MEPs on the European Parliament’s transport committee will vote on Monday 4 June on social aspects from the first mobility package: the secondment (posting) of transport workers, cabotage rules, drivers’ rest and driving times and the installation of second-generation smart tachographs in vehicles.
The votes come after a number of meetings, intense talks and negotiators among rapporteurs and shadow rapporteurs (see EUROPE 12020). It appears that a climate of uncertainty still reigns on the outcome of the talks since political, and more importantly, national, divisions are very strong.
On the one side, MEPs from central, Eastern and peripheral Europe mostly favour liberalisation of the sector, whereas on the other side, MEPs from Western Europe tend to be more in favour of a harmonisation of social rules. Internal talks were pursued on the fringes of Parliament’s plenary on 28-31 May.
Voting at the transport committee will take place exactly a year after the presentation of the European Commission’s proposals, which were themselves the subject of intense debate (see EUROPE 11799). At the Council of the European Union, the member states are not able to agree so only a progress report will be submitted to transport ministers at their meeting in Luxembourg on 7 June (see EUROPE 12028). (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)