Brussels, 15/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - European Commissioner for transport, Siim Kallas has made a U-turn and is subsequently attempting to tackle the fears provoked by a reworking of the provisions on cabotage and increased liberalisation of the road transport market. In response to the pressure exerted by the European Transport Workers Federation (ETF) on Tuesday 14 May and the suspicions displayed by both the European Parliament and the Council with regard to this liberalisation (see EUROPE 10845, 10834 and 10803), Kallas has attempted to provide reassurances and stated in this respect on twitter that, “In coming months, my priority for cabotage is better enforcement and simplification of the rules to prevent abuse”. There will therefore be a legislative proposal revising the current regulation on access to the international goods transform market (1072/2009/EC) this autumn. A source close to the dossier, however, explained that the Commission's proposal would be a far cry from being any legislative “big bang” and was likely to focus exclusively on minor amendments. The Commissioner is therefore backing the arguments put forward by MEPs and some member states (France, Italy, Belgium, Denmark and Austria). Helen Kearns, the spokesperson explained that, “In the short term, what will be possible is to improve enforcement of the rules, including the social aspects, and to make the market function better to the benefit both of those working in the sector and the overall EU economy which vitally depends on efficient transport services. This will be the key component of any action in the coming months”. The social partners have welcomed the course of action chosen by the Commission. The International Road Transport Union (IRU) was contacted by EUROPE and is recommending that no amendments to the rules on cabotage are made as long as there is no fiscal or social harmonisation or application of the law at a European level. Speaking on behalf of the ETF, Roberto Parillo interpreted the Commission's message as, “an acknowledgement of the unprecedented scale of social dumping and unfair competition that deeply mark our sector”. Nonetheless, the reason put forward to justify the sudden cautious approach adopted by the Commission is not to do with social dumping that many different quarters are denouncing, but rather the duration of Kallas' mandate. He has been a strong supporter of the sector's long-term development and the spokesperson explained that this, “process is complex and it takes time - making it difficult to deal with this issue in the lifetime of this Commission”. (MD/transl.fl)