Electronic freight transport information

PURPOSE: to facilitate the electronic communication of information in freight transport.

PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.

BACKGROUND: total freight transport in the EU has increased by almost 25 % over the last 20 years, and is projected to further increase by 51 % during 2015-2050. All this movement of goods is accompanied by a large amount of information being exchanged among a variety of parties, in both the private and the public domain. Today, this information is mostly printed on paper, in a variety of standard format documents.

The fragmented legislation and the resulting lack of acceptance by authorities discourage investment in digital solutions for electronic documents. Yet the digitalisation of information exchange has the potential to significantly improve the efficiency of transport and therefore to contribute to the smooth functioning of the single market.

The Commission has acknowledged the need to foster acceptance and use of electronic transport documents in a number of policy initiative. The case for intervention has also been recognised by a wide range of stakeholders.

This initiative is part of the third ‘Europe on the Move’ Package, which delivers on the new industrial policy strategy of September 2017, and is designed to complete the process of enabling Europe to reap the full benefits of the modernisation of mobility.

IMPACT ASSESSMENT: the preferred option is a full obligation for Member State authorities to accept regulatory cargo transport information or documentation, with partially harmonised implementation.

The main expected benefits are of an economic and environmental nature. The industry is expected to make savings worth EUR 20-27 billion over 2018-2040, compared to a scenario where no policy intervention at EU level is made (the baseline), thanks to reduction in administrative costs (i.e. costs related to the management and exchange of transport information and documentation). This is equivalent to 75-102 million hours saved yearly. Road transport operators, 99% of which are SMEs, are expected to benefit of about 60% of all industry administrative costs savings. Positive environmental impacts are also expected, due to a decrease in road transport’s modal share in 2030 relative to the baseline.

CONTENT: this proposal for a Regulation contains measures to:

• ensure that the obligation for all competent public authorities to accept electronic freight documents/information is in place in all EU Member States;
• ensure that the authorities implement the obligation of acceptance in a uniform manner;
• ensure the interoperability of the IT systems and solutions used for the electronic exchange of freight transport information, and in particular for business-to-administration (B2A) regulatory information communication.

Concretely, the proposal:

• lays down requirements relative to the electronic format in which regulatory transport information (eFTI) should be made available by the economic operators concerned;
• establishes the obligation of the Member States’ competent authorities of regulatory information made available electronically by the economic operators concerned in compliance with the conditions provided that such information meets the requirements guaranteeing its authenticity, integrity, security, etc;
• requires the competent authorities, eFTI services providers and economic operators concerned to take measures to ensure the confidentiality of the information processed and exchanged in accordance with this Regulation;
• establishes the obligation of the Commission to adopt implementing acts establishing a common data set and subsets in relation the regulatory requirements under the scope of this Regulation, and laying down common procedures and rules for access to and processing by the competent authorities of regulatory information provided electronically;
• sets out the functional requirements for the eFTI platforms by the means of which the regulatory information could be made available by the economic operators concerned, and empowers the Commission to adopt implementing acts laying detailed rules for their implementation.

The proposal contains provisions on powers delegated to the Commission to amend non-essential elements in Annex 1 to this Regulation, where the regulatory information requirements falling under the scope of this Regulation are listed.