CLECAT ADOPTS POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE EU'S NEXT FIVE-YEAR MANDATE
On 19 June CLECAT held its General Assembly meeting in Brussels and formally adopted its policy recommendations for the EU's next five-year mandate. The policy recommendations serve as an invitation for discussion and dialogue with the European Commission, new policy makers in the European Parliament and other decision makers in Brussels.
In conjunction with its General Assembly, CLECAT held this week various Institutes meetings. Among other topics, members took stock of the results of the European elections and its implications for freight transport policies.
COUNCIL POSITION ON RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE CAPACITY REGULATION WILL NOT IMPROVE RAIL FREIGHT SERVICES
On 19 June, CLECAT, ERFA, ESC, UIP, and UIRR issued a joint statement following the disappointing Council's General Approach (GA) on the Rail Capacity Regulation. While the European Commission's proposal aimed to optimise railway capacity and improve cross-border coordination, the GA falls short in addressing these goals.
TRANSPORT MINISTERS DISCUSS ISSUES WITH ETS MARITIME
During this week's Transport Council meeting, Ministers discussed the implications of extending the Emissions Trading System (ETS) to maritime transport.
EC INVITES COMMENTS ON DRAFT REVISED STATE AID RULES FOR LAND AND MULTIMODAL TRANSPORT
The European Commission has launched a public consultation inviting all interested parties to comment on its draft rules for land and multimodal transport replacing the Guidelines on State aid for railway undertakings (‘Railway Guidelines') as well as on its new Transport Block-Exemption Regulation (‘TBER').
CLECAT PARTICIPATES IN 66TH PLENARY SESSION OF TRADE CONTACT GROUP
CLECAT participated in the 66th Plenary Session of the Trade Contact Group (TCG), held in Brussels on 20th June. CLECAT was represented by Dimitri Serafimoff and Olivier Thouard, Chair and Vice-Chair of CLECAT’s Customs and Indirect Taxation Institute (CITI).
COMMISSION EXAMINES THE NEED TO INTRODUCE MEASURES ON CHINESE ELECTRIC CAR IMPORTS
As part of its ongoing investigation, the EU Commission has provisionally concluded that China's battery electric vehicle (BEV) value chain benefits from unfair subsidisation, posing a threat of economic injury to EU BEV producers. This investigation also examined the potential impact of measures on importers, users, and consumers of BEVs in the EU.
EXTENSION OF THE EU-UKRAINE ROAD TRANSPORT AGREEMENT
On 20 June, the EU and Ukraine agreed to extend and update their road transport agreement, which grants bilateral transport rights to Ukrainian and EU hauliers in each other’s territories. The agreement, which also aims at facilitating Ukraine's access to global markets via EU countries, will remain in effect until 30 June 2025.
The first of June 2024 marked the launch of the CLEVER (Creating Legitimate Emission Factors for Verified GHG Emission Reductions in Transport) project with its kick-off meeting held in Valencia. Eleven partners will take part in the three-year project, including the Smart Freight Centre which will provide technical guidance.