“The Mobility Package, as it stands today, is in no way compatible with the EU’s ambitious goals for the green course and the principles of the internal market. A study carried out by the Commission has shown that the mandatory journey of a truck to the country of registration every eight weeks will contribute to an additional 3 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually. This is the same amount of CO2 emitted per year throughout Estonia. It is important to take immediate action to repeal the above-mentioned provision of the Package, which also discriminates against Lithuanian carriers,” said Maskaliovienė, Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications.
The EC, which is proposing to repeal the provision in the Mobility Package on the return of trucks, has not yet submitted its proposal for negotiations. According to the Deputy Minister, the solutions discussed with the European Commission, EU Member States and other stakeholders should be finalised by February 2022 at the latest, when the provisions of the Mobility Package obliging the return of trucks to the country of registration will enter into force.
During the Council meeting, the Deputy Minister noted that both carriers and other parties already have a number of additional questions, such as how the provisions of the Package will be transposed into the national law of the Member States. Without equal interpretation, there is a risk of creating different legal regimes in different EU countries, which would lead to additional administrative burdens for carriers and uncertainty in operating abroad. The Commission is expected to issue recommendations and clarifications on these issues in the near future.
In order to ensure that Lithuanian carriers do not experience discrimination and unequal conditions of competition in the EU single market, Lithuania has filed lawsuits with the EU Court of Justice (ECJ). In March of this year, Lithuania also joined the cases of the other six countries in the ECJ.
In addition to Lithuania, eight other countries opposed the new rules: Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Malta.
