ECJ ANNULS THE RETURN OF THE VEHICLE PROVISION
The Court of Justice of the European Union published today its judgment in the case brought by seven Member States (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Hungary, Lithuania, Malta, Poland and Romania) challenging some provisions of the Mobility Package I adopted in 2020. While the court confirms most of the provisions of this legislation package, it annulled the obligation requiring vehicles to return on the Member state of establishment every eight weeks.
In line with the opinion of its Advocate General, published in November 2023, the Court ruled that the Parliament and Council had not demonstrated that they possessed sufficient information when the vehicle return provision was adopted. Since the co-legislators could not adequately assess the proportionality of the measure, the Court deemed it a violation of the principle of proportionality and, consequently, annulled the provision.
CLECAT welcomes the Court’s judgment, having repeatedly warned the Parliament and Council during the legislative process about the unintended consequences of certain provisions in Mobility Package I, including the vehicle return rule. A 2021 Ricardo study, commissioned after the Package’s adoption, revealed that in the most likely scenario, this provision could lead to additional journeys, potentially resulting in up to 2.9 million tonnes of additional CO2 emissions in 2023—an increase of 4.6% in international road freight emissions.
Source: CJEU