EU-Commission paves the way for mega trucks

21 May 2009. The EU Commission has presented a document that gives blank approval to the Europe-wide licensing of mega trucks, judging by its title and tone. In ‘Introducing Mega-Trucks - Review for policy makers’, a copy of which the 'No Mega Trucks' campaign has obtained, it is stated that longer and heavier vehicles (LHVs) will be a net welfare gain for society because they would reduce the cost of road transport. For this reason, according to the EU bureaucrats, mega trucks should be introduced across the whole of the European Union. The EU Commission is thereby ignoring the expressed will of a large majority of Europe’s citizens and a great many member states.

“It is no coincidence that this move is being made now,” said Martin Roggermann, who heads the pan-European ‘No Mega Trucks’ campaign. The European parliament is not functioning effectively during the period leading up to the elections, and the EU Commission is using the power vacuum to pave the way for mega trucks. “Their timing goes to show that the European Commission wants to make mega trucks a fait accompli.” Roggermann pointed out that in the latest opinion polls, 73 percent of Germans and 75 percent of the British are against LHVs. “European bureaucrats are acting against the will of Europe’s citizens."

It is not only the document’s questionable procedures that do not convince Roggermann, but also its revealing title. The new document also does not provide evidence for the alleged benefits of mega trucks. “Instead, the responsible EU bureaucrats are operating with a preconceived opinion, but are selling the review as neutral decision guidance.” Several recent serious studies have come to the conclusion that mega trucks are harmful to the climate, will cause an unwelcome shift from the railways to the roads, and will result in considerable costs for infrastructure that will have to be paid for by taxpayers. “So talk of a net welfare gain for society is completely misplaced”.

The issue of traffic safety has also been completely omitted by the European Commission even though no single study has ever shown mega trucks to be safe.

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