COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT Accompanying the document Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on electronic freight transport information
Date: 2018-05-17
Institutions: Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, European Commission
Subjects: carriage of goods, common transport policy, data processing, electronic document, exchange of information, information technology, transport document

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 17.5.2018  SWD(2018) 184 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT  Accompanying the document Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council  on electronic freight transport information  {COM(2018) 279 final} - {SEC(2018) 231 final} - {SWD(2018) 183 final}  
 
 
Impact assessment on a Proposal for a Regulation on electronic communication of freight transport information 
and documentation 

Executive Summary Sheet 

Why? What is the problem being addressed?  

A. Need for action 

A  low  and  varying  degree  of  acceptance  by  Member  States’  authorities  of  information  or  documents 
communicated electronically by businesses, when provided as evidence of compliance with regulatory conditions 
for  the  transport  of  goods,  makes  the  majority  of  economic  operators  to  prefer  using  paper  documents.  This 
results in lost economic potential, due to inefficiencies. 

What is this initiative expected to achieve?  
To enable wider use of digital technologies for fulfilling regulatory information requirements in current legislation 
applicable  to  the  transport  of  goods  in  the  EU,  in  all  transport  modes.  Administrative  burden  for  logistics 
operators will be reduced, and multimodal transport facilitated. Overall net benefits are projected at about EUR 
27 billion over 2018-2040*. 

What is the value added of action at the EU level?  

Unilateral  initiatives  by  Member  States  may  increase  the  level  of  digitalisation  of  regulatory  information 
exchange, but their effect will be limited in the absence of similar action across the borders. Unilateral initiatives 
may  also  fragment  further  the  current  legal  and  technical  framework,  and  increase  complexity  for  EU 
businesses.  

B. Solutions 

What  legislative  and  non-legislative  policy  options  have  been  considered?  Is  there  a  preferred 
choice or not? Why?  

Four  policy  options  have  been  considered,  which  differ  on  the  material  scope  of  the  intervention,  namely  the 
range  of  freight  transport  documents  and  regulatory  information  covered  by  the  obligation  of  acceptance  by 
authorities, and on the regulatory strength of the different measures.   

Two  policy  options,  options  3  and  4,  proved  most  effective  in  achieving  the  policy  objectives.  These  options 
include  a  wide  scope  of  regulatory  information  and  relatively  more,  and  better  specified,  binding  requirements 
related  to  the  acceptance  of  electronic  information.  The  preferred  option  is  option  3,  which  takes  account  of 
stakeholders’ preference for avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach.  

Who supports which option?  

A  majority  of  stakeholders  support  a  wider  scope  of  regulatory  intervention  in  terms  of  both:  (a)  the 
documentation/information  covered  by  the  obligation  of  acceptance  for  authorities;  and  (b)  the  degree  of 
specification  of  binding  requirements  to  ensure  interoperability  of  IT  solutions  used.  However,  stakeholders  in 
the rail and aviation sectors do not favour new technical standards or one-size-fits-all solutions, as proposed in 
option 4. 

What are the benefits of the preferred option (if any, otherwise main ones)?  

C. Impacts of the preferred option 

The industry is expected to make savings worth EUR 20-27 billion over 2018-2040*, thanks to the reduction in 
administrative costs. This is equivalent to 75-102 million work hours saved yearly.  

Positive environmental impacts are expected due to a decrease in road transport’s modal share. In cumulative 
terms, CO2 emissions savings are estimated to be cut by more than 1,300 thousand tonnes over 2018-2040*, 
equivalent to EUR 74 million in external costs savings. Congestion costs are projected to be reduced by almost 
EUR  300  million*  over  the  same  period.  In  addition,  with  an  average  of  1-5  copies  of  each  document  per 
shipment not printed anymore, about 2-8 billion sheets of paper would be saved, or the equivalent of 180-900 
thousand trees annually. 

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What are the costs of the preferred option (if any, otherwise main ones)?  

Costs for public authorities are estimated at about EUR 268 million over 2018-2040*, of which EUR 17 million 
related to the certification of solution providers, and EUR 251 million to enforcement. National authorities will be 
expected to invest in new IT systems, or to adjust existing ones.  

For businesses, compliance costs are expected to be in the range of EUR 4.4 billion.  

Employment  impacts  can  be  slightly  negative  in  case  personnel  is  made  redundant  by  reduced  document 
management activities. This will be offset by overall sector growth. Greater demand for IT solutions and systems 
is likely to bring more opportunities for IT providers, leading to an increase in high-skilled employment. 

Slight negative externalities may occur from the increase of air pollution from waterborne transport, estimated at 
about 41 million over 2018-2040*. 

How will businesses, SMEs and micro-enterprises be affected?  

Businesses,  including  SMEs,  will  have  a  choice  on  how  fast  to  digitalise  their  paper-based  processes.  The 
certainty  that  electronic  documents/information  can  be  accepted  will  encourage  digitalisation.  One-off 
investments  are  expected  to  bring  savings  already  within  the  first  year,  thanks  to  reduced  time  spent  on 
regulatory  compliance  reporting  activities  and  improved  overall  business  efficiency.  Road  transport  operators, 
about 99% of which are SMEs, are expected to benefit of about 60% of all industry administrative costs savings. 

Will there be significant impacts on national budgets and administrations?  
National administrations will be expected to invest in new IT systems, or to adjust the existing ones. These costs 
are unlikely to be significant. At the same time, the EUR 268 million enforcement-related spending will lead to 
better enforcement and savings on everyday costs for businesses.  

Will there be other significant impacts?  

Shipment of freight across borders and between modes is expected to become easier and cheaper. This  may 
translate  into  faster  delivery  times  and  lower  prices  for  consumers.  For  transport  operators,  operational  cost 
savings would be about EUR 12 billion over 2018-2040*. 

D. Follow-up 

When will the policy be reviewed?  
An evaluation of the policy will be undertaken within 5 years from the start date of application of the basic legal 
act. Monitoring of the implementation will take the form of collecting information from the Member States on a 
two-yearly basis. 

* Relative to the baseline, i.e. compared to a scenario where no policy intervention at EU level is made.  

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