Goods vehicles hired without drivers

EU rules on the use of goods vehicles hired without drivers have been in operation for over 25 years without change and need to be reviewed to correspond to current and future needs in the transport sector. Therefore, as part of the 2017 road transport mobility package, the European Commission proposed to soften the existing restrictions on using hired vehicles in international transport and establish a uniform regulatory framework, which would give transport operators across the EU equal access to the market for hired goods vehicles.

While such steps were mostly in line with stakeholders' interests, both the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament were also considering the perspective of Member States, in particular the possible erosion of their tax revenues from vehicle registration and the practical issues related to how the new rules could be efficiently enforced.

The Council, concerned with the possible erosion of tax revenues from vehicle registration and enforcement issues, could not endorse a general approach under a proposal made by the Bulgarian Presidency in the spring of 2018. The European Parliament’s Committee on Transport and Tourism voted its report, but the mandate to start trilogues was due to be voted during the June 2018 plenary

Next stage: First-reading vote in plenary, June 2018

Author: Marketa Pape