News / A need for speed – IRU again urges EC to fast-track Brenner negotiations

13/10/2023

The International Road Transport Union (IRU) and several national transport associations have again reiterated their call for the EC to act over the “intolerable situation in transalpine traffic”.

Their latest letter urged the commission “to act decisively against actions of individual member states that are hostile to the internal market”, adding: “It is already five past twelve.”

On 3 October, Italy saw a traffic jam exceeding 100km after Austria blocked HGV access to the Brenner route, which links the Italy-Austria border with Germany.

IRU EU advocacy director Raluca Marian said: “We have an extremely serious issue on our hands with the Brenner impasse. There is a shortage of capacity in rail freight and combined transport. Truck operators looking to use combined transport are facing an impossible situation.”

In 2021, Austria imposed a strict driving ban for trucks transiting the Brenner route. The IRU noted that, with construction of the Brenner Tunnel not scheduled to be completed until 2033, the only other alternative for intra-European overland freight was rail, which remained severely capacity-constrained.

“In 2020, 2.31 million trucks passed through the Brenner motorway…rail will not provide sufficient capacity to shift road freight in the foreseeable future, as the completion of the Brenner tunnel is not expected until 2032 at the earliest, and the completion of the access routes on the German and Italian sides will probably take decades,” the IRU wrote in a 2021 letter that was ignored by the EC.

EC president Ursula von der Leyen did say in July that a solution to the Brenner issue was urgent, and that “another round of negotiations with Austria, Germany and France” should follow. However, the commission has not acted since.

The IRU are now urging her to speed-up the negotiation process and, if necessary, take legal action against Austria.

“A new round of negotiations should be organised without further delay. If this fails, the European Commission must take court action”, concluded Raluca Marian.