European Commission proposes prolonging agreement with Kiev on transport visa-free regime with several reservations

BRUSSELS. March 5 (Interfax) - The European Commission (EC) has made a proposal to prolong the agreements on road transport (the so-called transport visa-free regime) with Ukraine and Moldova at least until the end of 2025.

The proposals submitted to the Council of the European Union include updates to the agreement with Ukraine to improve its practical implementation, an EC statement said.

The EC noted that the agreements with the two countries were originally signed in June 2022 and then extended until the end of June 2024, granting bilateral transport rights to Ukrainian, Moldovan and European haulers on each other's territories.

"With traditional transport routes in the region disrupted or closed [...] and the unavailability of the Black Sea as traditional trade route for the two countries, the prolongation until at least the end of 2025 will help secure supply chains," the statement said.

Commenting on the change in the terms of the agreement with Kiev, the EC noted that based on an exchange of views with EU member states, Ukraine and stakeholders, "the Commission has taken into account lessons learned from the implementation of the current EU-Ukraine transport agreement."

"While the scope of the agreement will remain the same, the Commission proposes updates to facilitate its implementation and enforcement by the Member States. In particular, the proposal would make obligatory the carrying of documents showing that a transport operator is duly authorized to perform international carriage, and that the transport is being carried out under the Agreement," it said.

It is also proposed to make obligatory the carrying of specific documents certifying that an unladen operation is directly linked to a transit or bilateral operation, as required by the agreement. It is also proposed to strengthen compliance by road haulage operators with obligations relating to operations authorized under the agreement, countering fraud or forgery of driver documents and road safety-related traffic offenses. Such offenses may lead to the withdrawal of the license. Additionally, it is proposed to add a new safeguard clause: in case the national road transport market in a specific geographical area sees a major disturbance that can be attributed to the agreement, the agreement could be suspended in that geographical area, the EC said, clarifying the essence of the amendments.

The EC believes that these measures will "reinforce implementation of the agreement, without compromising the mutual benefits." "The agreement has been very positive for both the EU and Ukraine, allowing a strong increase of their exports to each other's markets," the statement said.

The proposals are now with the Council of the EU, which needs to give the commission a mandate to negotiate with Ukraine and Moldova. Once the council has given the commission the relevant mandates, formal negotiations will begin with Kiev and Chisinau.

Poland and a number of other Eastern European countries previously actively opposed the current agreement between Kiev and Brussels. The agreement in its current form, as the Polish side believes, has resulted in an imbalance on the EU road transport market and in losses for Polish haulers. The truck drivers of Poland, Slovakia and Hungary held protests on the border of their countries with Ukraine.