The Law Office of the Republic described a decision taken by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in relation to appeals of the Republic of Cyprus and six other EU member-states regarding the legislative regime of road transport as a very important legal success for Cyprus regarding the safeguarding of the interests of the Republic of Cyprus as an island member-state in the road transport sector.

According to the Law Office press release, the CJEU announced on Friday its ruling in relation to a total of 15 co-decided appeals registered by the Republic of Cyprus and six other EU Member States (Bulgaria, Lithuania, Malta, Hungary, Poland and Romania) seeking the annulment of specific provisions in three legislative acts adopted in 2020 by the European Parliament and the Council, included in the "Mobility Package".

As stated, the Republic of Cyprus put forward two actions, seeking the annulment of an article of Regulation (EU) 2020/1055, which governs the mandatory return of a lorry to the member state of establishment every eight weeks, on the basis that this obligation primarily constitutes discrimination between island Member States and continental member states, as well as a breach of the principle of proportionality.

It is added that in the second application, Cyprus sought the annulment of Directive 2020/1057 in its entirety, establishing specific rules on the posting of drivers in the road transport sector, on the ground, inter alia, of infringement of the principle of equal treatment and the principle of proportionality.

In particular, the Law Office stated in relation to the first action that the position of the Republic was, inter alia, that the European Parliament and the Council, as co-legislators, did not take into account the geographical specificities of the EU and the transport market, since the obligation to return lorries every eight weeks to the member state of establishment restricted the competitiveness of hauliers in member states which are located in the periphery of the EU or are island member states, and with it their right to freedom to provide services, since it gave an unjustified and unfair advantage to hauliers from continental Member States.

This is because, according to the Republic of Cyprus, the Law Office continued, hauliers from peripheral and island member states of the EU are at a disadvantage, as they have to cover much greater distances and overcome much greater physical obstacles, so that their obligation to return involves a disproportionate burden and the withdrawal of their vehicles from circulation for a period of 8 to 14 days.

Subsequently, it is stated that the first application of the Republic of Cyprus was upheld on the ground of breaching the principle of proportionality, with the CJEU annulling point 3 of Article 1 of the EU Regulation, namely 'Conditions relating to the requirement of establishment'.

According to the CJEU, the statement noted, the obligation to return vehicles used for international transport to their member state of establishment every eight weeks is contrary to the principle of proportionality, because the European Parliament and the Council did not demonstrate that they had sufficient evidence at their disposal, nor an impact assessment in relation to this provision when they adopted the EU Regulation in question, to be able to judge whether this legislative measure complies with the principle of proportionality.

In relation to the second action of the Republic, it is noted that it was rejected by the CJEU because, as the Court held, the legislative 'EU Mobility Package' did not alter existing EU legislation concerning the application of the rules on posting in transport and the European Parliament and the Council, as co-legislators, took into account various factors in relation to lorry drivers in order to ensure a balance between those affected.

"These are the first actions for annulment that the Republic of Cyprus has brought before the CJEU, and the successful partial annulment of Regulation (EU) 2020/1055 is a very important legal success for Cyprus in terms of safeguarding the interests of the Republic as an island member state in the road transport sector," it is underlined.