All news & events

The UK Government has decided to allow non-UK operators temporary extra cabotage rights from 28 October until 30 April 2022. The relaxation of the rules were announced in the final report on the results of the public consultation on the temporary extension to road haulage cabotage. The measures are aimed at temporarily alleviating pressures in the UK supply chain associated with the current shortage in HGV drivers.

The IMO’s Intersessional Working Group on reduction of GHG emissions from ships which met last week considered various proposals for mid-term measures to reduce GHG emissions, including a number of submissions related to potential market-based measures. In line with the Work plan on the development of mid- and long-term measures agreed last June by the Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC), the proposals tabled present the main features and implications of these measures as follows

CLECAT’s Freight Forwarders Forum entitled ‘building sustainable and resilient supply chains’ will take place on 25 November in Brussels in a hybrid format. Registration is possible on the CLECAT website.

CLECAT has been accepted to the EU Domestic Advisory Group (DAG), under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). The EU DAG will be advising the European Commission on the implementation of the whole trade agreement and will work in close cooperation with its counterpart on the UK side. Participation in the EU DAG will allow CLECAT and its members to take part in discussions on the progress made in implementing the agreement and provide views or recommendations to DG TRADE regarding issues related to, among others, transport, customs cooperation and trade facilitation.

On 12 October, the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties (LIBE) Committee endorsed its report on the proposal for a Directive on the Resilience of Critical Entities (CER Directive), introducing new rules to better protect essential services including transport, energy and drinking water.

On 14 October, the EU telecommunications ministers held their first in-depth policy debate on the proposed Artificial Intelligence Act (AI-Act), to provide political guidance for further work on this proposal. The discussion, which can be followed here, focused on the Act’s regulatory design and the challenges involved in its effective implementation.

On 18 October, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Commission signed an agreement that will make it possible to combine EU grants and long-term EIB financing for alternative fuels infrastructure projects. The agreement comes under the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility (AFIF) and is part of the European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) transport programme.

Last week, the European Commission proposed new practical arrangements for the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland, that aim to facilitate the movement of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. The measures came in response to the difficulties that people in Northern Ireland have been experiencing because of Brexit.