Newsletters

During the ENVI hearing in Strasbourg on 3 October, to approve Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič’s new role in leading the Commission’s work on the European Green Deal, Mr Šefčovič confirmed that adoption of the revision of the Combined Transport Directive would be published in November 2023. He confirmed that the proposal is of key for the overall coherence of the Greening Freight Package and its objective of maximising the operational efficiency of freight transport. 

In accordance with the Commission's European Green Deal, the Commission will present a new proposal to turn the Directive into an effective tool to support multimodal freight operation involving rail and waterborne transport, including short-sea shipping. The revision of the Directive will notably interplay with the Naiades III Communication as well as planned revisions of the TEN-T Guidelines, the Rail Freight Corridors Regulation, the Weights and Dimensions Directive and the Railways State Aid Guidelines.

CLECAT is looking forward to a sound proposal since diverging interpretations of legal provisions amongst Member States has led to a patchwork of national regulations on combined transport operations, hindering the smooth functioning of the Single Market, distorting the level playing field and imposing additional burdens on companies operating in the EU. The revision of the Combined Transport Directive gives a unique opportunity to address these malfunctions by changing the legal instrument, from a Directive to a clear, direct binding nature of a Regulation to further support harmonisation amongst Member States throughout the European Union.