News

CLECAT ROAD INSTITUTE DISCUSSES FIT FOR 55 PROPOSALS

CLECAT’s Road Logistics Institute met for the second time this month to discuss the Fit for 55 proposals on an ETS for road transport and the revision of the alternative infrastructure rules (AFIR). The European Commission aims to cut road transport emissions by 90 percent by mid-century — key to its effort to become climate neutral by 2050. But getting there means a huge increase in the number of charging points for electric vehicles, as well as developing alternatives like hydrogen.

TRANSPORT MINISTERS DISCUSS AFIR PROPOSAL

Transport ministers of the EU gathered on 23 September at an informal meeting in Slovenia to discuss the key aspects the proposal for a regulation on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure (AFIR), part of the Fit for 55 Package. Ministers agreed on the need for sufficiently ambitious and coordinated infrastructure planning in the Member States, adapted to the increased 2030 climate ambition targets.

CLECAT SPEAKS AT PORTO MARITIME WEEK

CLECAT’s Director General Nicolette van der Jagt spoke earlier this week at the Porto Maritime Week in a panel with ECSA, FEPORT, ESC and ECASBA on the disruptions in the maritime supply chain. Noting that the overall image of container maritime supply chain is at its lowest level ever, with soaring freight rates, ongoing congestion and a huge disparity between services received and prices paid, it is in the interest of all stakeholders to ensure that the maritime supply chain becomes once again more attractive by assuring more reliable, predictable and faster services.

DREWRY WORLD CONTAINER INDEX

Ocean freight rates remained steady after 22 consecutive weeks of increases, albeit at a very high level. According to analyst Drewry, the latest release of its World Container Index (WCI) shows that freight rates remained stable this week, at $10,377.19 per forty-foot container, but is 299% higher than the same week in 2020 ($6,888 per feu).

SCHIPHOL TESTING GROUND FOR 17 SUSTAINABILITY PROJECTS

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) will become the testing ground for seventeen sustainability projects resulting from TULIPS, a consortium of 29 European parties aimed at speeding up the rollout of sustainable technologies in aviation. The European Commission has awarded a grant of €25 million to the project led by Royal Schiphol Group as part of the 'Green Deal'. The projects will start in January 2022 and last until December 2025.

AIR CARGO VOLUMES AND YIELDS ON ROBUST UPWARD TREND

According to recent figures published by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in the cargo chartbook for Q3 2021, industry-wide cargo tonne-kilometres (CTKs) rose by 24.9% in the three months ending in July 2021 compared to the same period in 2019. The upward trend in air cargo volumes continued in the past three months, but seasonally adjusted numbers show the growth has slowed compared to early 2021.

RAIL MODAL SHARE THROUGH THE ALPS HIGHEST IN 25 YEARS

According to a recently published report on transalpine freight transport in H1 2021 by the Swiss Federal Office for Transport (FOT), the share of rail in Transalpine freight traffic has increased to a record high following the opening of the Ceneri base tunnel and the 4-meter corridor. In the first half of 2021, it accounted for 74.4% of the volumes through the Alps, the highest value for a quarter of a century. In total, 15.2% more goods were transported through the Alps than in the first half of 2020 and also more than in the first half of 2019.

FRANCE TO HALVE TRACK ACCESS CHARGES

Last week, the French government announced that it will invest €170 million per year until 2024 in the rail freight industry, in view of doubling rail freight transport by 2030. Among other measures, half of the track access charges will be subsidised, meaning that the current 50% reduction will continue to exist beyond 2021. Next to that, €70 million will be invested into isolated wagons, €47 million into the operation of combined transport services, and another €15 million into railway “motorways”.

EUROPEAN DRIVERS’ CRISIS SET TO DEEPEN NEXT YEAR

The Financial Times reported on 21 September that the crisis affecting European road haulage market is set to deepen next year as wages rise and driver shortages worsen. According to Luis Gomez, president of Europe at XPO Logistics, shortages could disrupt Christmas this year and new EU regulations would put further strains on retailers and producers next year.

€7 BILLION CALL FOR KEY TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS

A call for proposals launched by the European Commission and CINEA on 16 September under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) makes €7 billion available for projects targeting new, upgraded and improved European transport infrastructure. The objective of this call is to provide funding in order to build a more efficient and interconnected multimodal transport system in the EU.

COMMISSION PROPOSES NEW EU GSP SCHEME

On 22 September, the European Commission adopted the legislative proposal for the new EU's Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) for the period 2024-2034. The Commission is proposing to improve some of the key features of the scheme to better respond to the evolving needs and challenges of GSP countries as well as reinforce the scheme's social, labour environmental and climate dimension.

STATE OF PLAY OF EU TRADE POLICY

On 23 September, the European Commission's Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis met with EU civil society to present latest developments in EU’s external trade policy, with a particular focus on trade and sustainability, WTO reform, bilateral relations and enforcement.

WISE PERSONS GROUP TO REFLECT ON FUTURE CUSTOMS UNION

On 17 September, the European Commission announced that it has created a new ‘Wise Persons Group on Challenges facing the Customs Union’, tasked with identifying innovative solutions for the most pressing challenges of the EU Customs Union.

EU AND CANADA CELEBRATE FOURTH ANNIVERSARY OF CETA

The 21st of September marked the fourth anniversary of the provisional implementation of the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). The Commission reports that since CETA entered into force, total trade flows between the EU and Canada witnessed an increase of 15.3% for goods despite the pandemic. Similarly, trade in agricultural goods increased by 34.7%.

CLECAT Meetings

CLECAT Customs and Indirect Taxation Institute
27 September 2021, Online

CLECAT Maritime Logistics Institute
28 September 2021, Online

CLECAT Road Logistics Institute
23 September 2021, Online 

CLECAT Supply Chain Security Institute
22 November 2021, Online

CLECAT Board/GA
25 November 2021, Brussels

CLECAT Freight Forwarders Forum
25 November 2021, Brussels

CLECAT Air Logistics Institute
26 November 2021, Brussels

Events with CLECAT participation

Connecting Europe Express Conference on Rail Freight
5 October 2021, Luxembourg/Online           

Market Place Seminar - Multimodality in the year of Rail
14 October 2021, Online 

GreenPort Congress 2021
21 October 2021, Place tbc

EU Meetings

Council of the European Union

Environment Council
6 October 2021, Luxembourg

European Parliament

European Parliament Transport Committee
27 September 2021, Brussels

European Parliament Plenary
4-7 October 2021, Strasbourg