Energy price crisis: UETR calls for urgent support for road transport SMEs

21 Apr Energy price crisis: UETR calls for urgent support for road transport SMEs

The ongoing energy price crisis is placing severe pressure on road transport companies across Europe, particularly micro, small and medium-sized enterprises operating on thin margins. Rapid increases in fuel costs are significantly eroding profitability, disrupting operations and threatening the viability of thousands of small businesses that are essential to Europe’s supply chains and real economy.

Transport operators are on the front line of this crisis and are directly hit by the surge in energy prices. They face significant structural difficulties in passing these sudden cost increases on to their clients due to fixed contracts and strong competitive pressures.

Targeted and immediate national support measures are therefore essential. These should include financial relief for all  affected companies operating with a wide range of commercial vehicles, with the simplest terms of access, as well as the promotion of effective and enforceable cost-transmission mechanisms, ensuring that exceptional increases in energy prices can be fairly shared along the supply chain. The active engagement of all actors in the chain is essential to effectively address the crisis. National measures must be coordinated to ensure  a consistent approach across Member States and avoid distortions of competition between transport operators, and prevent a double burden of high fuel prices combined with differing levels of national support.

The adoption of an EU comprehensive “toolbox” of targeted and temporary measures to address spikes in energy prices is also key, including adaptation of State aid rules, combined with greater flexibility in its application.

Ensuring the resilience of road transport SMEs is critical—not only for the sector itself, but for the stability of the entire European economy.