All news & events

CLECAT and other consortium partners of the LEARN project invite interested parties to join the LEARN International Workshop on 4 and 5 April 2017 in Brussels. The event brings together private sector, government and civil society stakeholders with an interest in reducing the carbon footprint of the global freight and logistics sector.

CLECAT, the European association of freight forwarders, transport and customs-related services, has welcomed today’s vote in the European Parliament to tackle emissions from maritime transport. The position adopted by the Parliament on reform of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) would include shipping emissions in the ETS from 2023 and create a “maritime climate fund” with a share of the proceeds, in the event that the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has not adopted a comparable measure.

Those supporting the proposals of the European Ministers for a ’Road Alliance’, promoting a single road haulage market ensuring social rights and more efficient controls, should know that some of these proposals are counter-productive to the competitiveness of European transport and logistics and would frustrate ambitions to reduce carbon emissions through an efficient transport system. CLECAT calls on governments and policy makers to take a realistic and pragmatic approach at a time when Europe needs to refrain from further protectionism which will ultimately not bring benefits to the European economy and society at large.

Following the publication in July 2016 of the European Commission’s Strategy on Low-Emission Mobility, the European Parliament is drafting an own-initiative report setting out MEPs’ views on the strategy. Ahead of the work in the Parliament’s TRAN and ENVI committees, CLECAT has prepared a briefing for MEPs on issues of importance to logistics, freight forwarding and customs services, which should be taken into account in the Parliament’s report. CLECAT is largely supportive of the Commission’s strategy of CO2 emissions from transport (land, sea and air transport). The Commission takes a realistic approach and CLECAT agrees with the analysis and the challenge: transport and logistics need to continue to provide good mobility and connectivity but with less emissions. CLECAT welcomes the fact that the Commission continues to work on a broad and wide range of relevant issues for reducing emissions.

After the succesful conclusion of our annual Freight Forwarders' Forum, the CLECAT Secretariat has now uploaded the presentations that were given during the event.

30 European transport associations, representing infrastructure managers, operators, local authorities, users and equipment suppliers in the maritime, inland waterways, railways, road, cycling, aviation and intermodal sectors, call on the European Parliament and the Council to approve the initial Commission proposal for the review of the Multi-Annual Financial Framework. Nonetheless, the transport sector warns that this cannot be considered sufficient to complete the Trans-European Network for Transport (TEN-T). The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) is the financial lifeline of the TEN-T network. From a CEF total budget of 31 billion euros (2.8% of the overall MFF), only EUR 2 billion are left to co-fund transport projects of high European added-value until 2020.

CLECAT calls for EU initiatives to make the cabotage regulation easier to enforce and simplified. Creating a Single European Transport Market should remain the aim and therefore we call for a gradual, managed process where liberalisation and harmonisation of the rules are carried out together.

On 7 September 2016, CLECAT is co-organising a High Level Customs Conference with EuroCommerce AMCHAM, EurTradeNet, the European Express Association, the Foreign Trade Association, IATA and the World Shipping Council. This Conference is entitled 'EU Customs - Making A Difference In Modern Trade?' and will take place in Brussels at the World Customs Organisation premises.