The scope of the agreement will remain unchanged, and the updates should facilitate its implementation and ensure compliance by member states.
The European Commission sent a proposal to the Council of Europe to extend the agreement with Ukraine and Moldova on the liberalization of road freight transportation for 2025 and suggested making certain updates to the agreement.
It is noted that the European Commission took into account the lessons learned from the implementation of the current transport agreement between the EU and Ukraine. While the scope of the agreement will remain unchanged, the European Commission is proposing updates to facilitate its implementation and ensure compliance by member states.
In particular, the updates include: establishing the mandatory availability of documents confirming that the transport operator is duly authorized to carry out international transportation and that the transportation is carried out in accordance with the Agreement; make it mandatory to have specific documents certifying that the crossing of the border by an empty vehicle is directly related to a transit or bilateral operation, as required by the Agreement; strengthen compliance by road freight transport operators with obligations regarding operations permitted by the Agreement, fight fraud or forgery of driver's documents, as well as offenses related to road traffic safety - such offenses can lead to license revocation add a new guarantee clause - in case, if a serious breach of the agreement occurs in the national road transport market in a certain geographic area, the agreement may be terminated in that geographic area.
In view of the new proposals, the Council of Europe should give the European Commission a mandate to conduct negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. Once the mandate is received, the European Commission will begin formal negotiations to finalize the agreement.