Eastern European drivers should be paid as much as their Western European colleagues and weekend rest should not be spent in the cab. This was decided by the European Parliament when it voted on the so-called Mobility Package, and industry associations TLN and evofenedex fear the consequences for transport entrepreneurs.
With the Mobility Package, a comprehensive package of measures on cabotage, posting and driving and rest periods, the EU aims to combat unfair competition in the European transport sector. Parliament previously failed to reach an agreement; the Mobility Package has been voted on twice in recent months, with a majority being reached at the last minute on Thursday.
The European Parliament has come to the following directives:
Cabotage
The rules on cabotage (domestic transport in an EU member state by a haulier from another EU member state) will not be further liberalised by the European Parliament. Drivers will have to carry out cabotage trips for up to three days and then have a 60-hour cooling-off period. This will not further open up the cabotage regime.
Return home
The European Parliament does want to require trucks to return to the country of residence once every four weeks. To record border crossings, the EU parliament wants to deploy the digital tachograph in vehicles. This is already used to record driving and rest periods.
Secondment
The European Parliament has decided to make an exception to rules on posting (when a foreign driver receives the same pay as drivers in the country in which he transports goods) for transport between one's own country and another (bilateral transport). So-called transit transport, only transport through a member state, is also exempted from posting. Cabotage has been subject to the Posting of Workers Directive since day one. This avoids burdening a large part of transport with unnecessary administrative burdens and addresses direct competition with national transport.
Ban on sleeping in the cab
Truck drivers should not be allowed to spend the weekend on which they are required to rest in the cab. The employer must pay for a hotel or send the driver home.
European transport ministers' agreement
The above directives are not yet final, with the European Council (member states) still having to give their agreement to the European Parliament's measures. Negotiations on them are likely to start only in September. This is because the European Parliament is in recess due to the upcoming elections.
Evofenedex: 'Agreement increases driver shortage'
TLn and evofenedex criticised the plans on Thursday. Evofenedex expects the European decision to cause an increase in the driver shortage. "The focus of the package is on creating a level playing field between competing logistics providers from European countries, which is a good thing," said general manager Machiel van der Kuijl. "However, this largely depends on better enforcement in the future. The choice to further restrict the flexibility of European transport until then will lead to a stronger rising driver shortage in Europe."
TLN: 'Flexibility is being curtailed'
TLN says it is positive on parts of the vote, but very negative on others. "You can see that on some points the European Parliament understands what the market is helped with, but on the others it curtails much-needed flexibility," says Jan Boeve, TLN director. The industry association argues that the mandatory return home (once every four weeks drivers must return to their country of residence) leads to more empty journeys. For the sector, it is an additional curtailment of flexibility, says TLN. The total ban on sleeping in the cab also creates a practical problem. "It is very regrettable that the European Parliament has not taken this into account and has not listened to transport entrepreneurs."
FNV positive about Mobility Package
Trade union FNV does welcome the package of measures, although it is concerned about enforcement. "Previous versions of the Mobility Package contained substantial deteriorations. Drivers would have to drive longer consecutive hours, have less rest and face a lot of wage competition," the union writes. "Those unholy plans were the deathblow to Dutch road transport. Not only are they off the table, there is now simply a good package we can be positive about."
