The Advocates General of the CJEU assist the Court in its decision-making process by giving their impartial and independent opinion on the cases brought before it. The CJEU’s Chamber of Judges is still to decide when to give its final ruling on the legality of the Mobility Package, but it is expected to arrive this year or in the first half of next year.
“We have consistently taken the position that the Mobility Package, as it currently stands, is inconsistent with the EU’s ambitious Green Deal objectives and the principles of the internal market. We therefore welcome the Advocate General’s opinion and hope that this discriminatory provision for hauliers will be removed immediately. We have been arguing for this and have been taking all possible steps for quite some time now. I thank the Ministry of Justice and Lithuanian hauliers for their joint efforts and focus”, said Minister of Transport and Communications M. Skuodis.
To ensure that the EU road transport sector becomes more efficient and less polluting, and that Lithuanian hauliers are not discriminated against or subjected to unequal competition due to unjustified and disproportionate requirements that give an advantage to hauliers from other countries in the EU’s single market, Lithuania has brought actions before the CJEU, together with Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Malta.
The main provision challenged is that transport and logistics companies must organise their operations in such a way as to ensure that the vehicles used for international freight transport in their possession are returned to their country of establishment at least every eight weeks.
According to a European Commission assessment, the requirement to return trucks would lead to a 1.3% to 4.9% increase in CO2 emissions from EU’s road transport, while the additional damage to the health of EU citizens caused by increased air pollution (heavy particulates) could amount to up to €25.9 million a year.
The International Transport and Logistics Alliance estimates that the return of trucks adds more than €620 million to the annual costs of the Lithuanian transport sector.
