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On Tuesday, the EU Parliament voted with a large majority against the proposal of the Commission to allow the cross-border transport with gigaliners. This had been preceded by a heated discussion between EU Transport Commissioner Kallas and the European Parliament. Fortunately, the point of view of the responsible rapporteur Jörg Leichtfried (S&D) prevailed.
The EU Parliament has held up the STOP sign to the strongly criticized approach of the Commissioner - as reported several times in the AK EUROPE Newsletter - and rejected his proposal on cross-border admission of gigaliners - HGVs weighing up to 60 tons and up to 25.25 metre long - with an overwhelming majority. With 606 votes against the proposal, 12 abstentions and only 54 votes in favour of the proposal a clear signal. Allowing cross-border transport would have had a number of negative consequences: increase of the safety risk and infrastructure costs as well as a shift of transport from rail to road.

The Commission is now obliged to submit an impact assessment by 2016. Until then, says SPÖ head of delegation and “gigaliner” rapporteur Jörg Leichtfried “60-tonners will have to stand on the brakes”.

More information:

Newsletter 29.3.2012

Newsletter 17.1.2013

Newsletter 7.11.2013