In future any EU carrier, including the new Member States, will be entitled to operate national road haulage services in Finland. The Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications has decided not to extend the transitional period for the so-called ban on cabotage concerning the new Member States.
From the beginning of May carriers of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary will be allowed to transport goods within Finland as equals with the Finnish carriers, in compliance with Finnish law. Under the EU regulation, freight cabotage is allowed on a temporary basis only and no permanent transport agreements are allowed. Consequently, the Ministry is not expecting international carriers to enter the Finnish transport market in any significant numbers.
The EU is drafting a new regulation to harmonise the rules on road cabotage. The new regulation would allow cabotage for three transport operations within seven days from entering the country. The regulation will enter into force in 2009 at the earliest.
