Europe’s unfinished transport files: Technical detail and sovereignty tensions

Several key transport files await new and returning lawmakers in September.

Some files are deeply technical – see for example the proposed new rules concerning the weight and size of trucks.

More fundamentally, however, these proposed laws all seek to manage the inherent contradiction of a common European travel area, which is still largely governed at a national level.

For some files, like the Single European Sky, this goes to the heart of existential tensions between national and European sovereignty. Perhaps unsurprisingly, these are the files that will face the greatest challenges passing into EU law.

[Donagh Cagney]

Maximum weights and dimensions for trucks

This file aims to increase the maximum weight, length and height for trucks on EU roads. It aims to facilitate the greening of trucks by giving them room to hold large, heavy batteries instead of diesel combustion engines, without reducing the volume of cargo they can carry.

However a provision allowing traditional diesel-powered (and carbon-emitting) trucks to also increase in size until 2035 raised the concerns of environmental activists and green lawmakers.

Lawmakers also expressed reservations about the wear and tear on road infrastructure from heavier trucks and the safety risk posed by larger trucks to passengers, pedestrians and cyclists.

Rail industry actors were concerned that increasing the capacity of trucks would cause a modal shift from rail to road.

The European Parliament has approved its position with broad support.  Discussions in the Council began in July 2023, but its position is still awaited.

While the topic is not considered controversial, right of centre parties and industry may continue to use the file as a means of giving more latitude to larger diesel-powered trucks.

Driving license disqualifications

This file aims to provide an EU-wide framework for driving disqualifications. Drivers who commit certain EU-wide traffic offences in a country that is not their primary residence could still be disqualified from driving.

Such offences include excessive speeding, driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and causing bodily harm or death. The country where the disqualifying offence was committed has one month to notify the home country of the offending driver.

The Parliament adopted its position in first reading in February. While the Council’s position remains to be seen, a compromise on the file seems likely. A related proposal on cross-border information sharing and driving licence harmonisation was recently approved by national governments.

Single European Sky (SES)

The SES aims to improve the management of Europe’s airspace. Currently, inter-EU flights pass through a range of air navigation jurisdictions – known as Functional Airspace Blocs (FABs) – that often result in indirect routes and longer travel time.

Under the Commission proposal, air navigation would be more centrally steered. This would also allow flight distances to be cut, meaning fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

A compromise text was agreed between the Parliament and Council in March, which left more control of airspace at a national level. The airline industry reacted negatively, criticising its lack of ambition and querying whether the new rules would have a material impact.

The compromise text must now be rubberstamped by the Council and the new Parliament. Normally this should be a formality, but there has been a recent trend in the Council where national governments renege at the last moment, and oppose a previously-agreed file.

The Commission will be hoping that consensus on this sensitive topic holds long enough for the file to be approved into law.

 [Edited by Donagh Cagney/Zoran Radosavljevic]

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