site.btaTransport Ministry: EU Legislation Must Allow Trucks to Adapt to Environmental Sustainability Targets

EU legislation must allow the adaptation of heavy goods road vehicles to environmental sustainability targets, the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport and Communications said. The Ministry commented on Friday’s EU Court of Justice ruling on cases of challenging some Mobility Package provisions.

The cases were initiated on October 23, 2020, by Bulgaria, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Malta and Cyprus, with Estonia and Latvia joining as assisting countries.

The repeal of the stipulation for international trucks to return to a carrier's operational centre every eight weeks is a step in the right direction that will reduce the number of idle journeys and the level of CO2 emissions, the Ministry said.

Bulgaria and like-minded countries have repeatedly defended the position that the return of the vehicles leads to an increase in the number of idle journeys and an unjustified increase in harmful emissions, which is contrary to the goals set in the Green Deal, the Transport Ministry said.

A KPMG study showed that the mandatory return of trucks would lead to a 0.8% increase in CO2 emissions from the Bulgarian fleet alone, and daily traffic at the borders would double, putting border crossing time at an average of 33 hours per truck.