On 18 May 2017, the European Parliament approved the Resolution on Road Transport in the European Union. The Parliament called on the Commission to address some issues concerning the road transport sector, including the improvement of competitiveness and innovation, the facilitation of cross-border mobility, the improvement of social conditions and safety rules, and the promotion of low-emission transport. This resolution aims at identifying and addressing the challenges that the sector is facing.

Road transport is a driving force of the EU’s economy considering that it accounts for 5 million direct jobs and contributes close to 2 % of the EU’s GDP, with 344.000 road passenger transport companies and over 560.000 road freight transport companies. Road transport remains a frontrunner also in generating further economic growth and job creation and in promoting competitiveness and territorial cohesion. It should therefore continue to develop and renew itself in a sustainable and ecological manner.

The European Parliament considers that the road initiatives should foster technological development of vehicles, promote alternative fuels, increase interoperability of transport systems and modes and ensure access to the market for transport SMEs. With regard to cross-border mobility, it urges the Member States to cooperate more closely with the Euro Contrôle Route and the European Traffic Police Network (TISPOL), to step up checks to guarantee compliance with driving and rest times and cabotage rules, and to use effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions. It is also concerned about the lack of enforcement by national authorities in relation to fraud with regard to tachographs and calls therefore on the Commission to address these problems.

In drawing up road initiatives, the European Parliament calls on the Commission to take into account the 2011 White Paper on transport and the 2016 Resolution on social dumping, to further harmonise existing rules for mandatory safety equipment in light and heavy duty vehicles, and to propose a revision of the European Electronic Toll Service (EETS) Directive.

In the area of safety rules and low emission road transport, the Commission and Member States are urged to clarify the rules on cabotage, to adopt an EU-wide target for reducing serious road injuries, to encourage the decarbonisation of the transport sector and to improve air quality by promoting the use of smaller and lighter vehicles, passenger car-sharing and car-pooling, as well as migrating from four to two wheels vehicles.

Davide Scavuzzo