The EU Road Transport Policy : EU legislation in the field of road transport and fair competition on the European road haulage market

In my research on the EU policy in the field of road transport of goods I analysed the existing EU legal framework in regard to the rules governing the access to the market and occupation, as well as the social conditions of road transport workers. In doing so, I attempted to answer the question whether the existing degree of harmonisation of this legislation guarantees fair competition between EU road transport undertakings. The EU regulatory framework formally provides the necessary legal arrangements for the creation of a common internal market of road haulage services. Nevertheless, the practical implementation of the road transport acquis communautaire revealed some problems. Although the EU legislation provides the main conditions for operation and competition in the road transport sector, with time it became clear there were certain issues which need to be addressed in order to prevent distortions of competition on the internal market. Furthermore, the lack of uniformity in the enforcement of existing legislation remains an unresolved problem which hinders the creation of a real level-playing field on the EU road haulage market.