Next steps as regards the impact assessment of certain provisions of the Mobility Package

Question for written answer  E-001125/2021
to the Commission
Rule 138
Elżbieta Katarzyna Łukacijewska (PPE)

On 19 February 2021, the Commission published an assessment drafted by independent experts of the anticipated environmental impact of Mobility Package 1. It shows that, thanks to two provisions that were not included in the original version of the regulations, EU carbon dioxide emissions could increase by as much as 3.3 million tonnes per year in the EU.

One of the added provisions requires lorries to return to their operational centres in the Member States where they are based once every eight weeks. The other allows Member States in which transport operations are carried out to limit the number of pickups and returns that foreign hauliers can make when taking consignments from a rail or water link to a final destination as part of a combined transport operation. Forcing lorries to return home could increase CO2 emissions by between 0.8 % and 4.6 %, according to the study. However, the ‘widespread use’ of cabotage restrictions in combined transport could have ‘negative long-term effects on rail and intermodal transport’ and add 397 000 tonnes of CO2. The above provisions are contrary to the objectives of the European Green Deal.

• 1.Why did the Commission fail to respond, for the entire duration of the legislative work on the package, to the arguments raised by myself and MEPs from the Eastern European countries which clearly pointed to such effects?
• 2.What steps does the Commission intend to take to eliminate the problem of increased CO2 emissions?