What changed

B90201/2024

Follow up to the European Parliament non-legislative resolution on handling of heavy goods vehicles at border crossing points

European Parliament resolution on the handling of heavy goods vehicles at border crossing points based on Petition 0146/2023

Resolution tabled pursuant to Rule 227(2) of the European Parliament's Rules of procedure

(2024/2540(RSP))

Reference numbers: 2024/2540 (RSP) / B9-0201/2024 / P9_TA(2024)0223

– having regard to Articles 26, 28-37, 67(1) and (2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU),

Date of adoption of the resolution: 10 April 2024

– having regard to the deliberations on Petition 0146/2023 at the meeting of the Committee on Petitions on 29 November 2023,

Competent Parliamentary Committee: Committee on Petitions (PETI)

– having regard to the public hearing on ‘Schengen Borders - issues raised by petitioners’ held jointly on 18 July 2023 by the Committee on Petitions in association with the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs,

Brief analysis/ assessment of the resolution and requests made in it:

– having regard to the Commission communication of 16 November 2022 entitled ‘Making Schengen stronger with the full participation of Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia in the area without internal border controls’ (COM(2022)0636),

The European Parliament's resolution highlights significant challenges related to the lengthy waiting times for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) at certain road border crossing points within the EU, particularly affecting non-Schengen EU Member States and at the EU's external borders. Parliament's call for measures to ensure efficient border crossings for freight transport and enhanced working conditions for drivers to attract young people to the sector is both timely and necessary, given the critical importance of fair, safe and sustainable safe transport and logistics for the internal market and the trans-European transport network (TEN-T).

– having regard to its resolutions of 18 October 2022 on the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area and of 12 July 2023 on the accession to the Schengen area,

Response to the requests and overview of the action taken, or intended to be taken, by the Commission:

– having regard to the Council’s unanimous decision on 30 December 2023 to welcome Romania and Bulgaria into the Schengen area, starting with the lifting of controls at air and sea borders as of March 2024,

The Commission understands the Parliament’s concern regarding the long queues due to checks and controls at border crossing points. Waiting times for HGVs may have negative effects on the drivers’ health and working conditions, the operation of their business, and road safety. Enhancing the safety, security and working conditions of professional drivers is at the core of the road transport policy and different measures undertaken by the Commission. The smooth functioning of the single European transport area is also at the core of the Commission’s trans-European transport network (TEN-T) policy.

– having regard to its resolution of 25 November 2021 on the safety of truck parking lots in the EU,

Regarding the handling of HGVs at the border crossing points, there are normally no checks and controls between EU Member states at the borders within the Schengen area. As specified in the Parliament’s resolution, Article 22 of the Schengen Borders Code enshrines the principle of the absence of checks and controls at the internal borders between Schengen area countries and Article 24 expressly provides that Member States remove all obstacles to fluid traffic flow through road crossing points on internal borders.

– having regard to its resolution of 9 May 2023 on the new EU urban mobility framework,

The only EU internal borders where HGVs are systematically subject to checks and controls are those between Bulgaria and Romania, and between each of these two Member States and the Schengen area. This will be effectively resolved once the Council decides on the removal of checks at the EU internal borders for Bulgaria and Romania by completing the full accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen area.

– having regard to its resolution of 13 June 2023 on large transport infrastructure projects in the EU – implementation of projects and monitoring and control of EU funds,

The Commission calls on this decision to be speeded up and will continue cooperating with the Belgian Presidency and all the Members of the Council, on the full application of the Schengen acquis in Romania and Bulgaria recognising the benefits of expanded Schengen membership for reducing border delays and enhancing internal market efficiency.

– having regard to the proposal for a regulation on guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network, amending Regulation (EU) 2021/1153 and Regulation (EU) No 913/2010 and repealing Regulation (EU) 1315/2013 (COM(2021)0812),

Regarding the Parliament’s request to carry out an impact assessment on the negative impacts of checks and inspections at road border crossing points, the Commission is aware of the high costs caused by certain internal border controls. In a study published in 2016, the costs of a worst-case scenario where the whole Schengen area is indefinitely suspended were estimated to reach 0.06-0.14 per cent of the EU gross domestic product (GDP). The Commission is currently preparing a study regarding an assessment of the costs of reintroducing internal border controls in the Schengen area. The Commission also plans to launch a study on “identifying the untapped potential of completing key aspects of the single European transport area and of extending it to candidate countries”.

– having regard to Rule 227(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

Regarding the Parliament’s call for the creation of a standard average time of one minute for processing HGVs at intra-EU border crossing points, the Commission does not consider such measure feasible and proportionate. Although the objective of reducing waiting times at the border is commendable, in particular for the wellbeing of the drivers, certain controls must be performed when deemed necessary. Measuring and monitoring the average duration time for the checks and controls of HGVs would be difficult to perform.

A. whereas hundreds of goods vehicles are held up every day at the EU’s internal borders, including the borders between Schengen and non-Schengen EU Member States, where they face extremely long wait times and delays due to processing and checks; whereas the current European legal framework does not specifically address or regulate the maximum time taken to process goods at borders;

The Commission takes note of the Parliament’s call for an EU legislation to allow the use of secondary border crossing points by HGVs in case the main roads are closed for maintenance. Re-directing the passage of HGVs through secondary border crossing points would imply the diversion of the traffic through regional and local roads, possibly crossing urban areas where HGVs could cause some disturbances and road safety risks for the local population. The Commission considers that the Member States are best placed to decide on giving or restricting access for HGVs in certain parts of road infrastructure when it is justified by technical or operational reasons, while ensuring smooth traffic flows and road safety.

