– The extension of the transport agreement between the EU and Ukraine truly limits the ability of Polish transport companies to compete.
We as Poland, as the EU, must guarantee that all transport operators comply with certain requirements. They have certain costs, driver's wages, insurance, all of which gotta meet the emanation standard. They besides gotta pay for modern tachographs, and the working time of drivers is strictly limited so that they have time to remainder and thus safe transport. On the another hand, we know that all the rules and standards we have adopted here in the European Parliament do not apply to drivers or companies from 3rd countries, says Newseria Elżbieta Łukacijewska, associate of the European Parliament from the PO.
The Polish delegation plans to present its position to the European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism
Meanwhile, the EP supported the extension of the road transport agreement between the EU and Ukraine by a majority by the end of 2025. According to Polish Euro MPs who voted against, maintaining the liberalisation of road transport will contribute to further lowering the competitiveness of Polish transport companies. Unlike Ukrainian carriers, they must meet a number of EU requirements. The Polish delegation plans to present its position to the European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism.
The agreement concluded in June 2022 between the EU and Ukraine on the carriage of goods by road facilitated the transport of essential goods specified as fuel and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, while allowing Ukrainian goods specified as grain, ore and steel to be exported to and outside the EU. The agreement was to expire in June 2024 and its application was temporarily extended. Therefore, the PO delegation did not support the extension of the agreement.
The PiS delegation besides opposed the extension of the agreement.
Euro MP Kosma Zlotowski told PAP that Polish transport companies worked for their position on the European marketplace for many years – hard and honestly. He added that the extension of the contract would be another blow in Polish entrepreneurs. "We request the conditions for Ukraine's access to our transport market, which will guarantee fair rules of the game, besides in terms of compliance with working time requirements, drivers' salaries or maximum burden weight.
In the EP vote, 488 MEPs were in favour, 137 against and 34 abstentions.
“We support, aid financially, organizationally and diplomaticly Ukraine, but by our actions we cannot limit the possibilities of improvement or killing Polish transport companies. Hence our opposition and our vote against the extension of this agreement. Since the outbreak of the war, erstwhile the ports of transport were closed, the handling of goods from Ukraine, much has changed. Currently, goods can be transported from Ukraine by sea, says Euro MP Łukacijewska. – The extension of this agreement today, however, is one more time detrimental to the competitiveness of Polish companies. It does not give tools to control rules, regulations and standards, and above all it hits those entities that have built their position on the Polish and European markets for a long time. So aid is, but not at the expense of our economy, jobs and opportunities.
As the analysis of the East survey Centre of 2024 shows, liberalisation of EU-Ukraine services in 2022 contributed to major changes in the transport market. The quoted data of the Polish Border defender indicate that between 2021 and 1923 the number of border crossings by dense goods vehicles increased by 45.3%. The increase would have been even greater if it had not been for the protests of Polish carriers. The share of Polish companies in the transport of Poland-Ukraine fell from 38 percent in 2021 to 8 percent in 2023.
The EC comes with legislative proposals which hit the competitiveness of European companies
– I frequently hear: we must take care of European companies. At the same time, however, we see that there are legislative proposals coming from the European Commission which hit their competitiveness, says Elżbieta Łukacijewska. "I besides think that many Euro MPs who live very far away: Spain, Greece, Portugal, this does not apply and they are most likely more hearty to aid Ukraine. They do not analyse it as we, Poles, that the aid we have been giving to Ukraine and Ukrainians for years is important, but it must be covered by any framework, so that after the war it does not turn out that our economy and Polish companies are in a very bad state.
The Polish delegation plans to present its position to the European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, Mr Dzidzikostas. It aims to make the agreement more balanced from 1 January 2026.
