Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many applications his Department has received from UK hauliers for European Council of Ministers for Transport international driving permits; how many of those licences are available; and how many of those licences have been issued.

The UK had an allocation of 1,610 annual European Conference of Minister of Transport (ECMT) permits and 4,824 short-term permits available for hauliers to use in 2019.

In preparation for leaving the EU in March 2019, 2,145 UK goods vehicle operator licence holders applied for 11,976 ECMT annual permits. 774 annual permits were subsequently issued, with many hauliers declining to take up their allocation. As of 30 August 2019, ECMT permits for use in November and December 2019 are available to purchase.

If we leave the EU without a deal on 31 October 2019, most journeys will be allowed until at least 31 December 2019 under an EU contingency regulation. A small proportion of journeys are not covered by the regulation. The European Commission has on 4 September 2019 published a proposal to extend the regulation until 31 July 2020. The proposal, when combined with the ECMT system, would ensure that 99% of trips to the EU could continue to operate as they currently do for the first four months of the Regulation.

UK hauliers who need to transit the EU/EEA to third countries or who carry out three cross-trade movements within seven days can now apply for short-term permits via the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s digital service for journeys during November and December 2019.

The UK also has historic bilateral agreements and it is our view that the majority of them would revive in an absence of an EU wide measure.