On Thursday 26 April, MEPs at the European Parliament’s employment and social affairs committee voted on the three opinions on three aspects of the first mobility package (see EUROPE 11799), which go in the direction of the positions held by Western European countries and the trade unions.
The opinions involve the key points in this package: the application of the system for posted drivers, cabotage and rest time for lorry drivers. Both Parliament's transport committee and the Council of the European Union experienced profound disagreements with these themes between representatives from Western European member states that wanted greater social protection and the central, eastern and peripheral European countries that sought greater liberalisation (see EUROPE 11985, 11988, 11996).
Application of posted workers' system from first day involving international transport. With regard to the application of the system for posted drivers, an alternative majority bringing together MEPs from the S&D, Greens/EFA, GUE/NGL and the Luxembourg, Belgian and French members of the EPP was formed in an effort to significantly amend the report for an opinion submitted by Martina Dlabajová (ALDE, Czech Republic). The initial draft report explicitly requested the exclusion of transit operations and international transport from the directive's scope. A compromise amendment concluded with the ECR group and some of the EPP sought to apply the said directive as from the fifth day of the work provided in a given member state as part of international transport operations, while the Commission proposed three days a month with retroactive application from the first day. Following the inter-institution agreement between Parliament and the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council, MEPs are proposing, in this regard, that directive 96/71/EC applies and not the revised directive (see EUROPE 11972). Although Ms Dlabajová voted against her own report, she did, nonetheless, want to continue negotiations with the transport committee where there is a more liberal majority.
Two-day consecutive limit on cabotage operations. Another sensitive issue in this first mobility package involves the rules governing cabotage operations that can be carried out in the territory of another member state. Although today, once an international transport operation has been carried out, a driver can carry out three operations over a seven-day period but the Commission is suggesting that the number of possible operations over a five day period should be unlimited.
Nonetheless, on the lines of what the late MEP Jens Nilsson (S&D, Sweden) was proposing, MEPs at the employment committee are suggesting to bring down this threshold to 48 hours (see EUROPE 11939, 11980). This point was the subject of an alternative compromise amendment submitted by MEPs from the S&D, Greens/EFA and GUE/NGL. Some MEPs at the EPP, the group of the rapporteur for the opinion, Verónica Lope Fontagné (Spain), also voted on these lines.
The MEPs also agreed on a seven-day waiting period between the two cabotage periods.
Ban on taking rest times in cabin. The third sensitive aspect in the package involves rest times and drivers' conduct. In its proposal, without reducing the rest time that lorry drivers have a right to, the Commission is proposing to make it more flexible, particularly by allowing drivers to take two reduced consecutive weekly rest times (21 hours). The customary weekly rest time was 45 hours.
Although Wim van de Camp (EPP, Netherlands) is not opposed to this greater flexibility of rest time in his draft report (see EUROPE 11935), a compromise amendment submitted by MEPs at the EPP, S&D, Greens/EFA and GUE/NGL suggests getting rid of this point.
MEPs also agreed on a compromise amendment for categorically banning customary weekly rest times taken aboard the lorry. Mr van de Camp is suggesting that this possibility is accompanied by the relevant rules.
Opinions welcomed by trade unions. In a press release dated 25 April, the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) welcomed the vote on these opinions. The president of the ETF, Frank Moreels, described this as, “an important step towards fairness in road transport”. Karima Delli (Greens/EFA, France), the president of Parliament's transport committee, welcomed it as a “first victory” in the “fight against road transport liberalisation”. (Original version by Pascal Hansens and Lucas Tripoteau)