Approach to the European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020 Trade and Other Matters Transport
The UK and the EU have agreed updated terms for the carriage of goods between their markets by road in the Transport of Goods chapter of the TCA. The TCA ensures continued rights for UK and EU hauliers to travel to, from and through each other’s territories with no quantitative restrictions. It also provides for limited additional internal movements. The international carriage of goods by road for hire or reward within the EU is currently carried out under EU rules on operator licensing, which enables hauliers established in a Member State to carry goods internationally within the EU, providing the haulier has an operator licence. The Act provides for the updated terms agreed between the EU and the UK in the TCA to permit road haulage operators access to each other’s markets after the end of the Transition Period.
	Under the terms of the TCA, UK and EU road haulage operators are permitted access to each other’s markets, providing the operator holds the correct licence. A UK haulier permitted to operate in the EU under the TCA will be required to obtain and must carry a UK Licence for the Community in order to carry goods for hire or reward in the EU, a model of which is set out in the TCA to assist enforcement authorities. The Act provisions amend UK legislation so that the model UK Licence for the Community in UK law corresponds to the model licence in the TCA
	A UK haulier may carry out international journeys between, through and within the EU and EU hauliers within the UK. The Act amends UK law to reflect the reduced number of international journeys permitted within a set time frame under the TCA. The Act also amends the definition of "international carriage" to permit this type of journey under the Agreement.
	The TCA requires the UK and EU Member States to maintain national electronic registers that hold personal data on all commercial drivers that hold driver cards and that these electronic registers to be interconnected and accessible using the TACHOnet messaging system. The TCA provides for the exchange of driver card data between EU Member States and the UK to continue through the TACHOnet messaging system. This exchange of data is necessary so that relevant authorities such as the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency in the UK can make the necessary checks when they receive a driver card application and to check the validity of a driver card presented at the roadside, respectively.
	The Act provides for relevant authorities to access information through the TACHOnet system when issuing, replacing, exchanging or renewing tachograph cards. This allows authorities to confirm, for example, that an applicant does not already hold a valid tachograph card, or validate driver details when carrying out roadside enforcement.