On June 15-16, FEPORT attended a “reality check” workshop organised by DG MOVE which focussed on regulatory simplification and the reduction of administrative burdens in the EU transport sector.
The workshop formed part of the European Commission’s wider political priority to reduce administrative burden across EU legislation. DG MOVE is therefore carrying out an internal reflection on the simplification potential of EU transport legislation, supported by an external study conducted by a consortium of independent experts composed of Ricardo, TRT, TIS, ISL and TEPR.
The workshop consisted of several thematic sessions which were organised per transport mode: maritime, inland navigation, road, rail and aviation. The ongoing study performed by the consortium was presented during the meeting. The study has so far identified 700+ pieces of legislation were administrative burdens could be reduced. For the maritime sector, 121 pieces of EU legislation have been identified.
During the meeting, FEPORT particularly pointed to the challenges related to implementing the reporting requirements spelled out in the microplastics regulation which are especially cumbersome to implement for operators of container terminals. FEPORT also highlighted the importance of legislative texts such as the Directive on the safe loading and unloading of bulk carriers and the recently adopted rail capacity regulation due to their positive contribution to the safety of port workers and the coordination between rail freight stakeholders respectively.
