of new drivers, attract foreign drivers that left the UK following the Brexit as well as former drivers that left the industry.

On 14 October, the 10th edition of the Market Place Seminar, organised by the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Association (FIATA) and the International Union of Railways (UIC), will take place from 11:00 to 14:00 CET. As the event coincides with the European Year of Rail, the event is supported by CLECAT.

On 29 September, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for global air cargo markets in August 2021, showing that demand continued its strong growth trend, whilst pressure on capacity is rising.