B. whereas the reasons for these queues and delays at Member States’ borders can be attributed to multiple administrative, operational, safety, technical or interoperability factors, such as insufficient operational and technical capacity, shortages of staff, control desks or weighbridges for goods vehicles as well as the concentration of many institutional bodies at the borders and time-consuming checks on freight; whereas Article 22 of the Schengen Borders Code enshrines the principle of the absence of checks and controls at the internal borders between Schengen countries, in line with the principle of freedom of movement set out in Article 26(2) TFEU, whereas Article 24 specifically states that Member States are to remove all obstacles to fluid traffic flow through road crossing points on internal borders;

C. whereas the accumulation of EU-registered heavy goods vehicles at borders can have a detrimental impact on drivers’ health and working conditions, road safety and the operation of haulage businesses as well as having a negative impact on competition and the functioning of the EU single market, as well as increasing road hauliers’ costs;

D. whereas Bulgaria and Romania are still waiting for a Council decision on the date for the removal of checks at internal land borders; whereas lifting checks and controls at internal land borders would have a positive impact on the participation of Romania and Bulgaria in the EU single market, dismantling obstacles to mobility, which are causing delays in business activities as a result of disruption to freight delivery schedules;

E. whereas delays to goods vehicles at borders cause losses of hundreds of millions of euros for European businesses, particularly in the logistics, tourism and hospitality sectors; whereas the risks posed by these border crossing constraints became particularly evident during the COVID-19 pandemic; whereas maintaining the status quo considerably weakens the EU’s resilience in the face of other potential public health emergencies;

F. whereas the length of queues of goods vehicles on the EU’s external borders with Western Balkans countries is particularly worrisome;

G. whereas these events severely jeopardise the health and safety of professional drivers, compromising their working conditions and undermining the quality of jobs in the profession, while additionally contributing to the global truck driver shortage; whereas truck drivers across all the EU Member States often suffer from multiple forms of chronic pain, such as lower back pain, knee and shoulder pain; whereas at the same time, the frequent arbitrary requirement to offload and reload freight entails significant additional health risks, often leading to injuries as truck drivers may often not have the physical strength or appropriate equipment to lift the heavy weights involved; whereas employers randomly impose this duty and responsibility on truck drivers, without additional remuneration;

H. whereas the queues of goods vehicles waiting at the borders directly affect the health of European citizens, negatively impacting air quality and causing water and noise pollution, as well as adversely affecting Natura 2000 sites; whereas, for example the Commission communication of 16 May 2023 underlined that 46 000 tonnes of CO2 are emitted annually due to the persistence of internal border controls for Romania and Bulgaria;

I. whereas goods vehicle congestion also degrades the quality of existing infrastructure, while hindering road safety and increasing the risk of road accidents;

J. whereas increased public and private financing of safe and secure truck parking areas is needed to allow drivers to take their breaks in total safety; whereas reinforcing security tools, for instance by developing dedicated mobile applications, would reduce the risk of truck drivers becoming victims of crime;

1. Calls for Parliament, the Council and the Commission to focus on specific measures to ensure smooth and efficient border crossings for freight transport when developing key EU policies such as the trans-European transport network;

2. Calls on the Commission, following an impact assessment on the topics described in this motion for a resolution, to propose immediate and binding legislative measures to create an EU-wide standard of an average of one minute for processing heavy goods vehicles at intra-EU border crossing points so as to guarantee fluidity at internal Schengen and non-Schengen borders, allowing goods and services to move quickly and efficiently; stresses that such a measure would significantly improve the competitiveness of the road transport sector and would ensure its smooth functioning in the single market; stresses that the persistence of land border controls harms the economic interests of all Member States;

3. Highlights that the Commission has been reiterating since 2011 that both Romania and Bulgaria have satisfied all the formal criteria for their accession to the Schengen area; stresses that the Council’s decision of 30 December 2023 to lift the air and maritime border controls on Romania and Bulgaria only partially addresses the issue of the current distortion of the single market; stresses that this decision falls short of addressing the biggest and most pressing issue, namely land border crossings, where checks remain in place on the Schengen land border, hampering the frictionless crossing by goods vehicles, buses, private cars and trains; reiterates its long-standing position in support of the full application of the Schengen acquis to Bulgaria and Romania; urges the Belgian Presidency and all Members of the Council to adopt as quickly as possible, and by no later than mid-2024, a decision on the full application of the Schengen acquis in Romania and Bulgaria;

4. Requests, therefore, that the Commission guarantee the compliance and monitoring of the application of the measures taken, including via the imposition of penalties; underlines the need for adequate and sufficient EU funding and technical support;

5. Calls on the Commission and the Member States for EU legislation to allow truck drivers to use smaller border crossings when main arteries are closed for road maintenance in order to avoid drivers depending on arbitrary actions by individual countries, as this is a matter of general EU interest;

6. Calls on the Commission, in cooperation with the Member States and relevant stakeholders, to put forward concrete measures to address the shortage of professional drivers in the EU by stimulating interest among young people by financing specific (re)training and qualifications and fostering partnerships between vocational schools and transport companies, including with specific EU budget support;

7. Calls on the Member States to further step up their efforts to reinforce cross-border cooperation on theft from goods vehicles;

8. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council and relevant national authorities.