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EU | Brussels

IRU welcomes progress on revised EU rules for combined transport

11 Jul 2018

The European Parliament Transport and Tourism Committee (TRAN) has taken positive steps towards updating combined transport rules to optimise the efficiency of the EU’s multimodal freight network.

IRU welcomes TRAN’s efforts to advance the European Commission's proposal to modernise the Combined Transport Directive, which dates back to 1992. 

The report prepared by the European Parliament brings further improvements to the Commission proposal, such as the introduction of additional incentives for road transport activities contained within combined transport operations.
 
Marc Billiet who leads IRU's EU freight activities commented, "Modern combined transport operations need a new framework for the 21st century and TRAN has made headway in updating the current legislation in the interests of all transport modes. Combined transport should not be used to avoid road freight rules. IRU welcomes the European Parliament’s report recognising and addressing this challenge."
 
Cooperation between the different modes should be encouraged to optimise the efficiency of the EU multimodal freight network, rather than forcing freight off roads and transferring it to other modes of transport. Road is complementary to all other modes. 
 
IRU looks forward to seeing similar progress in the Council during the future negotiations with the Parliament and the Commission and hopes that the new regulations will be implemented as soon as possible.