The French National Assembly, part of the French Parliament, is asking its government to oppose the Weights and Dimensions Directive (WDD) of the Greening Freight Package (GFP). They are also calling for “Member States to retain full control over the parameters for authorising cross-border driving conditions for lorries over 40 tonnes”.
The European Parliament approved the WDD in March. The Directive is now being discussed by the EU Council, but a decision should not be expected before the next EU Parliament’s election this week. If approved, the WDD would allow the circulation of megatrucks, road vehicles that can weigh up to 44 tonnes instead of the current 40.
The resolution of the French Assembly was proposed by various French deputies led by Jean-Marc Zulesi. The main reason behind it, as many WDD opposers already highlighted, is that bigger trucks on European roads would penalise other sectors, namely rail and river transportation, making them less competitive and hindering the EU goals set by the Green Deal.
People say no, institutions say yes
The alternative proposed by the French National Assembly, however, is not to limit trucks to 40 tonnes across the Union, but to have single Member States implement their own decisions. This initiative comes after a national survey on megatrucks led by the Alliance 4F showed the same results as its European counterpart: EU citizens do not want megatrucks on their roads.
The surveys found that people think bigger trucks would bring higher wear-and-tear costs, more dangers. On the other hand, many representatives in European institutions do not seem to share the views which surfaced form these surveys. According to Maria Koidu, responsible for intermodal transport at the European Commission, for example, the GFP should not be a tool to favour one mode over another. However, if the share of rail freight needs to increase across the Old Continent to decongest roads, measures such as the WDD might not be beneficial to the cause.
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