(1)

The Joint Committee has adopted its Rules of Procedure by its Decision No 1/2023 of 16 March 2023.

(2)

Pursuant to Article 6(1) of the Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine on the carriage of freight by road (‘the Agreement’), the Agreement is to apply until 30 June 2023.

(3)

Pursuant to Article 7(2) of the Agreement, the Joint Committee is to be convened at the latest three months before the expiry of the Agreement in order to assess and decide on the need for the continuation of the Agreement, including its duration.

(4)

The monitoring of the Agreement has shown that it has become essential for the good functioning of the EU-Ukraine solidarity lanes.

(5)

The prolongation of the Agreement is therefore an answer to the call from the European Union heads of State and Government to the European Union to ‘continue to improve the efficiency of all the Solidarity Lanes’ as they ‘have made possible the export of significant volumes of Ukrainian crops, agricultural products and fertilisers to the countries most in need’ (2).

(6)

The Agreement has also been positive for the European Union since it has allowed an increase in exports to Ukraine. However, the Agreement has only led to a limited increase in operations by Ukrainian road transport operators on territory of the European Union, and has not raised the level of competition for EU road transport operators in an unacceptable way.

(7)

The Agreement has also supported the action by authorities of the Member States competent for the control of driver documents regarding the fight against fraud and forgery.

(8)

The prolongation of the Agreement should be understood as also contributing to the reconstruction of Ukraine beyond Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.

(9)

It is therefore appropriate to prolong the Agreement until 30 June 2024,