London, UK: Cabotage has become the latest sticking point on Brexit trade talks with British demands on haulage too close to single-market rights, according to EU negotiators.
The UK wants cabotage rights for UK hauliers. UK road haulage groups warn that failure to strike a deal by the end of the post-Brexit transition at the ened of December will hurt hauliers and businesses on both side of the Channel, driving up costs and reducing availability for pan-EU supply chains.
The Britsh request is for a limited number of stops. Two stops is a reasonable to keep trade moving, says Richard Burnett, chief executive, Road Haulage Association. He warns that if the EU doesn’t agree to that it will constrain the ability of EU hauliers to come to the UK.
The commission says the UK request for cabotage rights is too similar to pre-Brexit levels of access to the EU single market and does not commit to enough level playing-field guarantees to ensure EU hauliers are not undercut.
Michel Barnier, the EU’s Brexit negotiator, warned publicly in London last month that the UK could not expect the same levels of access to the EU after Brexit, singling out road haulage as an area where the UK “continued to request single market-like benefits”.
The UK is requesting full transit rights for trucks crossing the EU to destinations such as Turkey; the right to make two drop-offs inside an EU member state; and the right to make three stops in total in the EU between member states.
The UK request is very similar to the existing EU rules that allow up to three cabotage operations within a seven-day period. British negotiators also want unlimited travel for unladen lorries; the rights for concert and tour operations to cover a music group or orchestra performing multiple tour dates in the EU; and additional rights for coach operators.
In return, the UK is offering EU drivers transit rights across the UK, which essentially means Ireland: much of its trade to and from the EU transits the UK.
