On June 3, the Committee on Transport and Tourism voted to extend the EU agreement on road transport with Ukraine until the end of 2025 in order to continue simplifying cargo transportation.
The EU-Ukraine road transport agreement, concluded in June 2022, has proven to be an effective EU response to the disruptions in the transport sector caused by Russia’s unjustified invasion of Ukraine, MEPs agreed. It has helped Ukraine, as well as EU hauliers, to transit through each other’s territories and operate between them without the need for certain permits.
As Russian aggression against Ukraine continues and further disrupts Ukraine’s transport sector, MEPs responsible for transport and tourism have backed an 18-month extension of the EU-Ukraine road transport agreement by 32 votes to six, with two abstentions.
MEPs also backed a proposal to update the agreement to address a number of issues related to its implementation. The new agreement requires drivers to carry documents authorising international transport and to display a sticker on their windscreen confirming that their road transport activities are covered by the agreement. It also introduces a safeguard clause allowing the agreement to be suspended in a specific geographical area if there are significant disruptions to the road transport market there.
Next steps
Now that the agreement has been approved by the Transport and Tourism Committee, it will be put to a vote by the full Parliament at its next plenary session in June. The updated agreement has been provisionally applied since June 2024 and will expire at the end of 2025.
Background
According to the European Commission, the EU-Ukraine road transport agreement has facilitated the transport of vital goods such as fuel and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and has also allowed Ukrainian goods such as grain, ore and steel to be exported to and from the EU. Ukraine’s car exports have increased by around two-thirds, while imports from the EU have increased by around 300,000 tonnes per month.