The European Commission proposes to extend Ukraine’s transport visa-free status with certain conditions.

The EC sent a proposal to the Council of Europe to extend the agreement with Ukraine and Moldova on the liberalization of road freight transport for 2025. The conditions offered are the following:

1. Make obligatory the carrying of documents showing that a transport operator is duly authorized to perform international carriage and that the transport is being carried out under the Agreement;
2. Make obligatory the carrying of specific documents certifying that an unladen operation is directly linked to a transit or bilateral operation, as required under the Agreement;
3. Strengthen compliance by road haulage operators with obligations relating to operations authorized under the Agreement, fighting fraud or forgery of driver documents and road safety-related traffic offenses.
4. Add a new safeguard clause: if the national road transport market in a specific geographical area experiences a major disturbance that can be attributed to the Agreement, the agreement could be suspended in that geographical area.

The Council of Europe should now give the EC a mandate to conduct negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. Once the mandate is received, the EC will begin formal talks to finalize the agreement.