Revision of the Combined Transport Directive – BusinessEurope comments

Key messages

A revision of the Combined Transport Directive should:

• Focus on the multimodal optimisation in European transport, while avoiding a ‘onesize-fits-all’ approach, as an increase in the demand for transport services will have to be accommodated by all modes of transport.
• Extend the Directive’s scope to a wider set of operations to enable more multimodal transport operations to benefit from the regulatory framework, including operations between and within Member States.
• Establish a common, harmonised framework for combined transport operations at EU level with a view to eliminate the existing patchwork of national regulations.
• Provide clear and harmonised definitions at EU level to ensure a uniform understanding and application of the Combined Transport Directive throughout the EU.
• Foster investment in high-quality infrastructure, which is compatible with multimodal transport operations, including technical compatibility between the different modes to optimise logistic chains, and in line with revised TEN-T guidelines, and strengthen the infrastructure, efficiency, and availability of multimodal freight terminals.
• Reduce administrative burden and reap the full benefits of digitisation in multimodal transport by promoting end-to-end monitoring of combined transport operations along the entire transport chain and enable digitalised business-to-authority communication.