January 19 (SeeNews) - IRU, the world road transport organisation, said that Bulgaria and Romania's newly implemented border controls, aimed at preventing irregular migration in the process of the two countries fully joining the Schengen area, have a disproportionately negative impact on goods and transport trade.
In a letter to the president of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von der Leyen, IRU has requested support for the free transport of goods by road at both Schengen and other intra-EU borders, as well as efficient truck flows across external road borders, it said in a press release on Thursday.
“While our sector fully agrees that Romania and Bulgaria belong inside the Schengen area, we understand that they are expected to implement additional measures to manage immigration flows. Unfortunately, these actions are having disproportionately negative consequences on goods transport and trade,” IRU secretary general Umberto de Pretto said in the letter.
IRU calls on the Commission to recommend that EU member states implement Green Lane corridors for trucks within the EU. This involves prioritising freight transport for the purpose of identity and immigration checks at intra-EU borders and ensuring that the priority lanes apply to both outgoing and returning trucks, whether loaded or not. Green lanes should also prioritise immigration checks for professional drivers traveling without their truck in order to comply with the return home obligation under EU driving and rest time rules.
According to the IRU’s letter, in 2022, 3.9 million trucks entered or exited Romania, excluding transit, via its 18 border crossing points with Hungary and Bulgaria. Waiting times varied between 30 and 72 hours, averaging six hours per crossing and totalling 23.5 million wasted hours for the industry. Their direct cost to transport operators amounted to 90 million euro, trickling into an additional 2.32 billion euro in lost annual revenues. Recent inspection measures have reportedly led to increased waiting times of up to five days at the Bulgarian-Romanian border, both for EU and non-EU registered trucks.
In December, Romania and Bulgaria agreed with Austria to gain access to the open-borders Schengen area via sea and air starting March 2024. Discussions to lift land border checks will continue in 2024.
For the past ten days, Romanian farmers and truckers have been holding protests, calling on the government to tackle issues such as congestion at border crossings, diesel fuel excise, and motor insurance policies, among other grievances. After failed negotiations, representatives of the protestors submitted to the government a list of 76 demands which include a reduction in the price of third-party-liability insurance, payment of waiting times exceeding two hours when loading or unloading goods, the introduction of non-taxable food and accommodation allowances, and blocking outsourcing of profits to multinational companies.