Although the meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives to the EU (Coreper) on Wednesday 2 May did not make significant progress on the social aspects of the first "mobility" package (see EUROPE 11799), the representatives are keen to obtain a general approach for the next meeting of the Council of the European Union’s transport committee on 7 June next.
It should be recalled that three problems are causing deep divisions between the states in the Road Alliance (Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland) and the states in central, eastern and peripheral Europe: these involve the application of the system on posted transport workers; the rules on cabotage and those relating to drivers’ driving and rest times (see EUROPE 11988, 11996).
According to several European sources, all the national representatives spoke but those from the Road Alliance did not want to enter into the details of the subjects and considered that the most recent compromise drafts from the Bulgarian Council Presidency of the Council on 23 and 26 April (very similar to those explained in our publication: EUROPE 11977), were not sufficiently ready to be negotiated as they currently stood.
These three difficulties will therefore be tackled again during the working groups in view of the Coreper meeting on 25 May, which will prepare the Council meeting on 7 June. It does, however, appear that the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council highlighted the fact that the political points on cabotage and postings could only be discussed at an inter-ministerial level.
Although these aspects are particularly sensitive, other proposals from the first "mobility" package are subject to fewer differences between the member states. According to several different sources, the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council has therefore requested a mandate to begin the negotiations at an inter-institutional level with the European Parliament on hiring vehicles without drivers (see EUROPE 11993) and the interoperability and electronic road pricing systems (see EUROPE 11919). These dossiers will therefore not need to be tackled during the transport ministers' meeting in June. A decision is expected to be taken in this regard by the end of the month. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)