Transporte Profesional - 409 Abril 2020

Regarding the technologies to achieve the decarbonisation of the road trans- port, we think there is no silver bullet. Therefore, we as industry need several technologies, we need a choice, and nothing should be banned until the industry has a large scale readily avai- lable solution. Because that will create additional problems for the entire sec- tor. Another question which we think is of great importance is the lack of a concrete methodology on the EU of how to measure emissions from well to wheel approach. Right now, the EU is only considering tail pipe emissions. Still we think there should be a defined methodology to measure emissions that include the whole process, that is taking into account from well to whe- el, because if you only look at tail pipe emissions you will only partially solve the problem. If you want to really de- carbonise the industry you must look from well to wheel. Because what you consider now zero emissions in may not be considered the same in the fu- ture. So, to have certainty in this area we need a concrete methodology that addresses this issue. Shortage of drivers is one of the most pressuring issues of our indus- try. What is your view on this topic? According to the last data available, there were 23% of unfilled positions of truck drivers in 2019 in Europe, and the average age of truck drivers is 44 years old, and it increases one year every two years. So, it is a big issue, and how we propose to solve it? By improving truck drivers working con- ditions. We are looking at concrete measures of how to tackle this, and in our opinion, there are several ways to do it. The first way to achieve this goal is with the construction of more parking areas. There are 100.000 mis- sing parking’s spots in the EU, and this affects the working conditions and the quality of life of these drivers. On top of this there is only 7.000 SSTP already active in Europe. So, impro- ving this situation will translate into better working conditions, and there- fore will attract more young people to get into a truck driving career. What we have been doing from IRU, toge- ther with ETF, is convincing the EC to release 60 million of EU funds throu- gh the CEF instrument to build new SSTP. This is co-funding so private partners will have to join this initia- tive and support the economic effort. If this policy of cofounding continues, in 5 years it will translate in 1 billion of investment (counting both public and private funds?) in SSTP. We must be sure that the funds are absorbed, because if the funds are not granted due to lack of projects, for the next call the EC will make available less funding for this purpose. From the IRU we will work to ensure that the EC will continue to provide funds but are the stakeholders who must apply and use the funds in order to give us a jus- tification to continue to demand more funds. Another thing we can work on is digitalization. As you can see most of the topics are interconnected. Specifi- cally, I am talking about digitalization of enforcement and its impact on dri- ver’s working conditions. In some EU countries on about 75% of road checks the drivers are totally compliant. This translates into a loss of time for the company, and a source of stress for the drivers, because the own nature of the road check or issues related to di- fficulties to communicate with the ins- pecting authorities. With digitalization we can improve this situation, saving time and reducing the stress of the dri- vers. We can find a good example of what I am talking about in the so-called MP III, where you have the EFTI regu- lation, which it states that for 2025 all the enforcement documents should be digitally available. What does it would mean? It could be an electronic version which is only available to the driver, but then you will still need to stop the dri- ver. Even, if you go a step further if you have a database where all these docu- ments are stored, you will not need to stop the drivers. So, if enforcement can have access to these documents remo- tely, the need to stop the trucks will be enormously diminished. The IRU and the ETF have a joint declaration on this topic. Finally, there is also a third way to improve working conditions of drivers, in this case from the business to business perspective, which is to improve the conditions which the dri- vers are treated in the loading and un- loading process in the delivery places. From the IRU we are decidedly working together with the ESC (European shi- pper’s council) in a driver treatment charter to improve the conditions of drivers in this situation. It seems that the digital revolution is playing and will continue to play a very important role in our sector. What can you tell us about this? And what about the future trends of the industry? Digitalization and future trends go to- gether, so you cannot separate them. Future is digital. Digitalization is not only the solution for enforcement but also for more efficient road freight, this means fewer empty runs and less time spent on the road, cost reductions. This of course translates into a more sustainable road transport as well. As IRU we are part of DTLF (is the EC group of experts that brings together stakeholders from different transport and logistics communities, from both the private and the public sector). The DTLF is a lab for digital transport for the EU. More digital freight is the fu- ture and the solution of some of the issue that we currently have in the sec- tor. We also look at some EC initiatives, the last week; the EC came up with a strategy on data and a white paper on IA. In the strategy for data, the EC talks about a data pool for mobility, they ca- lled it “the mobility data space”. Data has a value, and we are aware of it. The EC rightly identifies in its strategy for data, data trust as being one of the main impediments for more data being shared. We agree with this view, and we believe this can only be addressed if we have an EU framework that also addresses the access to data, use and re-use of data generated by business. Because current regulation only covers personal data, and in terms of business data concepts is very vague. As the in- dustry will generate more data with its digitalization, we must make sure that this process remains voluntary and that we have a bit of oversight with our data. So to put it clear, we would like to know what are the conditions to use the data that we generate, we would also like to keep access to the data that we generate, and we would like to know how our data is going to be used and reused. All these questions remain unanswered, therefore this why we need a clear and sufficient framework from the EC on this issue. Prior to joining IRU, for over 10 years Raluca was a competition and regulatory lawyer in Norton Rose Fulbright’s team in Brussels, where she advised on a broad range of competition areas, such as merger control, investigations, abuse of dominance, horizontal and vertical agreements and State aid law. On the regulatory side, her focus has been transport regulation and market access. An impeccable career IRU / INGLES