THE director general of the Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport (DG Move) at the European Commission (EC), Magda Kopczynska, reviewed progress with three key components of the Greening Freight Transport package on December 2, as she gave the keynote address to the European Intermodal Summit 2025, organised by the International Union for Road-Rail Combined Transport (UIRR).
First announced in July 2023, the package includes a new regulation on rail infrastructure capacity, which by creating a common European legal framework is intended to give freight operators in particular greater certainty over obtaining paths for cross-border services. Kopczynska said she was “very, very happy” that on November 18 the European Parliament and Council had reached political agreement on the regulation, enabling it to be formally adopted by both bodies and enter force 20 days after publication.
Kopczynska described the agreed final text as “an excellent compromise,” and said that the regulation represented “a true turning point for rail.” Implementation is expected to take place over the next few years, with the first timetable planned under the new regulatory framework expected to enter force in December 2030.
The picture is certainly less rosy for the proposed amendment of the Combined Transport Directive which, as Kopczynska noted, has been withdrawn from the EC’s proposed work programme for 2026 due to the lack of progress in negotiations between Parliament and Council. Over the past two and a half years “nothing has happened that will bring us closer to agreement,” she said.
While Parliament and Council will make their case against abandoning the revised directive, if the EC does remove it from its work programme for next year then Kopczynska warned that no legislative developments are expected in the foreseeable future. UIRR director-general, Ralf-Charley Schultze, has encouraged the EC to reconsider its proposal, saying that a revised directive would provide the long-term certainty that the intermodal sector needs.
Kopczynska expressed her disappointment that the compromise text agreed by member states on the revised Weights and Measures Directive would allow the maximum length of road semi-trailers to be increased. This text will form the European Council’s position in trilogue negotiations with Parliament and the EC that are due to start next week, and during which the EC will defend its position and attempt to reverse these changes, Kopczynska said.
As UIRR has pointed out, accepting the proposal to increase maximum length beyond the standard 13.6m would be incompatible with a large portion of the intermodal wagon fleet, and pocket wagons in particular, while also requiring extensive changes to ensure compatibility with terminals and handling equipment. “These developments will effectively hamper the progress of intermodal freight transport,” UIRR says.
