Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

BREXIT

Brexit: New licence needed to bring vans and trailers from UK to France

Another Brexit-related driving change is on the way in 2022, with an extra licence required to bring a van or large car trailer from the UK into an EU country. Here's how the new rule works and who it will affect.

Published: 21 December 2021 13:30 CET
Vans in Dover heading to France
Bringing a van to France from the UK may require a licence. Photo: Justin Tallis/AFP

While the Brexit-related issues around driving a normal car from the UK to France are now largely resolved, another change is on the horizon in 2022, and it concerns vans or car trailers. 

What

From next year, an international goods vehicle operator licence will be required for people based in the UK who want to bring a van over to the EU or Schengen zone.

It costs £257 (€301) to apply for a goods vehicle operator licence plus an extra £401 (€470) for the licence. It needs to be renewed every five years at a further cost of £401.

When

The change comes into force in May 21st, 2022.

Who

The changes do not affect everyone and depend first of all on the size of your van or trailer and secondly on the reason for your trip.

The rules apply to;

  • vans with a maximum authorised mass (MAM) over 2,500kg (2.5 tonnes) and up to and including 3,500kg (3.5 tonnes)
  • vans towing a trailer with a gross train weight (GTW) over 2.5 tonnes and up to and including 3.5 tonnes
  • cars towing a trailer with a GTW over 2.5 tonnes and up to and including 3.5 tonnes

The smallest Ford Transit-type vans are generally less than 2.5 tonnes MAM, but a long-wheel base van is likely to be covered by this regulation.

Then there is the purpose of your trip.

The licence is not required if you are “transporting goods on a non-commercial basis (not for ‘hire or reward’)”, the UK government website states.

So if for example you have loaded up your own van to bring furniture over to your French house, then the licence is not required because you are not being paid for this service – although you may have to pay duty on the items you bring in – click here for more details.

But the regulation will cover removal firms or couriers – so if you are using any of these services to transport goods to France, expect prices to increase to cover the operator’s costs.

The regulations apply only to those based in the UK, so if you want to take a van over from France to the UK then there is no need for the extra licence.

Find full details of the changes on the UK government’s page HERE. 

This is just one of many Brexit-related changes to travelling between France and the UK – click here for the full list. 

Member comments

  1. More Brexit benefits, well they said they knew what they were voting for (although I very much doubt it) , why would you vote for an increase in red tape, an increase in more costs and inconvenience, perhaps they were either gullible or none too bright.

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

TRAVEL NEWS

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

Germany's Deutsche Bahn rail operator and the GDL train drivers' union have reached a deal in a wage dispute that has caused months of crippling strikes in the country, the union said.

Published: 26 March 2024 09:55 CET
German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

“The German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn have reached a wage agreement,” GDL said in a statement.

Further details will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday, the union said. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn also confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

Train drivers have walked out six times since November, causing disruption for huge numbers of passengers.

The strikes have often lasted for several days and have also caused disruption to freight traffic, with the most recent walkout in mid-March.

In late January, rail traffic was paralysed for five days on the national network in one of the longest strikes in Deutsche Bahn’s history.

READ ALSO: Why are German train drivers launching more strike action?

Europe’s largest economy has faced industrial action for months as workers and management across multiple sectors wrestle over terms amid high inflation and weak business activity.

The strikes have exacerbated an already gloomy economic picture, with the German economy shrinking 0.3 percent across the whole of last year.

What we know about the new offer so far

Through the new agreement, there will be optional reduction of a work week to 36 hours at the start of 2027, 35.5 hours from 2028 and then 35 hours from 2029. For the last three stages, employees must notify their employer themselves if they wish to take advantage of the reduction steps.

However, they can also opt to work the same or more hours – up to 40 hours per week are possible in under the new “optional model”.

“One thing is clear: if you work more, you get more money,” said Deutsche Bahn spokesperson Martin Seiler. Accordingly, employees will receive 2.7 percent more pay for each additional or unchanged working hour.

According to Deutsche Bahn, other parts of the agreement included a pay increase of €420 per month in two stages, a tax and duty-free inflation adjustment bonus of €2,850 and a term of 26 months.

Growing pressure

Last year’s walkouts cost Deutsche Bahn some €200 million, according to estimates by the operator, which overall recorded a net loss for 2023 of €2.35 billion.

Germany has historically been among the countries in Europe where workers went on strike the least.

But since the end of 2022, the country has seen growing labour unrest, while real wages have fallen by four percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.

German airline Lufthansa is also locked in wage disputes with ground staff and cabin crew.

Several strikes have severely disrupted the group’s business in recent weeks and will weigh on first-quarter results, according to the group’s management.

Airport security staff have also staged several walkouts since January.

Some politicians have called for Germany to put in place rules to restrict critical infrastructure like rail transport from industrial action.

But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected the calls, arguing that “the right to strike is written in the constitution… and that is a democratic right for which unions and workers have fought”.

The strikes have piled growing pressure on the coalition government between Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, which has scored dismally in recent opinion polls.

The far-right AfD has been enjoying a boost in popularity amid the unrest with elections in three key former East German states due to take place later this year.

SHOW COMMENTS