Brussels, 05/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - Some ten countries are working together to get the EU to provide solutions to the problem of social dumping in road transport. At the Transport Council on Thursday 5 June, France submitted a draft declaration to member states based on the conclusions drawn from the ministerial conference organised on the subject in Paris in April and already been discussed at the informal transport ministers' meeting in Athens in May. French Minister for Transport, Frédéric Cuvillier received the backing of his Austrian, Belgian, Danish, German, Greek, Italian, Dutch, Portugese and Spanish counterparts.
The declaration suggests examining the extent of fraud against European rules on the opening up of road transport markets (particularly “letterbox” companies) and bringing consistency of interpretation of the rules, particularly with regard to cabotage. Market liberalisation should not be envisaged until the conditions for fair competition are in place, these delegations assert. Cuvillier also highlighted the possibility of setting up a European roads agency. This idea did not go down at all well with European Commissioner for Transport Siim Kallas, who is fiercely opposed to the “mushrooming” of European agencies. Kallas, however, did admit that constructive dialogue on the subject was expected to begin under the next Commission. (MD)