The Weights and Dimensions Directive (WDD), part of the Greening Freight Transport Package (GFTP), has been approved by the EU Parliament’s Transport and Tourism Committee on Wednesday, 14 February. The Committee voted in favour of the legislative proposal by 26 votes to 11 and one abstention. Unfortunately, the green light came without considering remarks made by several rail freight parties on the issues that the WDD could create for intermodal transport.
The legislative proposal will be voted on again by MEPs in the EU Parliament between 6 and 9 June after the European elections. Since the TRANS Committee has approved it, it is unlikely that the Parliament will reject it.
The Transport and Tourism Committee decided to stick to the plan of “incentivising the use of greener trucks” by endorsing the increase of the maximum weight and length of zero-emission trucks. The weight increase will correspond to four tonnes as initially proposed.
Also read: Who stands to benefit from the Weights and Dimensions Directive?
In addition, the Committee adopted some recommendations on using mega trucks that exceed EU length and weight limits. Voting MEPs decided that mega trucks will still be allowed to circulate in EU countries under certain conditions. They have also proposed a series of measures to safeguard the extended use of mega trucks, which include the creation of an EU label regarding the length of such vehicles and setting up a web portal “with information about the applicable weight and length limits in each EU country and roads designated for mega trucks”.
Moreover, the Committee allowed interested countries to build new roads to facilitate the circulation of mega trucks, given that a proper assessment of “safety, infrastructure, modal cooperation and the environmental impact” takes place before project implementation.
Also read: EU sets frail foundations for intermodal transport’s future
Uncoupling from Combined Transport Directive
As mentioned above, the problematic part of WDD’s approval concerns the neglect of remarks made by the rail sector to optimise it and make it suitable for intermodal transport. One major missing element in this sense, also highlighted by the industry association CER, is the parallel consideration of WDD with the Combined Transport Directive (CTD). Despite the rail industry urging the EU to consider the parallel revision of these two directives, it appears this will not be the case.
This is a critical development for the intermodal and combined transport sector since the conditions created by the WDD revision might end up being incompatible with conditions created by the CTD revision. In practice, this would mean that compatibility between different modes of transport in intermodal and combined transport services could be largely undermined.
Also read: ‘All modes need to be equally efficient,’ says EC’s transport officer
Basic requirements not met
CTD aside, however, the WDD legislative proposal, in the form the TRANS Committee has approved it, seems to fail to meet even the basic requirements set by the rail industry. According to CER, MEPs did not understand the rail industry’s message that “increasing the size and weight of vehicles will hinder intermodal operations, deliver a far inferior performance in terms of energy efficiency and emissions, and induce reverse modal shift from rail to road”.
Specifically, CER underlined two main missing points from the WDD revision proposal: the first concerns the decision not to define a clear deadline for phasing out the use of internal combustion-powered vehicles and the incentivisation to use 44-tonne combustion vehicles in cross-border operations. The second concerns the incorrect idea that “bigger and heavier containers running on intermodal operations would be of added value,” according to CER. In the association’s opinion, such an approach will only create compatibility issues in intermodal operations and hinder the growth of this business segment, at least rail-wise.
Ultimately, the TRANS Committee did not set the right priorities, as the German rail freight association Allianz pro-Schiene demanded two days ago. Longer and heavier trucks will be allowed on European roads and cross-border operations, probably at the expense of rail, as Alberto Mazzola, CER’s executive director, stressed.
Also read: EU cities urge Commission to make the right legislative decisions for rail
