Cargo, EU – Baltic States, Legislation, Lithuania, Logistics, Truck haulage

The Cabinet gave the go-ahead for the Justice Ministry to initiate legal action seeking a partial annulment of the Mobility Package and two related EU regulations. 

According to the Justice Ministry, provisions on the compulsory return of trucks to their country of registration, cabotage restrictions, and the enforcement of drivers' posting and rest rules in the absence of the necessary infrastructure run counter to Lithuania's political and economic interests and will negatively affect its businesses.

The most contentious provision is the one that requires trucks to return to their country of registration at regular intervals. The initiators say this will help combat the practice of registering fictitious transport companies in lower-tax countries.

Eastern Europeans maintain, however, that the new rules will push haulage companies of the so-called called peripheral EU countries out of the market and increase pollution on the roads.