Brisken: We must not allow small businesses to be unnecessarily burdened with red tape

Minister of Transport Kaspars Briškens (P) welcomes the proposal to cancel the rule, which provides for the return of trucks to the country of registration every eight weeks, the minister admitted to the LETA agency.

The currently valid rule artificially increases the number of empty trips and contradicts the climate policy of the European Union (EU), commenting on the proposal expressed by the Advocate General of the EU Court of Justice to cancel the rule in the EU mobility package, which provides for the return of trucks to the country of registration every eight weeks, Brišken stated.

He added that a truly free market for goods and services is a fundamental value of the EU. “We must not allow small and medium-sized enterprises to be unnecessarily burdened with bureaucracy.”

In the opinion of the Ministry of Transport (MoT), the eight-week rule for trucks should be canceled, as it currently contradicts the principle of proportionality, the representatives of the MoT noted, adding that the accepted final compromise creates a negative precedent and may include conditions that are not aimed at the development of the industry, but at individual limiting the activity of regional carriers.

“Such a provision, in our opinion, also contradicts the European Commission’s strategy of reducing transport emissions by 90% by 2050,” adds the MoU.

At the same time, the Memorandum of Understanding states that in order to stand up for common basic market values ​​and achieve the set green goals, in 2021, by approving the articles of incorporation in the Cabinet of Ministers, Latvia decided to participate in the court proceedings in the EU Court regarding the so-called Mobility Package regulation, which stipulates the conditions for operation in international road transport on the market, which also included the condition of returning the vehicle to the Member State of registration.

LETA already wrote that from February 21 of last year, the EU Mobility Package provides that the cargo carrier must ensure that the vehicles at the company’s disposal, which are used in international transportation, are returned to the company’s country of registration within at least eight weeks after departure from it.