The European Commission proposed on Tuesday to extend the agreements on road transport with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova and made changes to the agreement with Ukraine. The proposals submitted to the Council include updating the agreement with Ukraine to improve its implementation and ensure compliance, while maintaining its objectives and scope, according to a press release from the Community’s executive branch, cited by Agerpres.

The initial agreements were signed in June 2022 and later extended until the end of June 2024. They grant bilateral transportation rights to carriers from Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, and the EU on the territory of the other party. Given the disruption or closure of traditional transport routes in the region due to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and the inaccessibility of the Black Sea as a traditional trade route for the two countries, an extension until at least the end of 2025 will help ensure supply chains.

Based on the exchange of information with Member States, Ukraine and stakeholders, the Commission took into account the lessons learned during the implementation of the current transport agreement between the EU and Ukraine. Although the scope of the agreement will remain unchanged, the Commission is proposing updates to facilitate its implementation and ensure compliance by Member States. CE proposes: to make mandatory the presence of documents certifying that the transport operator is duly authorized to carry out international transportation and that the transportation is carried out according to the agreement, to introduce the obligation to have special documents confirming that the operation without cargo is directly related to the transit operation or bilateral operation as provided for in the agreement, strengthening compliance by road freight transport operators with obligations related to operations permitted under the agreement, combating fraud or forgery of driver’s documents and violations of traffic rules that affect road traffic safety : such violations may lead to the cancellation of the permit.

A new cautionary clause has also been added: if a major deal failure is identified in the national road transport market in a given geographic area, the deal may be suspended in that geographic area.

These measures will strengthen the implementation of the agreement without compromising mutual benefits. The agreement was positive for both the EU and Ukraine, allowing them to significantly increase their exports to each other’s markets. The agreement with Ukraine, as well as with the Republic of Moldova, was also important for maintaining corridors of solidarity.

The proposals are now in the Council, which should give the Commission a mandate for negotiations with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. Once the Council has given the Commission these mandates, the Commission will formally work with the partner countries to obtain their consent.