Europe’s heavy and abnormal transport industry has not received the support it both requires and deserves from our regulators and political leaders for many years – decades, in fact. That is now beginning to change as Europe reassesses its energy, industrial and military priorities in the wake of the tragic conflict in Ukraine.
Political pressure for reform really began to increase after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 when NATO ramped up its military presence and exercises in Eastern Europe involving thousands of troops and heavy transport. NATO’s action and subsequent exercises in 2020 and 2021 exposed the fact that many roads and bridges were not strong enough to carry the loads, and in some cases military vehicles had to take long detours or wait for temporary engineering solutions.
This added huge weight to ESTA’s long running calls for Europe both to sharply increase investment in infrastructure and develop a network of connected heavy transport corridors on which that investment could be focussed. These corridors could follow the trans-European road network and also include roads of high economic relevance such as roads to industrial areas and ports.
It is also essential for this network to include provisions for safe and secure parking areas that can cater for heavy and abnormal roads – which is one of the reasons why ESTA became an associate member of ESPORG and strongly supports its work and its aims.
The debate is ongoing and in an attempt to maintain the pressure, last month ESTA sent a detailed response to the European Commission’s “White Paper for European Defence -Readiness 2030”.
The White Paper sets out seven priority areas which are critical to build a robust European defence, including the need to facilitate military mobility “though an EU-wide network of land corridors, airports, seaports and support elements and services”.
ESTA has strongly welcomed the publication of the White Paper and its recommendations, but adds that bureaucratic and administrative reforms are also essential.
Current regulations, such as those governing signage or permits for heavy and abnormal transports, differ from country to country and in some cases even from district to district.
This often causes severe delays and European states urgently need to streamline and harmonise the regulations and procedures which are a key element in military mobility as well as Europe’s energy and industrial economy.
Many of the measures that ESTA has been requesting for many years are contained in the proposed revisions of the EU’s Weights and Transport Directive (96/53). Importantly, the planned revisions include the Europe-wide adoption of the standard SERT documentation for abnormal load vehicle registration – a move that ESTA has supported for many years.
Other measures include:
• a ‘one stop shop’ per country for permits
• standardised permit application forms
• use of electronic permits
• harmonisation of escorting rules and vehicle markings
• a ban on language requirements for drivers
• permitting systems to be available in all EU languages
Such reforms have been a long time coming and we are hopeful that they will receive final approval during the current Danish presidency whose term ends in December.
As with the call for transport corridors, we feel the arguments have been understood and won. We now need our political masters to deliver practical results – for all our sakes.
Written by Ton Klijn, ESTA Director
