Newsletters

On 14 November, the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union issued an opinion on the “return of the vehicle” provision which was challenged by several Member States along with other provisions of the Mobility Package I adopted in 2020.

This provision mandates trucks to return to their Member State of establishment every eight weeks. In October 2020, seven Member States (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Hungary, Lithuania, Malta, Poland and Romania) challenged this provision, arguing that it would have a negative impact both on the environment and on the operation of the transport industry and, indirectly, on the economy as a whole.

The Advocate General acknowledged that the “return of the vehicle” provision had not been sufficiently justified by the European Parliament and the Council and had not taken into account the environmental impact of increased emissions and fuel consumption resulting from the obligation to return vehicles every eight weeks. The Advocate General therefore concludes that this provision should be annulled because it infringes the obligation under Article 91(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which requires the Union to take account of the environmental protection requirements and the specific characteristics of transport in each Member State when adopting transport rules.

CLECAT welcomes the Advocate General’s conclusions, after repeatedly warned the Parliament and Council during the legislative process about the unintended consequences of some of the provisions of the Mobility Package I, including the rule on the return of the vehicles. The 2021 Ricardo study showed that in the scenario most likely to occur, this provision is likely to create additional journeys, potentially resulting in up to 2.9 million tonnes of additional CO2 emissions in 2023 (a 4.6% increase in international road freight emissions).

The final ruling of the CJEU is expected early 2024.