News

EC SETS OUT ITS PRIORITIES FOR THE FIRST HALF OF 2023

The European Commission recently adopted a tentative agenda for the first six months of 2023, setting out the initiatives that will be adopted by the College of Commissioners. The document notes that the package for greening transport should be presented and adopted on 21 June 2023.

JOINT LETTER ON THE REVISION OF THE WEIGHTS & DIMENSIONS DIRECTIVE

On 17 January, CLECAT together with the European Express Association (EEA), the European Shippers’ Council (ESC) and the European Transport Board (ETB) send a joint letter to EC Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans and Commissioner Adina Valean on the revision of the Weights and Dimensions Directive (96/53/EC).

UK COMPETITION AUTHORITY LAUNCHES CONSULTATION ON CBER

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched on 19 January a public consultation on its proposed recommendation to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy regarding the retained Liner Shipping Consortia Block Exemption Regulation.

STRONGER MEASURES TO HALT FLOW OF DRUGS INTO PORTS

At a press conference earlier this month Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Vincent Van Peteghem, together with Dutch State Secretary for Allocations and Customs Aukje de Vries gave details on the cocaine seizures at Antwerp and the Dutch port of Rotterdam, which combined came to 160 tons in 2022.

CARRIERS BLANK SAILINGS AHEAD OF CHINESE NEW YEAR

With the Chinese New Year (CNY) celebrations to start this weekend, 2M partners MSC and Maersk have this week blanked a further six transpacific voyages – following those they announced on 12 January – through to the cancelled sailing of the MSC Barbara from Shanghai on 12 February.

INFLATION AND RECESSION MAIN SUPPLY CHAIN FEARS FOR 2023

Container logistics platform Container xChange released its Container LogTech 2023 predictions report, which surveyed leaders’ hopes and fears for the coming year through a survey, polls, and interviews.

AIR CARGO DEMAND SOFTENS

On 9 January, IATA released data for November 2022 global air cargo market, which showed that demand has softened. According to the published figures, global demand fell 13.7% (measured in cargo tonne-kilometres) compared to November 2021 (-14.2% for international operations).

GREECE-BULGARIA FREIGHT CORRIDOR TO SHIFT CARGO TO RAIL

The much discussed Sea2Sea project, which aims to develop a railway corridor connecting the Greek ports of Thessaloniki, Kavala and Alexandroupolis to the Bulgarian Black Sea ports of Varna and Burgas, is now making steps towards implementation.

UKRAINIAN RAILWAYS TRANSPORTED OVER 150 MILLION TONNES OF CARGO IN 2022

Ukrainian Railways transported more than 150 million tons of cargo last year, a drop of 52,1 per cent compared to 2021. Despite the considerable decrease the company considers the results positive, highlighting that grain transport volumes have remained relatively high.

PROGRESS ON THE NORTHERN IRELAND PROTOCOL

On January 9, European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič met with UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, along with NI Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris in London to discuss the progress made in addressing the issues raised by Northern Ireland's companies and communities.

ZEFES PROJECT KICKS OFF IN BRUSSELS

On 19 January, CLECAT attended the kick-off meeting of the ZEFES (Zero Emission flexible vehicle platforms with modular powertrains serving the long-haul Freight Eco System) project, at the VUB in Brussels. The project started on 1st January and is expected to end around mid-2026.

UK GOVERNMENT LAUNCHES NEW FUND SUPPORTING GREENER FREIGHT SOLUTIONS

On 9 January, the UK Department for Transport launched the freight innovation fund (FIF), worth £7 million, which will go up to 36 SMEs over 3 years, with the aim to help them roll out new technology and ways of working to unlock potentially huge efficiencies and emissions reductions across the sector.

CLECAT Meetings

ITF Annual Consultation Day with International Organisation
23-24 January 2022, Paris

CLECAT Road Logistics Institute
8 February, Online

Smart Maritime Network Rotterdam
15 February, Rotterdam

21st Intermediary Task Force (ITF) meeting
28 February, Rotterdam

ESPORG Conference on SSTPA
1 March, Brussels

CLECAT Air Freight Institute
14 March 2023, Online

CLECAT Supply Chain Security Institute
14 March 2023, Online

CLECAT session: High-Capacity Transport in support of sustainable road freight
9 May, Munich

EU Meetings

European Parliament

European Parliament Plenary
26 January 2023, Brussels

European Parliament Environment Committee
23-24 January 2023, Brussels

European Parliament Transport Committee
30-31 January 2023, Brussels

Council of the EU

Informal meeting of transport ministers
27-28 February, Stockholm (Sweden)

Environment Council
16 March, Brussels