All news & events

The Dutch government is significantly scaling back the original plans to reduce noise pollution around Schiphol Airport. Instead of the proposed 12% reduction in flight movements from 500,000 to 440,000, the government will now aim for a decrease to between 475,000 and 485,000 flights. This represents a reduction of only 3% to 5%.

As of 1 September 2024, Finland has increased its standard Value Added Tax (VAT) rate to 25.5%, positioning the country as having the second-highest VAT rate in the European Union, just behind Hungary's 27%.

Construction has officially begun on a new border control post in Holyhead, North Wales, which will facilitate post-Brexit checks on goods arriving from the Republic of Ireland. Scheduled to become operational in 2025, this facility represents a next step in the UK's post-Brexit strategy, four years after its official departure from the European Union.

On 28 August, Hungary became the third country to adopt the e-CMR protocol this summer, following Italy and Austria. Hungary being the 38th country to join e-CMR, the electronic waybill is now available in almost all of Europe.

In the framework of the evaluation of the new road freight social rules stemming from the Mobility Package I, DG MOVE commissioned Transport & Mobility Leuven and the University of Antwerp to draw up a study on the implementation of the First Mobility Package and the current status of the European Road Haulage Market, which was last updated in 2015.

On 4 September, the European Parliament’s Transport and Tourism Committee (TRAN) held its first meeting after the summer recess. During this session, MEPs engaged in an exchange of views with Ms Maja Markovčić Kostelac, Executive Director of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), and Mr Josef Doppelbauer, Executive Director of the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA).

As of the end of August both the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Transport Canada have implemented stricter air cargo security measures, affecting Europe- and CIS-based shippers. These sudden regulatory shifts have raised significant concerns with freight forwarders prompting a strong response from CLECAT.

On July 15th and 26th, 2024, the European Commission made progress in the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2020/1056 on electronic freight transport information (eFTI) by adopting two delegated acts. These acts are essential to enhancing the regulatory framework governing electronic information exchange in freight transport across the European Union, facilitating smoother compliance processes for economic operators and ensuring better coordination with national authorities.