Blockade of the border with Ukraine is over
It looks like the blockade of the Polish-Ukrainian border is coming to an end, although carriers from Slovakia and Hungary have also joined the protest on their side. The mayor of Dorohusk has withdrawn his consent to the protest, and the same is being done by the local authorities of the other border municipalities where border crossings are located.
However, the problem is an international one, as Ukrainian hauliers are allowed to operate without permits throughout the European Union until June 2024. In doing so, they do not bear the costs that result from the Mobility Package and create unequal competition for EU transport companies.
The remnants of illusions were also taken away from the protesting Polish hauliers by the EU Transport Commissioner, who categorically stated at a meeting of transport ministers that the European Commission would not reintroduce permits for Ukrainian hauliers. – We have a catalogue of 13 solutions to resolve the protest. I don’t believe that EU members don’t see their responsibility in solving the problem, that they don’t accept that we have an EU agreement that has to be protected and respected and that this agreement has been adopted by the Council, it has a clear scope and it is a partial liberalisation of transport and it is up to the members to respect it, says EU Transport Commissioner Adina Valean.
The protest of Polish hauliers partially blocked the flow of goods to Ukraine and to EU countries. Some suppliers used rail transport, but this did not always prove possible. However, the Polish hauliers – supported in Brussels by the Polish authorities and the Slovakian and Hungarian transport ministers – have announced that they will continue their protest in another form. – In the coming days, I will convene a meeting of the Committee for the Defence of Transport Carriers and Employers and we will probably take further action in the new year. If we don’t fight for our future, we won’t be there in the spring. The stakes are high, our very existence, the very existence of the whole industry, not only in Poland, but also in Europe,” says committee chairman Waldemar Jaszczur.
