All news & events

On 10 March, Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking published its Call for Proposals 2022-1, under which projects worth €390 million, against €234 million funding, are expected to be funded. The application period is now open and submissions will be accepted until 23 June 2022.

On 3 March, the European Commission approved, under EU State aid rules, aid schemes for Italy and the Czech Republic, in support of intermodal freight. In Italy, the focus lies in incentivising companies to use more rail, whilst in the Czech Republic, the aid focuses on constructing and upgrading combined transport terminals.

On 9 March, CLECAT spoke at the REIF Project (INTERREG Central Europe action for the increase of the modal share of rail freight transport) Transfer Conference, which aimed at setting the wider international scenario on the situation of Combined Transport in Europe, with specific focus on rail.

On 7 March, the European Commission opened the public consultation on the revision of the Combined Transport Directive, which will remain open until 5 May. The public consultation will contribute to the Commission’s work on the impact assessment for the revision of Combined Transport Directive, which aims at gathering stakeholders’ views on the barriers to the intermodal/multimodal transport and how its uptake could be improved.

MEPs Tom Berendsen and Annie Schreijer-Pierik (EPP, the Netherlands) issued a new set of questions to the Commission on the extremely high container prices and the impact on consumer prices. The MEPs note that the sharply rising container prices have had a knock-on effect on consumer prices, referring to recent Eurostat figures in the Eurozone.

n 3 March, the French Truck Etape Béziers parking facility was voted European Truck Parking of the Year 2022 by ESPORG’s international jury, composed of representatives of leading road transport stakeholders and governmental and non-governmental institutions and bodies, including CLECAT. Next to the excellent security standard offered, the jury commended in particular the completeness and excellence of the winner’s service offer to drivers and attention to the smallest details, including environment, health, recreation, affordability, and indeed individual care to every single driver.

In view of the Russian Federation’s unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine, the European Union imposed an unprecedented number of sanctions against the Russian Federation, in addition to the Russian embargos in place since 2014.

The EP’s Transport and Tourism Committee adopted on 3 March a recommendation for second reading on revised rules for the use of hired vehicles for goods transport, by 40 votes in favour, 4 against and 4 abstentions. The TRAN Committee therefore approved the Council position at first reading and calls on the EP Plenary to formally adopt the revised Directive.