NLA holds annual meeting with focus on green transition

The Nordic hauliers’ joint lobby organisation, Nordic Logistics Association (NLA) held its annual meeting in Malmö last week. It is important with a Nordic cooperation to ensure a level playing field, said Chairman of the NLA Board, Erik Østergaard.

The next major task and political challenge for Nordic hauliers is the green transition. Climate policy and the EU’s Fit for 55 package was therefore the main topic at NLA’s annual meeting in Malmö. Before the summer holidays earlier this year, the EU’s Fit for 55 legislative package was published by the Commission. The package consists of a large number of legislative proposals that will deliver on the climate ambitions of the EU. Many of the new initiatives will affect the daily lives of hauliers in the coming decades, and therefore the Chairman of the NLA board had a clear message.

“I would like to take this opportunity to call for Nordic coordination and cooperation in the work of ensuring that the EU’s new green initiatives will ensure a level playing field for all EU countries. In NLA, we have an exemplary collaboration between the Nordic partners and our German and French colleagues from BGL and FNTR (the German and French hauliers’ organization, ed.), where we coordinate the efforts at our Common Office in Brussels. The collaboration and the Common Office will be no less important in the major work of influencing the political work in the EU around the green transition in the coming years, said Chairman of the NLA Board and CEO of DTL – Danske Vognmænd, Erik Østergaard.

The Swedish hosts from Sveriges Åkeriföretag, also reminded the participants that the annual meeting is a return of to normal everyday life after the restrictions of the pandemic, which have made large gatherings and physical meetings impossible.

“Our annual meeting is an opportunity for the Nordic colleagues of the NLA family to meet physically for the first time in a long time, and it is of course very rewarding to be able to meet and discuss face-to-face again, said the CEO of Sveriges Åkeriföretag, Rickard Gegö.

To emphasize the importance of the subject, NLA had invited the Swedish Coreper I Ambassador of the Permanent Representation to the EU, Torbjörn Haak, to talk about challenges of the green transition. The meeting was also attended by the Director of Environment and Innovation at Volvo Trucks, Lars Mårtensson, the Swedish MEP and member of the Transport Committee, Peter Lundgren (ECR) and Professor of Energy Sciences at Lund University, Martin Tunér, in a panel discussion on the Fit for 55 package.

NLA has already begun work on analysing the many proposals in Fit for 55, with a special focus on the proposal for the establishment of an alternative fuel infrastructure (AFIR), the revised Energy Taxation Directive and the ETS proposal, which proposes that road transport is to be included in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) by establishing a separate quota system for transport and buildings.

Participants at the NLA Annual Meeting 2021. From the left: Torsten Laksafoss Holbek, NLA, Knut Gravråk, NLF, Geir A. Mo, NLF, Kjell Olafsrud, NLF, Jens H. Petersen, DTL, Mikael Nilsson, SÅ, Jan-Terje Mentzoni, NLF, Tore Velten, NLF, Martin Danielsen, DTL, Rickard Gegö, SÅ, Erik Østergaard, DTL, Jani Ylälehto, SKAL, Anssi Kujala, SKAL, Fredrik Svensson, SÅ, John Woxström, SÅ, Iiro Lehtonen, SKAL, Ove Holm, DTL, Christopher Andersson, NLA. Photo: Mads Damgaard

ABOUT NLA
The Nordic Logistics Association (NLA) consists of Danish Transport and Logistics (DTL), the Norwegian Road Transport Association (NLF) and the Swedish Association of Road Transport Companies (SÅ). SKAL from Finland is an associate member. NLA represents 16,000 Nordic haulage companies.

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