Denmark to use EU Presidency for mega truck lobbying

27 Jul 2011. Danish Minister of Transport Hans Christian Schmidt announced in an interview with the German transport magazine DVZ that Denmark wants to push the EU-wide admission of longer and heavier vehicles (LHVs) during its EU council presidency in the first half-year of 2012.

Answering the question which aim his presidency will have Schmidt said: “We want to push the discussion as far as possible. Our idea is that the EU allows at least traffic between member states and/or regions which are using longer and heavier vehicles already.”

Denmark allowed the 25 meter long and 60 tons heavy trucks at the end of 2008 on selected public roads. Since then the allowance was extended continuously to more and more roads under the disguise of a trial. Together with the Netherlands, which also allows 60 ton trucks, the Danish government is putting pressure on its neighbor countries and the EU for a cross-border use of mega trucks. The reason is simple: Real profitable are mega trucks on long distances through Europe.

During the interview the Danish politician also acknowledged significant effects on the railways: “The railways should better be used for passenger transport”, Schmidt said. In his opinion railways are in a difficult position in freight transport.

Currently the EU is allowing heavy goods vehicles of up to 18.75 meters and 40 tons in cross-border use. Should certain corridors for longer and heavier vehicles be allowed, e.g. from Sweden through Denmark and Germany to the Netherlands, then an EU-wide admission would be unavoidable sooner or later. A fact the Danish minister is well aware of.

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