Agreement between the European Union and Moldova on the Carriage of Freight by Road

Summary:

This Agreement applies to the transit and international carriage of goods by road between the European Union (EU) and Moldova for hire or reward. This is without prejudice to the application of the rules established by the European Conference of Ministers of Transport multilateral quota system within the International Transport Forum.

Further information:

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, transportation of freight from Moldova became very difficult. Moldovan operators had to search for alternative routes to avoid transiting the territory of Ukraine, which had been so far the only way to reach the third country markets in eastern Ukraine. The impossibility to transit Ukraine endangers the fulfilment of long-term contracts, and it also forces operators to look for other business partners leading to an increase of their bilateral transport operations with EU Member States.

The road freight transport between the European Union (EU) and Moldova is governed by two main sets of mechanisms, namely bilateral transport agreements between Member States and Moldova and permits granted in the framework of the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT) multilateral quota system within the International Transport Forum. Both these mechanisms impose quotas on hauliers from both sides, regarding transit and bilateral trade.

This Agreement replaces existing bilateral transport agreement between Member States and Ukraine, and facilitates the use of alternative transport by road for operators, as bilateral operations and transit become liberalised. It is limited in time but with a possibility for renewal.

The Council of the European Union authorised the opening of negotiations with Moldova on this Agreement on 2 June 2022. Such negotiations were successfully concluded on 15 June 2022. The Decision on the signing and provisional application of this Agreement was adopted by the Council on 27 June 2022. The Agreement was published in the Official Journal on 7 July 2022.

• Primary Source

Official

EUR-LEX: OJ L 181, 07/07/2022: Council Decision (EU) 2022/1165 on the signing nd provisional application of the Agreement between the European Union and Moldova on the carriage of freight by road http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2022/1165/oj

EUR-LEX: OJ L 318, 12/12/20222: Council Decision (EU) 2022/2417 on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Agreement between the European Union and Moldova on the carriage of freight by road http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2022/2417/oj

EUR-LEX: COM(2022)309: Proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Union and Moldova on the carriage of freight by road https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=COM:2022:309:FIN

EUR-LEX: COM(2022)310: Proposal for a Council Decision on the signing and provisional application of the Agreement on the carriage of freight by road between the European Union and Moldova https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=COM:2022:310:FIN

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