The European Commission wants to extend the “transport visa-free regime”, but with changes
5 March 2024 17:38
The European Commission is proposing that the EU extend the road transport agreement with Ukraine until 2025. At the same time, the EC proposed a number of “updates” to the agreement, Kommersant Ukrainsky reports 
The European Commission notes that traditional trade routes in the Black Sea are still not working properly due to the war. Therefore, extending the agreement until the end of 2025 will help secure supply chains. At the same time, the Commission is proposing updates to the agreement, which are supposedly aimed at facilitating its implementation and enforcement by Member States.
The new agreement proposes to
- make it mandatory to have documents confirming that the transport operator is duly authorised to carry out international transport and that the transport is carried out in accordance with the Agreement;
- to make it mandatory to have special documents certifying that the operation without cargo is directly related to a transit or bilateral operation, as required by the Agreement;
- strengthen compliance of road freight transport operators with the obligations related to operations permitted under the Agreement, combating fraud or forgery of driver’s documents and road safety violations: such violations may lead to the withdrawal of the licence;
- add a new precautionary clause: if serious violations that can be attributed to the Agreement are observed on the national road transport market in a certain geographical area, the Agreement may be suspended in that geographical area.
These proposals are currently before the Council of the EU, which is expected to give the European Commission a mandate to negotiate with Ukraine on this issue.
“Transport visa-free regime”
The EU-Ukraine Road Transport Agreement was signed in June 2022 when Ukraine’s ports were blocked by Russia. The agreement allowed additional trucks to carry vital goods to Ukraine, such as fuel and humanitarian aid, while helping Ukrainian goods such as grain, ore, steel and related products reach the EU and the rest of the world.
Ukraine’s road transport exports to the EU have increased significantly as a result of the agreement, by about two-thirds in terms of volume and one-third in value. In absolute terms, more than 300,000 additional tonnes of goods were exported to the EU each month after the Agreement was signed.
Ukraine’s imports from the EU increased by a similar amount, namely by about 300,000 tonnes per month. However, in value terms, it has grown almost three times as much: currently, EU imports are estimated at more than €700 million per month, and exports at €250 million.
