The Eurotrans forum on the topic ‘Into Europe Without Permits’, which was attended by around 200 representatives of Croatian road carriers and transport institutions, presented the development opportunities and potential problems that could arise with Croatia’s accession to the EU.
Interest in the forum was exceptionally high, which is not surprising given that the speakers discussed the closure of Chapter 14 in the negotiations with the EU and the prospects for Croatian carriers after the market opens. Thus, the State Secretary in the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, Danijel Mileta, pointed out to the attendees all aspects of the negotiations of Chapter 14, which was temporarily closed at the beginning of November this year. He stated that the temporary closure is an official confirmation of the successfully completed task of aligning national legislation with the acquis communautaire of the European Union, as well as an official confirmation of the successful application of the same in practice.
When it comes to the changes that will occur with Croatia’s EU membership, among other things, he spoke about the licenses of road carriers in the EU who will have the right to carry goods between EU member states without permits and restrictions. This is also a question that interested the participants quite a bit, but no less interesting was the information about the two-year transitional period after joining the EU, which concerns Croatian carriers who will be able to provide national road transport services (cabotage) in other member states, and reciprocally, carriers from other member states will be able to provide the same services on Croatian territory. Based on the principle of reciprocity, the requested two-year transitional period can be extended by individual member states for a maximum of two years or they can allow road cabotage on their territory at any time. Mileta also spoke about the importance of fuel quality in achieving Euro standards (Euro 5 and Euro 6), as well as the convenience of cashless payment for fuel and services.
Very interesting lectures were also given by guests from the Directorate for International Affairs at the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Slovenia, who shared their experiences from the time of their pre-accession negotiations with the EU and after joining the EU. Thus, the secretary in the Directorate, Matjaž Vrčko, warned road carriers that competition is fierce and that as much as Croatian road carriers have become new competitors to their colleagues in the EU, they will also come to Croatia. He presented the data that at the time of Slovenia’s accession to the EU in 2004, the price of transport per kilometer was one euro, and today it is already 0.70 euros, and it is not excluded that it is even lower. – There are 15 thousand carriers in the EU and you must be ready for that competition – said Vrčko, adding that the EU still offers far greater opportunities for all who are ready to accept the new environment. His colleague from the Directorate, Vlasta Kampoš Jerenec, gave a very interesting lecture on how Slovenians had problems even within the EU, because although Slovenia became a member of the EU, some administrative barriers still existed for some time. It was interesting to hear that some Italian officials were unaware that Slovenia was a member of the EU, so the Directorate had to intervene diplomatically to have the barriers removed. She advised her Croatian hosts to accept EU regulations as soon as possible, without waiting for accession to the EU, and to be proactive after membership.
