Photo credit Freight on Rail

Extra-large lorries are to be permitted across European borders as Siim Kallas decides to go ahead with his decision to reinterpret existing EU legislation on the size and weights of lorries. The DG MOVE Commissioner sent a letter to the Chairman of the TRAN Committee Brian Simpson yesterday justifying his decision.

Currently the maximum size of lorries that are allowed to cross EU borders is 18.75 metres and 40 tonnes; this follows Directive 96/53 that was passed by Council and Parliament.

However there is some ambiguous wording in the legislation that has been interpreted by some Member States as allowing trials to be set up between member states and effectively providing legal cover for cross border use.

The Commissioner has decided to legalise this loophole and thereby circumventing the spirit of what this law was intending to achieve. This is being done in the face of stern criticism from many transport, environmental and safety organisations (www.nomegatrucks.eu) and comes after also receiving a rough ride from MEP's in the European Parliament's TRAN Committee.

 The only organisation comfortable with this seems to be the road haulage lobby who will see prices fall and more lucrative interest for road transport, bringing with it a shift from more environmentally cleaner modes to road.

 Nearer to our hearts and cause are the problems that the increase in these lorries and the growth of the road haulage sector in general could have on the safety for cyclists. ECF have written a paper on some of the probable safety issues associated with these lorries and cyclists, this along with more explanation can be found here http://ecf.com/road-safety/mega-trucks/

 We shall continue our campaign and collaboration with other like-minded organisations.

About the Author

Ceri Woolsgrove is the ECF Policy Officer for Road Safety & Technical Issues. He is from the UK and has worked extensively in London, Brighton, Liverpool (UK), Hang Zhou (China) and now in Brussels. His previous employment was for an organisation representing the transport industry in Brussels. Ceri has a Master’s degree in Globalization and International Policy Analysis from the University of Bath, and Social and Political Thought from the University of Sussex