The effect of entering the EU on road transport of the member states

Abstract: The European Union (EU) is a framework of 28 member states that are working together for safety purposes and economic stability. The EU created a single market to increase trade and to create economic advantages. For this, physical barriers, technical barriers, tax barriers, natural barriers and legislative barriers had to be overcome by creating a common framework. The logistics sector is vital for the EU market and economy, because it is important for the effective and efficient functioning of the internal market. Due to the fact that road transport accounts for 70% of the transported volumes this research focuses on this transport mode. The purpose of this research is to see the economic and legal effects on road transport for the member states when entering the EU. Due to doubts about the EU by member states this research focuses on the effect of the EU on road transport of the EU sample. Therefore, an analysis will be done on short-term (4 years) and long-term (12 years) and legal changes influencing the road transport. A deductive approach focused on secondary data is used. Via non-probability sampling, a sample of eight out of 28 member states is used. The data analysed is mostly quantitative data supported by qualitative data focusing on the legislation. To analyse the two variables, GDP per capita and road transport volumes, calculations regarding correlation, decoupling and significance are used to see the link between the variables and to test the reliability. The conclusion based on the results of this research show a positive effect of member states after entering the EU. On the short-term and long-term, the GDP per capita and road transport volumes showed positive results and the investments on the short-term also showed a positive outcome. Long-term results showed that the financial crisis had a strong influence during the period 2007-2011 but positive outcomes are still seen.