Brussels, 19/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - Better implementation of European legislation to make the internal market operate to its best, respect for workers' rights, developing green transport and supporting digital technologies are the four major challenges set out by Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc in her opening speech of the 2016 Road Transport Conference in Brussels on Tuesday 19 April.
In the commissioner's view, the first of the difficulties facing the road transport sector is the multiplicity of national regulatory frameworks which make life more difficult for a sector which is, for a large part, cross-border. Bulc conceded that European rules had to be clarified, particularly those on cabotage, that is, the short-distance transport of goods, typically from one town to another. This is an issue currently under discussion in the European Parliament in the context of the debate on the report by Guillaume Balas (S&D, France) on social dumping (see EUROPE 11528).
Social dumping and workers' rights form the second great challenge, according to Bulc, given that transport sector workers are highly mobile. Social dumping in the sector came to the attention of the media with German plans to impose a national minimum wage for transport workers crossing its territory. On this point, Germany is currently in talks with the Commission following the formal letter sent by the Commission in May of last year (see EUROPE 11317). In view of what she said at the conference, the commissioner would seem to believe that a compromise can be reached. “It is clear that if a driver stays in a country for a long period, or carries out activities in a given country regularly, then this driver should receive the minimum salary of the country in question”, she stated. When asked by EUROPE whether she planned to set a precise period of time in a country that would require the minimum wage to be imposed, Bulc said that it was still too soon to give a definite answer and that she would have to wait for the outcomes of the various consultations and studies before coming to a decision on this matter.
A further important issue for her is respect for the environment and then EU's undertakings at the UN climate conference (COP 21). Here, she believes that road charging that rewards the cleanest lorries could play a major role in affecting the choices made by road operators.
Lastly, Bulc highlighted development of the smart transport systems that she has made her personal mission (see EUROPE 11480). She warned the member states against going their own ways and pointed out that lorry drivers need at least a dozen on-board devices to drive on all tolled roads in the EU. Two weeks ago, the first automated trans-European convoy of lorries was launched, highlighting a number of regulatory obstacles between member states.
Linking in with the road transport conference, Commissioner Bulc made the journey to a rest area on the E19 motorway to see for herself a routine Euro Control Route (ECR) check, which journalists were also invited to attend. Here she was asked by the control staff about putting in place a European agency to coordinate information exchange on road transport operators. The matter, she said, would not seem to be a priority for the member states, though she was careful not to completely rule out setting up such an agency in the longer term.
This year will be a busy one in terms of legislation on road transport: some seven to nine legislative initiatives will be processed, according to the Commission. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)