Asked by: David Duguid (Conservative - Banff and Buchan)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has for increasing the number of European Conference of Ministers of Transport permits available to UK hauliers in the event those permits become necessary for British hauliers operating in the EU.
Answered by Lord Grayling
The Government has always been clear that European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT) permits to secure continued access to the EU are a small part of the solution. We are confident that hauliers will still be able to operate in the EU without an ECMT permit for the equivalents of most of the journeys they make now.
We secured additional ECMT permits at the ECMT Road Transport Group meeting of 4th/5th February, which includes 290 annual Euro 5 permits, 336 annual Euro 6 permits, 840 short term Euro 5 permits and 1152 short term euro 6 permits. This in an increase in ECMT permits of around 65%. We have been liaising with usual haulage stakeholders on the allocation of the additional permits.