For very many years, operators of ships running in short sea trades around Europe have pointed to the obvious disparities in the level of bureaucracy they have been forced to endure when taking cargo across an “internal” EU border and the freedoms enjoyed by road hauliers. They point to the lack of any sort of controls at the land frontiers after these were dismantled, and the absence of the cumbersome procedures truck drivers were once forced to endure. They point to the obvious speed advantages this facility provides, where once drivers were forced to queue, sometimes for hours, when the customs posts were in operation.